POST OFFICE BOX'.... • FREEHOLD, NEWJERSEY 07728

ffitta-i12-1u.Ateltll '33(on

tltLIzd :tIt.i.CleA)

(201) 431-2429

POST OFFiCE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728

fBIIai'nJilAl.e1l4 '83 (cards)Copyright (1982) by Al Mann Exclusives

1

EFFECT. The Mentalist borrows a deck of cards from the hostand also a grocery paper bag. The deck is given out for a thoroughmixing. A person is then told to take the deck and shuffle it somemore and then to choose any card. The performer makes a predictionas to the card chosen. The prediction and the chosen card are placedon the table in full sight. The person is next told to drop all thecards into the paper bag. The bag is shaken and the performer makesa second prediction and places it on the table. He then holds thebag high and sticks his hand into the bag and takes out a card. Thetwo predictions are then read and the cards shown to match the pre­dictions.

Performer next sticks his hands into the bag again and callsout cards and brings out one or two cards at a time and shows themto be the cards called. He will also pass out cards into the audienceand then calls them out correctly!

METHOD. AS can be seen by the effect, theMentalist has a free hand at doing several miracleswith the cards in the bag. The bag is ungimmicked.The revelation of the two predictions can be left tothe end of the presentation for a climax.

Before the show, the Mentalist asks the host(or hostess) for a deck of cards and a grocery paperbag. The bag should be of average size, say 5 by 10iinches or a bit larger.

While examining the deck of cards, the Mentaliststeals about 10 cards. If possible the cards shouldbe in some easily remembered order like the Si-Stebbinssystem. Eight of the cards are clipped with a paperclip as shown in Fig. 1. The other two cards are po-cketed (for use in a later effect). The eight cards Fig. 1are placed inside the bag close to the mouth and thenthe bag is neatly folded and placed in the pocketor on the table to be used.

THE PRESENTATION. Openly ask the host for his deck of cards.Then inform the audience that a paper bag has also been borrowed.Have the cards shuffled by one or more persons and have some onechoose a card as you write out a prediction. You actually predictthe first card of the 8 cards that are clipped. ( the paper clipused is of course prepared by bending up the long end with a pairof plyers just enough to tell with the fingertips and distinguishthe backs of the cards ). Place the prediction paper on the table

f. tn/tm/fn

BRA INBUSTERS 'a.3

NOTHING HIDDEN cont. ••

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

without showing the message and then ask for the chosen card andshow it to the audience and then place it on the table next to yourprediction. Next tell the person to drop the deck of cards into thebag being careful not to flash the cards. You have opened the bagholding the clipped cards with your hand close to the mouth of thebag unknown to the audience and hold the bag high as the cards aredropped in. You release the clipped cards at the same time.

Now you say, "As you can see the cards have been well mixedand Now I am going to shake the bag for good measure. You must agreethat the order of the cards is not known by anyone. Would youbelieve that I can now stick my hand into the bag and identify thecards one by one just by the touch of my fingertips'? Or is it ESP?II

IIJust to prove that I am going to predict the card ahead of time."Here you write the name of the card that is on the tableS. Blace theprediction paper face down over the other one on the table. Nextreach into the bag. (Here it may be well to remove your coat androll up your sleeve before sticking your hand into the bag.) Feelfor the bent top of the paper clip. That will tell you that the cardsare face down and that the top card is the first card that you pre­dicted on the first slip of paper. So take that card out and showit to the audience but do not reveal the predictions yet. Just placethe card over the other one.

"For good measure, I am going to try to identify some morecards. 1I You reach into the bag again and get two more cards and callout the names and then bring them into view. (that will surelyget some gasps out of the audiencel) Next you can take out two morecards and have someone hold them face down and then call their names.

IISomeone callout a colorl QuicklySII One lady calls out red.III will try to find a red card." So you stick your hand into the bagagain and say, IIYesl I feel a red card. I believe it is the two ofdiamonds." It is of course so you show ito Next go for a black card.

You now have only one card left of the eight. It has the paperclip on it. IISomeone call odd or Evenl ll So no matter what they callout, reach in and remove the paper clip palming it and bring out thelast card after you call the name out.

For the climax, reveal the predictionsl Just pick out the twopapers and pass them out to two persons and have them readl

Empty the bag and return the cards.

It is quite evident that the Mentalist has all the leeway inthe presentaion. For the prediction, a spectator may be allowed tostick his hand into the bag and get the card. The prediction may bedone with two persons, making three predictions. The strong pointto be made is that the card is chosen while the pack is in the handsof the audience.

BRAINBUSTERS '83":3

AN AL MANN EX:CLUSIVE

'5lil4A- elltclt.c~tfAeH.-tEFFECT AND CHALLENGE. Using the performer's deck of cards, it

is given out for thorough mixing and examination. The spectatorplaces his hands under the table and hands the performer any fourcards. The performer calls out the names of the four cards whilethe cards are still held under the table.

THE CHALLENGE. Using the host's cards, the Mentalist repeatsthe test which proves to be more bizzare than the first test. Four(or two) cards are passed under the table from the shuffled deckof cards which the Mentalist has not touched to another spectator!

The Mentalist reaches under the table and by touching the cardsheld by the second spectator, he calls out the names of the fourcards which are then brought out and shown to be the cards called!

Both of the above effects appear miraculous and will totallydumbfound your audience so they should be presented in a seriousvein.

METHOD. For the presentation, you must have a paper and pencilon the table infront of you. There are several methods as follows.

Method 1. Steal one card from the deck. You are using your owndeck of cards so the stealing is a minor problem. The stolen cardis placed on your chair under your leg. When you receive the fourcards under the table, the stolen card is added to it, placing iton the bottom of the four. You must instruct the spectator to pleasedeal the cards in your hand face-down.

The cards are then divined one by one using the one-ahead sys­tem. With your hands under the table, you pretend to feel the cardswith your fingertips, for vibrations, you say! then bring your wri­ting hand out and write out the name of the stolen card on the paper.You state that you will write out the names for verification later.So next bring out the top card of the five and glimpse the card asyou place it on the table face-down.

Next reach under the table and pretend to identify the secondcard. Bring out your hand and write out the name of the card on thetable. Proceed in the same fashion BUT on the fourth card bring outthe bottom card, the stolen card and hide the other card under yourleg. If you sweep off the three cards on the table over the one inyour hand and then show them all will appear normal!

Method 2. A more dramatic presentation can be done by simplystealing four cards from your own deck. You must of course know thefour cards. Switch them for the four cards given to you and thenyou can just callout the four cards before bringing them out!

METHOD 3. Doing it impromptu with your own deck! When the fourcards are given you under the table, tear off the index corner fromone card and finger palm it in your writing hand. Then bring outyour hand and write out the name of the index now in your palm.

Next pass the torn card to the bottom and do the one-aheadsystem! When you bring out the last card, cover the torn corner withyour thumb and fan the other three cards over it!

BRAINBUSTERS '8)

BLIND ENCHANTMENT corrt , .,

4

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

Some of the wise ones in your audience will begin to offer asolution to your effects, BUT you stop them cold by saying,

"Blind people can read with their fingertips by the Braillesystem. I have been acused of doing that but to prove to you thatI am not resorting to that I will repeat the test with the host'sown deck of cards."

Now you will conpletely silence everyone with what follows.Have a lady sit on your right and a gentleman on your left. Have thecards shuffled several times. You say, "Please note that I willnot handle the deck."

You have two cards in your pocket that belong to the Host.These are the two cards stolen during the first effect with the pa­per bag. You have of course memorized the two cards.

After the cards are well mixed tell the person to place hishands under the table and to give the lady any two cards from thedeck face-down. Caution them not to flash the cards to anyone.Tell the lady to keep her hands under the table with the cards facedown. They must not see the cards.

You then say that you must touch the cards. So reach over andgently clip the two cards with your left hand and place the stolentwo cards aligned over the two the lady is holding. Then you pullfast on the two cards held by the lady and at the same time pushthe two stolen cards into her hand, saying, "OHI Please do not letgo of the cards. Hold on to them.'" You have just exchanged the twocards I

Ask the gentleman to give you the deck under the table. Addthe two cards to it and bring it out saying; "I can tell by theweight that there are 8 pips missing. The two of hearts and the6 of clubsl"

The same test can be done with four cards and with more thanone person receiveing cards under the table, but the test as statedabove is devastating as it is.

WITH FOUR CARDS, Say that the lady is given four cards underthe table face-down and unknown to anyone. You have two known cardspalmed under the table. Reach over and gently touch the four cardsand give them a slight tug. This will get the lady used to youpulling on the cards. Bring your hand over the table and say thatyou know one of the cards. So write down the name of one of thestolen cards. Reach for the cards under the table again and takewith your left thumb and fingers the two center cards held by thelady and insert the known cards under the top card of the four.Then pullout the two center cards and push in the two known cardsl

The lady is still holding on to the cards so she suspects little.You now know the identity of the two center cards held by the

lady. Place the new stolen cards on your lap and sight their iden­tity while concentrating on the second card. So write down the secondcard of the first two known cards and also write out the last two

BRAINBUSTERS t 8.3

BLIND ENCHANTMENT corrt , ••

.5

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

cards that you have just stolen and sighted saying."I think thatthe other two cards are these but I am not sure. Let me check again,"

So you reach for the lady's cards under the table and repeatthe maneuver but first tell the lady to transfer the top card tothe bottom. Feel the card and then say, "Please transfer anothercard to the bottom." After this the two unknown cards are the twocenter cards of the four held by the lady. So exchange the two cen­ter cards for the two known cards you are holding In the same fashionas before.

Next ask the lady to compare her cards with the notes you wrote.You still have two stolen cards that belong to the host so re­

turn them to the deck in your first opportunity or do another testwith them however the test you just did should suffice for the day.

NOTE. During the above test, you must ask the lady to helpyou as the test is most difficult. She must hold the cards squaredat all times and she must keep them out of sight until the testis finished.

IMPROMPTU WITH FOUR CARDS! Let's say that you have been chal­lenged with a strange deck of cards and that you have not had achance to steal a single card. Have the deck shuffled saying thatyou will not touch it. Have them pass four cards to the lady underthe table. Here you can tell them to look at the cards before thetest if they wish. Say that you must touch the cards gently andpass your hand over the lady's hand and cards. Then write out thename of anycard but keep it secret. Tell them that you already havean impression of one of the cards.

Next reach for the cards again under the table and steal one.Just take one of the middle cards out. The lady will not know thedifference. After you glimpse this card stick it back into the la­dy's hand second from the bottom. She is now holding four cards.You know the identity of only the third card from the top.

So write out the name of the known card and scratch out thefirst name you wrote. Later you can tell them that you made one mis­take and had to scratch it out. You now proceed one-ahead. Bringout the top card and glimpse it and write it down as the secondcard, etc. You must of course feel the cards before you write downa name. When you get to the third card leave it in her hands andtake out the fourth card. The third card is brought out last.

Give them your notes to read.If you wish to do the test without bringing the single cards

up, then you just keep stealing cards one at a time, glimpsing themand replacing them. :Do the two center cards first and then tell thelady to pass cards from top to bottom and then reveal the new twocenter cards in the same fashion.

Any way you do it, it is a killer effect!

BRAINBUSTERS '8)

6

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

el41SdtCe:Here is another 'under-the-table' brainbuster

where the method is elementary.In EFFECT, A person is handed a straight

deck of cards in its case. He is instructed totake out the cards and examine them and shuffle ~- ~them at will. Then he is to place his hands un- ~der the table and cut the deck several times and ~then choose any four cards, letting no one see thefaces or the backs, and to place the cards intothe card box and close the box. He is then to Fig. 2hold the box under the table.

Performer then touches the box lightly for 'vibs' and thenusing another deck of cards takes out a card and places it intoan envelope which he gives to a second person to hold.

Person holding the card case is then told to take out onecard and give it to the performer under the table. Performer takesthe card and places it into a second envelope which he may alsogive to a third person. This is continued until all the four cardsare out of the box. When the cards are compared they are two setsof duplicates. The performer has divined all the four cardsl

METHOD, This is an almost automatic way of getting one-aheadon your audience.

Get a piece of double-stick Scotch Tape. Every Mentalist shouldhave a roll of this tape handy. Place a tiny piece of tape on thecenter of the back face of the card case. Then attach one of theplaying cards to it back-side showing. You of course must know theidentity of this card. The back of the case will appear natural asthe design of the card appears to belong there. But, like the ma­gician's thumb tip, the back of the case is hardly never seen byyour audience, especially if you are working at a table. The caseis always placed on the table front-side up as shown in Fig. 2and th~ attached card on the back side is out of sight alwaysl Thecase can be trusted to the hands of the VIP without danger of ex­posure.

You will also need two letter envelopes and another deck ofcards. (Prediction slips of paper can be used instead of a seconddeck, although people like the idea of two decks. It all depends onyour presentation.)

PRESENTATION. After the deck is shuffled (it is your deck) andfour cards have been chosen under the table, have the person placethe cards into the case sight-unseen. While he holds the deck un­der the table, you touch the case for the dramatics and then takeout the second deck and remove the duplicate of the attached cardand place it into an envelope and give it to a person on your right.

Next ask the person with the card case to take one card outand hand it to you sight unseen. You glimpse the card as you place

BRAINBUSTERS •83

7

AN AL MANN EX.CLUSlVE

EN BOlTE • •• corrt ,

it into a second envelope which you hand to a person on your lefttelling him to not open the envelope yet.

This proceedure is repeated with the next two cards.With the fourth card, you claim that you can not get any

'vibs,' so you ask the person to shake the case a bit. Still no'vibs.' So then you take the case and shake it yourself and whiledoing it, open the case, take the card out and replace it with thecard that is attached to the outside of the case. Then give the caseback to the person and tell him to take the card out. (the othercard can be attached to the outside of the case or just palmed intoyour pocket). You need not touch the last card!

You must now remove the last card from the second deck and stickit into the envelope and then tell the audience to compare cards.

You need not worry as to the order of the cards. It is not im­portant since the cards are placed into the envelopes one at a timein no particular order.

The act of placing the cards into the card case will createtalk and make the test seem miraculous.

CARD CASES. More fabulous Brainbusters can be presented withspecially gimmicked card boxes. I refer you to the following.

For our purpose, the best tricked or gimmicked case can befound in Al Baker's "Pet Secrets." This case is also treated in"The Third Ecstasy.". This gimmicked case will add three known cardsto the top of the deck. (see also The Pall Bearers Review, vol.4 #12)

The Miller Card Case, in More Card Manipulations by Hugarddescribes a case that can add about eight cards to the deck.

Peter Warlock in Patterns for Psychics, describes the cons­truction of a case with a flap for use with the Brainwave deck.

William Larsen in The Sphinx Vol. 23, #3 describes an effectwith the finer card boxes that telescope.

A DIFFERENT MlRACLEl The late Joseph Dunninger created asensation with this type of effect. Working at the table or platformthe magician has some one shuffle and cut a deck of cards and thenkeep one. He is told to remember the card and may also show itaround. The card is then returned to the deck and the deck is againshuffled and cut by anyone. The deck is then passed to a person onthe opposite side of the room or table. This person is told to pleasestudy the cards and that one card will stand out to him. This cardyou say, "Will attract you and will look different from the rest."

After a moment the spectator succeeds in picking out the cor­rect cardl

The solution is simple. The Magician uses two decks. One deckhas the large giant-size pips while the other deck has the normalpips. The large-pip deck is switched secretly for the other whilethe spectator is showing his card aroundl The large-pip card isreturned to the normal pip deck. The rest is obvious.

BRAINBUSTERS ' 8J

8

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

*Ike Se4te~ tJoteuA Ootw (pronounced you-two) may very well

be a creature from the planet Vulcan, BUT itisn't. The letters ooTW stand for Out-Of-This­World.

So after the next-door neighbor's kidcomes over and floors everyone with his mas­terful presentation of OOTW come back andstudy The Sealed Ootw.

Paul Curry's effect is a classic in cardmagic and will ever remain so. But for a timethe effect was so popular that everybody andhis third cousin new the working of it. Inthe 1940's tens of thousands of these rons. soldworld wide for $1. The effect was known in everybar room, card room and drawing room in the worldor so it seemed. ~verytime you baffled someone silly with OOTW, hecould come back a week later and tell you how you did it. He hadbeen so impressed with the effect that he told all his buddies atthe office plus all his relatives and someone told him how it wasdone. That is exactly what happened to me in the backwoods ofMexico.

Fortunately Magicians have the ability to getting ahead of thelayman. I recall the story of the Magician who walked into a barroom in Portland Maine and baffled everyone by doing OOTW with ashuffled deck. Many of the patrons new the original OOTW but theywere completely mystified when they saw the effect done with a shu­ffled deck!

I believe Harry Lorayne is credited with having invented theOOTW with a shuffled deck. A stroke of genius, no less!

Here I offer you "The Sealed Ootw.. "

EFFECT, From a shuffled deck, two spectators separate thecards sight-unseen and place them into four envelopes. When thespectators open the-envelopes it is seen that each envelope containscards of only one color. Two envelopes contain all the red cardsand the other two envelopes contain all the black cards!

The envelopes are carefully marked before the test with thewords "Red" and "Black!" in large letters. Besides, the envelopesare initialed or signed by two persons! Each person gets one redand one black envelope! Envelopes are ungimmicked!

TO PREPARE, Take two letter envelopes and marked them "RED"with large letters with a red ink marker. Take two other letter en­velopes and mark them "BLACK" in large letters with a black inkmarker. That is all you will need besides a deck of cards, anyone'sdeck of cards! The effect is best done at a table. A lady sits tothe left across the table and a gentleman to your right across thetable. Let's call them Mary and John.

9

BRIANBUSTERS '8)

THE SEALED OOTW •• corrt , •.

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

THE PRESENTATION, The original set-upis as shown in Fig. ). The four envelopesare address-side up with the words showingin front of you. So proceed as follows.

Mary

Fig. )

John

Magicianthe envelopes.Let John signand Mary Mary

1. "Let me show you a test with cards thatyou will think is truly amazing. If it works.Sometimes it fails. It is done with four en­velopes. Please note that the envelopes aremarked "Red" and "Black."

"Please sign your names onEach of you get two envelopes."the two envelopes on your rightsigns the other two.

1atAcK I deck

IlClol QIR.o I)et.4C( I

John

2. Let John keep the "Red" envelope whileyou take back the Black one and place itto your right. Mary keeps the "Black" en­velope and you take back the Red one andplace it to your left. The envelopes arestill address-side up with the words show­ing.

Fig.4

John

Dc>=<JRed

Magician

Magician

aBlack

Fig. 5

Mary

). Pick up the deck and say, "The test isvery simple. It is a guessing game. As youknow playing cards come in two colors.Red and Black. All you have to do is toguess what color each card is by lookingat its back. For example (take a red cardfrom the deck) say that you have guessedthis card is red. (turn the card over)It is red so you put it into the "Red" en­velope." (take a black card from the deck)"But if you think the card is black (showthe card), place it into the "Black" enve­lope." You have given the red card to Johnto insert into the "Red" envelope which heholds and the Black card you have insertedinto the "Black" envelope. The envelopes are again left address-sideup with the words showing. This is very important as you are progra­ming their minds to think Red and Black.

However Johnvs "Black" envelope after handling it, you haveleft it in front of you. Repeat the same thing with Mary and at theend place her "Red" envelope on top of Johnvs "Black" envelope asshown in Fig. 4

4. Take up the two envelopes in front of you and turn them oversaying, "Please turn the envelopes over so that they are flap side

BRAINBUSTERS '83

THE SEALED OOTW • •• cont. ••

10

AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE

up." And right away give John the deck saying, "Please shuffle thedeck several times and cut it all you want. It is very importantthat the cards be well mixed. Then pass the deck to Mary and lether shuffle some more."

You have in front of you two envelopes flap-side up. The topone is marked "Black"and the bottom one is "Red. 1I But the marks can­not be seen. So during the misdirection of shuffling the cards, se­parate the envelopes. Place the top envelope to your left and thebottom envelope to your right. The condition is shown in Fig. 5.

5. Take back the deck after the shuffling and make a fan facing youand say, "Remember that you shuffled the cards. I will not disturbthe order." Take a red card from the left half of the fan andask John to guess if it is red or black. Whatever he says place thecard into one mf the envelopes on your right. If he says "Red ll givehim the card to place into his envelope. If "Black" place it intothe envelope to your right.

6. Continue in like manner picking at least 20 cards from left halfof the fan, all red, of course. After this you will have at least20 black cards on the left half of the fan, the top half of thedeck.

7. Give the deck to Mary and tell her to take one card at a timeand guess its color, sight unseen. If she thinks it is "Red" sheis to give you the card to insert into the envelope on your left.If she thinks it is Black she is to place it into the envelope

she has. She is to continue in the same manner until about20 cards have been dealt. (Mary deals from the top of the deck.)

8. Next tell Mary to turn the cards face up and spread them on thetable (the cards left over in her hand), "As we can see," you say,"The cards are well mixed.

9. Tell John and Mary to check their envelopes to see how they did.At the same time place the envelope on your right on top of the en­velope on your left and hold them with your right hand still flap­side up.

10. After the initial amazement with the two envelopes, turn yourright hand over saying, "Now see how you did with these. I have~ot touched the cards." Throw the envelopes in front of John andMary.

THE ACT of placing a red card openly into the "Red ll envelopeand a black card into the "Black" envelope at the beginning andthe fact that the envelopes are unequivocably marked completes themystery!

BRAINBUSTERS '83

11

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

"7l4t ';It-a."Cr• .a: t:lt:Jt" by Al Mann

This is the stage version of OOTW done with two picture frames!The idea is credited to Art Neal who first used picture frames ina marketed effect called "Out of outer-Space." In Neal's versiona person is called on stage who shuffles a deck of cards and thenseparates the cards sight-unseen into red and blaOk placing themface down into two picture frames. When the frames are turned overit is seen that all the red cards are in one frame (painted red)and all the black cards are in the other frame (painted black.).

In Neal's version, the spectator doing the separation was astooge. The effect is fabulous nonethelessl

Fig. SA

Red

BlackRed

Black

Here is my version done without help from anyone except theparticipating members of the audience. It is a one-man effect.

YOU WILL NEED. Two picture frames, size 9! by 12 inches, com­plete with glass and cardboard backing. The frames have a woodenpartition down the center so that actually thereare two frames in each. The backs of the framesare equipted with spring locks so that theback boards can be placed and locked instantly.

THE PRESENTATION. Place the two pictureframes glass side down and remove the backs ofboth. The two frames should be placed one overthe other on an inclined table top so that theyare visible to the audience.

Borrow a deck of cards or use your own.Have several persons shuffle the cards.

Inform the audience what is to be done.Then proceed to do the OOTW effect as detailedin "The Sealed OOTW except that now you willuse the picture frames to put the cards into.

Fan the deck to yourself and take out ared card from the left half of the fan andwithout showing it ask anyone to choose redor black and then place the card accordinglyinto the top left-half frame or the bottomleft half-frame.

If 'red' is called, place the card face-downinto the left-half of the top frame. If 'black' is called, placeit into the left-half of the bottom frame. Proceed in the samefashion until about 20 cards have been placed.

Next, give the cards to anyone from the audience and tell himor her to hold the cards face-down in one hand and to take one cardat a time sight-unseen and to place the card into the right-halfof the top frame if they think the card is 'black' and into theright-half of the bottom frame if they think it is 'red.'

12

BRAINBUSTERS '83 AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

THE FRAMED OOTW •• cont.. '

stop the dealing after about 20 cards and take the deck andfan it to the audience to show that the deck is well mixed.

As matters stand, your audience sees two picture frames, oneover the other and some face-down cards.

The moves that follow are crucial and must be done one at atimel "Let's see how we did." You say.

1. Replace the back board on the top frame and lock it inplace and then,

2. Turn the frame over from top to bottom, like letting thetop edge fall down, and replace the frame face-out in the same po­sition it was before.

NOTEI The audience cares little how you turn the frame overand pay little attention to the turning. All they are interestedin is to see the face of the frame. And when they see that the redcards are separated from the blacks, they will let out a gasp andthen all reason will be suspended!

3. Next replace the back board on the lower frame and lock itinto place BUT DO NOT TURN THE FRAME OVER but take it on the leftside with your left hand and on the right side with your right handand TURN THE WHOLE BODY AROUND to face the audience. Another gaspno doubt.

(A dramatic way to display the second frame, is to hold theframe facing the floor. Look at the audience and ask. "Would youlike to see this one?" By this time your audience has lost tractas to any special handling of the frames. Then slowly expose theface of the frame.)

4. Replace the frame face-out in its original place so thatthe view is now like in Fig. 5A! Voila! another miracle!

Keep in mind that no amount of reason can account for whatthe audience sees. They shuffled the cards and picked them! Thereis no way in which the frames can be manipulated (so they think)!And everything can be examined.

If you wish, the frames can be painted half-red and halfblack but then you must be careful in the handling so that at theend all will be normal

NOTE III While handling the single cards, do not hold themover the frames as the audience may see a reflection in the glass.

There you have it, Gentlemen. If you do not think this oneeffect alone is worth buying this rons. it is because you have notyet tried the effect on an audience.

With a small effort you can do the effect with giant sizecards, or red and black ESP cards, and larger picture frames.

The effect is strong enough for the closing number I

Have fun,

13

(201 ) 431-2429

POSTOFFICE BOX 144 • FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY 07728

13d14AAz

?4. eeJIILC.~e.rJ, Vi'~lJeJ,4"'U(1982) Copyright by Al Mann Exclusives

Two very interesting chapters on Geometricalvanishes are treated in Martin Gardner's 'Mathematics, Magicand Mystery (chapters 7 and 8).'

The study deals with the Principle of Concealed Distributionof Matter resulting in the mysterious loss or gain of areal

This amazing paradox has not been properly applied to theMentalists' art. Here is a first attempt.

"'/114 BtAe« ~~U ..EFFECT. The Mentalist shows a square piece of card (or paper)

and says that he has a written prediction on it which he will dis­close later. However, he explains, the prediction is in code andhe will later instruct someone in the audience how to decode it!

He next has the card signed by someone and then openly cutsit into several pieces, seals the pieces in an envelope and handsit to anyone to hold.

Another person is then asked to callout the name of any play­ing card. Mentalist records the name called and then has the personholding the envelope cut it open and remove the pieces. He instructsthe person to construct a sentance with the pieces " like solvinga puzzle. When the sentance is constructed it reveals the name ofthe card!

Fig.7

PREPARE a piece of card or paper 3 inchessquare ( Fig. 6 ). Draw line A through the cen­ter point of the card and at 10 degrees in­clined to the horizontal.

Next draw line B perpendicular to line A.Then write in the words as shown. Your audiencewill never see the card in this condition andthey will never see lines A and B.

If the card is then cut through lines Aand B and rearranged so that the message islegible it will look like in Fig. 7 I

You will now have a void space of 3/4inch square. Where did the material in thevoid go? It was distributed around theperimeter of the card, so that the newcard is now a bit larger but hardly notice­able. Since the audience did not measure thecard they are non the wiser.

FOR THE PRESENTATION, you prepare ~

Fig. 6

\

BRA INBUS TER .' 83

THE BLACK HOLE •• cont. .•

14

AN AL MANN EXCLUSIVE

3/4 inch square of card of the same material and attach it to awriting pad with a tiny bit of double-sided scotch tape.

After the card is called, write the name on the writing padand also write the initials on the 3/4 inch square of card and thenpalm the piece.

After the spectator rearranges the message correctly he willnotice a piece missing. "Oh!" You say, "There is a piece missingl"So take the envelope, look into it and say, "Here it is!" andshake the envelope upside down and let the piece drop on the table.

End of Miracle.

The misdirection is perfect. The audience saw the card whole.The card pieces were all sealed into the envelope. And the messageis then read correctly.

The proper way to cut the card is to cut it along line A butleave it attached by about 1/8 inch material. Then cut across lineB and then finish the first cut. That way it looks like severalcuts were made and fumbling is avoided 0

NOTEa For our purpose in creating Mental effects, we must al­ways draw the lines through the center point of the card so that theintersection of the two lines will be made at the center. The seriousstudents will discover that the point of intersection can be madeat any point on the card and the angle that line A is drawn to thehorizontal can be any angle! But the resulting void varies with thedegree of angle and the student can spend a lifetime drawing up ta­bles for the various angles, etco

In the above effect, a spectator may be allowed to sign thecard on the blank side behind the Performer's signature. When thecard is shown to the audience only the blank side is shown.

NOTE IIa If the angle of inclination of line A with the hori­zontal is increased, the area of the void space and the card in­crease also. At an angle of 20 degrees the size of the void spacewill be about 1-1/16 inch square. This is large enough to write ina spirit message or the picture of the lady's favorite flower, etc.

Line B must always be perpendicular (90 degrees) to line A.

In Fig. 6 , the writing on the card appears upside down. Thisis only to show that the four pieces of the card remain in the samequarter but are rotated so that the center of the card becomes theoutside corners of the card. In actual practice you can show thecard writing side up. The message in only flashed to the audienceto show that it is there. The lines can be replaced with pencil dotsas will be detailed.

1.5

BRAINBUSTERS '8) AN AL MANN EX.CLUSIVE

B

A

Ge~rte

~)tFig. 9

Fig. 8

exactly 1/2 inch

TO PRESENT: Collect live names and writethe names only, without the numbers, on thecard. The live names are Bill, Tom, George,Joe and Mike. Show the live names that havebeen written. Fig. 8.

Next call for a dead name. This namegoes into the 1/2 inch rectangle, Carl. Showthe dead name to have been written to the per­son. Next write in the numbers as shown. Havesomeone sign the back of the card at the bottom.

Cut the card following the lines and stealthe dead name. This can be done by placing thepieces on a writing pad and the dead nameover double-side scotch tape on the pad.

Dump all the pieces on the table and havesomeone rearrange the pieces. The 'Dead Name' will be missingwithout a clue. This is shown in Fig. 9, the performer's name iswritten under 'George.'

Or if you wish, the dead name strip can be left among thepieces and you can show that it does not belong in the list ofnames!

?h, ~~At" lIt/ill!,:This may very well be the most profound

effect you can do with the Principle of Con­cealed Distribution!

Instead of making a message appear, wewill make a 'Dead Name' disappear. Correspon­dingly after the Dead Name disappears the re­sulting card will be smaller than the origi­nal!

In Effect the patter can be anything youcan invent. You may say that you will provethat the spirit of Dead Persons do not belongamong the living.

TO PREPARE use an index card size ) by .5inches. Draw line A inclined 10 degress to thehorizontal. Point A (Fig. 8 ) is approximately1t inches from the bottom of the card. (ac­tually point A can be anywhere as desired aswill be shown later).

Draw line B parallel to line A but must beabove line A. Draw in the other two linesperpendicular to lines A and B. These linesare only guide lines to cut the card by. Theycan be in any color or shade.

16

BRIANBUSTERS '8) AN AL MANN EKCLUSIVE

The story is told about five deadsoldiers that were buried with honors inthe court yard of the local church.

Years later the name of one of thesoldiers was removed from the honor rollsas it was discovered that he had consortedwith the enemy.

While the townspeople were thinkingabout what to do about it, a violent stormpassed over the town. In the morning a ~coffin was found in the church yard. It had ~~

been disgorged by the ground. Upon inves­tigation it was discoverd to be the coffinof the dishonered soldier.

(Perhaps the reader has a betterstory). In any event the effect is thatany coffin called by number from 1 to 5can be made to disgorge itself from thecard. Actually the card with the coffinsis shown to the audience. But at first the Fig. 10coffins are unnumbered. Later after thenumber is chosen, the Mentalist writes in the numberssecretly or openly making sure that the chosen number goes onthe coffin in the 1/2 inch strip. The card used is again an indexcard and the lines are drawn as in the previous effect.

NOTE. The lines need not be drawn • Pencil dots are drawninstead. One dot at the begining of the line and another dot at theother end of the line. That way you will know how to guide the scis­sors for the cutting.

A STAGE SIZE VERSION of this concept can be made of wood. Itshould."-be-"-:f bY-5 feet Til"size and mounted on a frame 0 The wood panelis already cut into the correct pieces. The vanishing strip mustmeasure exactly 6 inches wide. The length of it is imaterial butshould be proportional to the one shown in Fig.

If the wood is machine cut, the lines will hardly be noticeable.In Effect the audience sees a frame with say five items on it. Itis dismantled and placed back in place. Now they see only fouritems and the board and frame are the same size. Actually the framehides the difference. It is presented as an unsoluble puzzle witha piece left over.

NOTE. The 1/2 inch strip as shown in Fig. 10 can be placedanywhere on the card But the inclination must be the same.