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Copyright© 200S Doee Hilford

First print ing Apri l, 200S

No portion of this book or original illustrations can be reproduced in anymanner without wrinen permi ssion of the copyright owner.

Docc Co.P.O. Box 54602 2 Bal Harbour , FL 33154

docc@docc hilford.com

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What is Real Time MentalismTM?Mentalistic effects are only entertaining if they're shown

to someone. There are hundreds of fine effects designed forstage, stand-up or close-up situations, but few that can beperformed without the necessity of any special props or set­ups. Swami gimmicks, nail writers and peek wallets can beforgotten on the dresser and our best pieces are never seen byanyone. An unprepared performer cannot perform most of theeffects available, and so, often doesn't perform at all.

If an effect is Real Time, it doesn' t require any gim­micks. Of course, gimmicked methods may be slightly easier touse, but Real Time Mentalism™ provides alternate techniques.It is left up to the performer whether he or she will use a specialgimmick he or she has ready, or entertain with nothing morethan borrowed items at hand. Real Time Mentalism" is trulyI00% impromptu . This is great for those who want to readminds, influence thought or generally chill any audience at asimple request.

This series of effects, that I'm releasing as Real TimeMentalism'>' , include several tricks that can be preformed "onthe fly", that is, without special preparation or special gim­micks. Some require more than one spectator or a few bor­rowed items, but all are designed for use in everyday situations.They're all tested in front of real people by myself as well as ahandful of professional mentalists before they're released toyou.

As with all of the effects I publish, these are original andstrong. I hope you use these effects. That's what they're meantfor.

Docc Hilford

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rn-crodudron:Controlling a person 's free selection, unbeknownst to

them, is possibly as close to "mind control" as a mentalistcan hope to come. The lay public knows little to nothingabout forcing techniques. I recall, as a youth, the unbeliev­able wonder of discovering that magicians could "force" acard on someone. My, as yet, uneducated understanding wasthat I was going to learn how to allow anyone a freeselection of a card, and what they chose would be under mycontrol. I didn't realize it was, more often than not, accom­plished by sleight of hand or trick decks. I thought I wasgoing to get a special power! A power that could be used tocontrol any choice a participant might make.

Somewhere between instructions that called for me touse my favorite method of forcing, and books that taughtintricate sleights, I learned the simple Magician's Choicetechnique. Its origin dates back hundreds of years to a storyof a man named Hobson. This clever man was credited witha talent that allowed a buyer to select any horse in the stable,ouly to be "forced" to purchase the nag.

Early magic books used a simplified version wheretwo choices were offered the spectator. If the participantchose the correct item it was used; if he chose the wrongitem it was discarded. This tactic has been called the "Thisor That" method of forcing. As magicians got bolder, theyoffered more choices to the participants. However, becausethere wasn't a clear formula for technique, the methodbecame cluttered.

Phantini, AKA Gene Grant, penned a clear method inthe 1950s in his book, The Mental Key. He called hismethod, Phantinism. It allowed for a free selection from fivedifferent objects. His approach was to try to force a single

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object by placing it in a psychologically desirable position.If it wasn't chosen, there were a series of outs. Jack Deanfollowed up on Phantinism in his manuscript, MentalChoice in the 1990s.

In the 1970s, Phil Goldstein sold a ground-breakingpamphlet entitled, Verbal Control, and made the term,Equivoque, a standard title for the Hobson's Choice. Hisapproach still used the positioning of the force item, but heanticipated wrong selections. I used his method for a quitewhile with good results.

Subsequent authors' tactics incorporated wordy expla­nations of choices and eliminations that seemed to be de­signed to lull the participant into confusion. Rather thanclean outs to adjust the procedure, the audience was leftfeeling the magician bullied the spectator into feeling hewasn't following instructions.

Some contemporary mentalists have taken this misun­derstood concept even further by introducing intimidationand humiliation of the participant! With severe attitudes andharsh commands they leave the spectator feeling embar­rassed she didn't select the correct object. Perhaps it wasn'ttheir intention to appear so inconsiderate, but that is theaudience's perception. The sad tiling is that a new genera­tion of mentalists can think this is an acceptable approach toentertainment. Being a considerate performer isn't the sameas being a weak performer.

In creating a Magician's Choice of his own, DavidBerglas took a decidedly different tact than those beforehim. The force item could be located anywhere among anynumber of items. The magician's mind-set wasn't to psycho­logically force a specific item, but to use a series of multiplechoices. This strategy was the flip-side of the psychological!

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multiple out tactic. It had many advantages, but one had tohave a quick and cunning mind to pull it off.

My version of the equivoque uses the Berglas ap­proach, yet offers the mentalist a simple script. He doesn'thave to think. on his feet, as what he's going to say has beenlearned beforehand, and he says it every time!

The Magician's Choice has wrongly become a child­ish method offorcing an object, where it should be seen as atechnique for controlling a person' s free selection. Whenproperly presented, it is "the power"! But it's seldom per­formed correctly, and that 's the problem.

Most magicians are cornered into having to pauseafter a spectator makes a choice so he can figure which wayhe wants to direct the participant. If the spectator chooseswrong, he must stop and think whether he should keep theselected items or discard them. And all too often, the in­structions don't follow the same procedure. At one point theselected items may be used and the next discarded. It doesn'ttake an astute audience to discover the obvious method.

E'Voque eliminates these problems. Its procedure isso clear that the effect can be repeated for the same audi­ence. There's little to remember, but there's a lot to learn.

Without the trail-blazing techniques of Gene Grant,Phil Goldstein, Jack Dean and David Berglas (plus a fewothers) this new technique would have never come intoexistence. Thanks.

I hope this new procedure revolutionizes the way youforce an object on a spectator. I know it did for me!

Docc HilfordApril, 2005

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E'VoqueThis is my favorite effect in Real Time Mentalismw.

It can be done anywhere, at any time, with any objects. Inthis particular form, it ceases to be a clever amusement andbecomes a potent demonstration of mentalism. I perform itseveral times a day; for waiters and waitresses, hotel staff oranybody who has three minutes to see something remark­able. I don't have to have any special props with me, nor doI have to have anything set up. It's ready to go when I am,and that makes it Real Time.

Effect:In essence, a person chooses any number of dissimilar

objects (usually around seven) and lays them in a row. Asecond participant looks over the group of items and jotsdown the name of one of them on a piece of paper. The firstperson is instructed to make several choices concerning theitems. Half of them are eliminated, then a couple more arediscarded. Finally, one object remains and it matches theitem the second person chose before any choices were made!

I can't stress how powerful this effect is. You' ll haveto hear the gasps of amazement and see the sparkle in theeyes of your audience for yourself.

Present-at-fan:Unlike other techniques of Magician's Choice, the

same things are said every time E'Voque is performed. So,the presentation has almost no variation.

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Imagine that you' re in an art gallery, standing at a deskwith an attractive saleslady named Amanda There is acouple watching what you' re about to do. Here's what theconversation during the performance might sound like:

"Grab a few small items, about seven will be fine.Make them all different." Amanda lays out a pen, a stapler,a notepad, a cell phone, a paperclip, her keychain and a wineglass in a row on the desk. You address the woman from thecouple watching .

"Here, on the back of my business card, write downthe name of any of these items. But don't let Amanda seewhat you wrote." The woman writes something and holds itagainst her body. You turn your attention back to Amanda.

" You' re going to make a lot of choices. They' re allyour own decisions; in fact, you' ve already made a fewchoices . You selected all these items. Now, I want you to putthem in any order." Amanda re-arranges the items in a rowon the desk.

"Fine, now you're going to number these things outloud from I to 7. You get to choose whether you count fromyour right or from your left. What you decide will changewhat number each item gets." Amanda counts from her leftto her right, touching each object and calling out consecutivenumbers.

"There are odd and even numbers. Which shall wehave, odd or even?" Amanda chooses even.

"Give me the evens." She pushes the even numberedobjects toward you and you set them aside in a group.

"Now, arrange these four things in any order youwant." Amanda re-arranges the objects again.

"Choosing either hand, please hold up your magic

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fmger." Amanda looks a little perplexed and laughs. Eventu­ally, she holds up her index finger.

"How' d you know that's your magic finger? I'm justglad that 's the finger she held up! Now, with that finger,touch one of the items.. ." Amanda touches the pen. " .. .andwith your other finger touch another item and push themboth forward." She touches the keychain and pushes bothobjects toward you. You slide them to join the other dis­carded objects.

"Pick up these two objects, one in each hand. But youdecide which object goes in which hand." Amanda holds thetwo remaining items, the wine glass and the paper clip, onein each hand.

"This is the most important choice you're going tomake. You can feel that each item is different. They' redifferent sizes, different shapes, made of different materials.You may notice that the temperature of each item is differ­ent. Now, hand me one item." Amanda hands you the wineglass.

"Amanda, I'm going to give you a chance to make adecision that can alter your life. Do you want to change yourmind?" The saleslady pauses, thinks intently , but stillchooses to give you the wine glass. You hold the glass andlook it over for a moment. With your free hand you take thepaper clip from Amanda.

"You could have given me the paper clip. Or youcould have chosen any of these objects: the pen, the stapler,the notepad, the cell phone or your keychain. But you chosethe wine glass."

Turning to the other woman you ask for her choice."Which item have you been concentrating on?" The womanshows the card and written on it is, wine glass!

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You can see how powerful this effect is on everyonewho witnesses it or participates in it. In the above example,which really happened, Amanda and the other woman didn'tseem too interested during the procedure. But at the climaxboth were stunned. They followed me out of the gallery andcontinued to comment on how amazing the demonstrationwas!

Method:Words are everything in this technique. But they're

meant to clarify things, not to distract the participant. Every­thing you say is important , but even more important is whatyou don't say! NEVER STATE THE OBVIOUS! In otherwords, don' t say things like, " ... so that leaves these items,"or " ... we'll get rid of these things." Anything the spectatorcan see and understand by themselves doesn' t need to bestated. By using words like those, you direct the spectator'sattention to the places you don' t want attention. Again,NEVER STATE THE OBVIOUS!

The next thing you' ll need to learn is the basic script.You' ll always say:

-l "Hand me the evens, " (or "odds").

·2 "Touch one... and another, and push them for­ward. "

·3 "Hand me one. "

That's basically it! Of course there is some explana­tory patter, but the lines to force the object are: "Hand methe evens (or "odds'). Touch one... and another, and pushthemforward. Hand me one. " You won't vary what you say;you'll simply decide when to quit saying it.

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Now that you know the secret ofE'Voque, let's breakthe procedure down into steps. Each step will be based on aline from the presentational script above.

step 1:The Items

"Grab a f ew small items, about seven will be fine.Make them all different. "

You can use any numberof items for E'Voque. The

.-~ ~ best is about seven, but you~~.,~~ _b can use four, five or twenty-

U '" i:i>"":. five. Following this explana­tion, I'll explain how to usetwenty or more objects, but for

Seven chosen items now we' II say the participantselected seven different ob­jects and laid them in a row.

This is accomplished by suggesting "about seven". It's alsoimportant to make certain that the objects are differentenough to be described by one word. If there's a pen and ahighlighter in the row, the climax may be destroyed whenthe written prediction says "pen" and the woman says shemeant "the highlighter" ,

It makes little difference whether you are standingfacing her and the row of objects, or viewing them from hervantage point. The row should be, however, in front of theparticipant.

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The secret selection

step 2=The Predidion

"Here, on the back of my business card, write downthe name ofany ofthese items. "

Grabbing a disinterested third party to make the pre­diction is paramount. It was Bob Sheets who suggested thatI take this approach. He had seen me do the same thing in adifferent effect, but it never occurred to me to apply it inE'Voque. The combination makes the effect full and rich.The addition of a third party involves another person andbrings the entire audience together. It also takes the heat offyou as a manipulator. In the chapter The Third Line you'llsee how I make this feature of not really being involved inthe method an asset.

Don't make a big thing out of the third party's selec­tion. I did this for a while and it only wastes time anddistracts from the overall effect. Simply have her write the

name of one of the objects onthe back ofyour business cardor a handy piece of paper. (lprefer the business card be­cause it prompts everyone toask for a card for themselves.It's a little self promotion.)

"But don 't let Amandasee what you wrote. "

You may wonder howyou ascertain what the third party wrote. I initially thought apeek wallet or glimpse move would be best, but the answeris far simpler. Just look at the card! That's right, after she

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writes her selection, just openly look at what she wrote. It'sperfectly natural for you to check to see if she understoodyour request and followed your instructions. Everyone, in­cluding the third party, forgets your quick glance. There's noneed to secretly catch a glimpse. If she's holding the card,take her by the wrist, pull it back and look. If she set the cardon the desk, pick it up, check it and set it aside with the penon top of it so it stays hidden. The words emphasize thatAmanda shouldn't see what was written. So as long as youkeep it secret from Amanda, everything seems fair. It's abeautiful thing when 99% of the audience forgets you sawthe card; and that's what happens.

step 3=The Set-up

"You're going to make a lot of choices. They 're allyour own decisions; in fact , you 've already made a fewchoices. You selected all these items. "

Now, you set-up the participant to understand thatshe's not choosing an item, but making several choices. Asstated in the introduction, you're not trying to get a hit withthe first choice; you're offering a number of choices. Youwant to stress that she makes several free choices so whenyou adjust her choice it becomes invisible. Point out thatshe's already making free choices.

"Now, 1want you to put them in any order. "

The participant is given another free selection.

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The odd things

"Noll', arrange these f our things in any order youwant. .,

Skp5:

The Second Line

answers,answers,

choice you say, "Hand me the evens." If she"Odd," you say, "Hand me the evens." If she"Even," you still say thesame thing, "Hand me theevens."

See how you' re able tomake your command as soonas the answer is given. Youdon't have to think aboutwhether to say keep the oddsor take the evens. You don' thave to think on the fly. Youjust follow your script.

When she gives you the even (in this case) numbereditems, set them aside out of play. Don't say you're eliminat­ing some of the objects, that' s obvious and you don't slatethe obvious, remember? If you use seven items, there will beeither three or four items left, depending on whether you askfor the evens or the odds. It makes no difference how manyitems are left.

The participant gets another free choice. This timeyou' re setting up for the second line in your script. You' llalso inject some comic relief. If your presentation is tooserious the participant will feel challenged and not co-

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IMPORTANT: Even though your script is always thesame, there' s a slight, one word, variation. You will sayeither "hand me the evens," or "hand me the odds," depend­ing on where the force item is located. Wherever the forceitem is, odd or even, you ask for the opposite. Here, the glassis in the odd position, so you ask for the evens. Obviously, ifthe glass was in an even positionyou'd ask for the odds.You want to leave the force item untouched at this point.

"There are odd and even numbers. Which shall wehave, odd or even?"

The key to success in this technique is making yourrequests without hesitation. You must know what you' regoing to say before the participant makes her choice. Assoon as you see that the force item is in the odd position, youmentally repeat, "Hand me the evens, hand me the evens,hand me the evens." As soon as the participant makes her

step 4:The First Line

"Fine, now you're going to number these things outloud fr om I to 7. You get to choose whether you count fromyour right or fro m your left. What you decide will changewhat number each item gets. "

You're going to give her the first of three lines, "Handme the evens, (or odds) " so you have to prepare for it. She'llnumber the objects from either direction, but doesn't matter.You don't care what number the items get, you' re actuallylooking for whether the force item is at an odd or an evennumber. In this illustration we' ll say the glass is in positionfive. You know that the force item is odd.

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\ I, -operate as freely. Often, in this effect

or any effect without proper comicrelief, the 'audience will inject theirown comic comments. Check out anyhorror or suspense movie. You'll findcomic relief.

"Choosing either hand, pleasehold up your magic finger. "

This slightly confuses the par­ticipant. She didn't even know shehad a magic finger, let alone which The magic fingerfinger it was. But she'll eventuallychoose one. Another free choice. She' ll either select herthumb, index, ring, little finger or her middle finger. Nomatter what finger she selects say,

"How 'd you know that's yo ur magic finger?

This is a reassuring statement. She doesn 't know ifshe's following your instructions, so this statement let' s herfeel she's doing everything right. It causes her to be co­operative throughout the performance.

If she chooses any finger other than her middle one,say,

"I 'mjust glad that's the finger she held up!"

You get the laugh she avoided without saying any­tbing about the middle finger. It' s implied, yet not implied.This line will play for your grandmother, so don' t leave itout.

If she chooses her middle finger, she' ll certainly get alaugh. I had a woman of eighty-plus years use her left handto bend her right middle finger up. It was hysterical! Let theparticipant get the laugh, you've got an ad lib coming. Say,

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"I had a feeli ng that was her magic fin ger! "

Either way, you get a couple of laughs, a break in thetension and have the participant holding up a finger.

"Now, with that finger, touch one ofthe items ... "

The key words here are "that" and "touch". You mustsay "that" finger to set her up for your next instruction. Andshe must touch the item, not pick it up. If she touches theforce item, you stop right there. Your script is complete.Push the other objects to the discard pile and finish.

If she touches another object, continue with,

" ...and with your other finger touch another item andp ush them both forward. "

Because you mentioned "that finger" earlier, you nowsay, "your other finger," and everything fits as one sentence.Don't stress tile word "that", j ust say it. You want the wordto disappear if she touches the force item.

If the force item is now selected and pushed forward,immediately push the remaining objects (or object) aside. Ifshe pushes two indifferent items forward, push them aside tothe discard pile. But don't say anything about what you' redoing!

step 5:The ThfrdLine

"Pick up these two objects, one in each hand. But youdecide which object goes in which hand. "

The participant is left with the force object in one of

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"Now, hand me one item. "

answer, "But you had a chance to, and you chose the glass."This line changes her final action from handing you one ofthe objects, to making a choice as to which item she wants.It's done without her knowledge, but is in her memory. Iwish I could say that my mind created this killer line, butthat honor goes to Jon Stetson, America's Master Mentalist.

In previous equivoques, the mentalist is in a hurry todisclose his prediction. We get a little nervous about herhanding us the force item while she retains an indifferentobject. Or, we're so overjoyed she selected to keep the forceitem, we rush to the climax. Because the last bit is sheerbluff, we want to get it over with. But, the participantdoesn't know any of this. By pausing and letting her decideif she wants to change her mind, we actually strengthen theclimax.

And please don't alter the script so as to ask her, "Doyou want to change your mind?" This is poor theater at bestand rude at worst. If I asked my date where she wanted todine and upon hearing her answer asked her, "Do you wantto change your mind?" I might be headed for trouble. Itindicates that I don't respect her first choice. The build upmakes the chance to alter her decision important. Also,without the build up, the question seems like you' re trying toinfluence her choice. That's exactly what you're doing and ifshe discovers this fact, the trick turns simplistically stupid!

If she hands you the indifferent item, merely set itaside with the others and end the routine.

If she hands you the force item, you need to put theattention on it as the final choice. Hold it up and display it.Study it for a moment. Remember, unlike other equivoquesyou apparently don't know what the prediction is.

"You could have given me the paper clip. Or you

One in each hand

"This is the most impor­tant choice you 're going tomake. You can f eel that eachitem is different. They 're dif­fe rent sizes, different shapes,made ofdifferent materials. You may notice that the temper­ature ofeach item is different. "

The set up here wraps everything up. You make herbelieve that every other choice has been of little importance.The build up is to direct her thinking to the differencesbetween the objects, and away from which one she wants.

her hands. You've given heranother perfectly free choice;that of which hand the itemsare held in.

IMPORTANT: You've never stated what she wasactually doing during the demonstration. You haven't saidthat she's going to eliminate items or eventually choose oneof the seven objects. You've said only that she's going tomake a number of choices; and now she's making the mostimportant choice of all. No matter which object she handsyou, say:

"Amanda, I'm going to give you a chance to make adecision that can alter your life. Do you want to changeyour mind?"

This line doubles the strength of the entire effect. Itmakes the choice seem imperative. It gives you an answer tothe inevitable question that will arise after the trick; that of,"What if I would have chosen the paper clip?" Now you can

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could have chosen any oj theseobject: the pen, the stapler, thenotepad, the cell phone or yourkeychain. But you chose thewine glass. "

Gently take the remainingobject from her other hand andrecapitulate what the otheravailable items were. Start with The final ch oicethe item you take from her hand,in this case the paper clip. Set it in front of you and pick upone of the discarded items, name it and set it next to thepaper clip. Go through the remaining discarded objects,naming them and setting them in a row before you.

All that's left is to disclose the prediction made by thethird party and accept your praise.

Opehfh~ Pa t terI open this trick, as well as many different effects with

patter similar to this:

"It really isn't me doing these cool things, it's you.Anybody can read another person' s thoughts; the difficultthing to do is transmit the thoughts. Let me explain. Radiocorporations spend millions of dollars on broadcast equip­ment and towers, but anyone can buy a two dollar radio andreceive the broadcast. So, when I can receive your thoughts,it' s only because you have transmitted them so accurately.

"Let me demonstrate what I mean. Grab about sevendifferent items.. ."

Some of these opening statements are based in part

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on the great Burling Hull's patter. They set the mood foryour performance. The glory goes to the participant, but sodoes the blame if an effect goes wrong. In that case, you canexcuse the participant by explaining that she's new to tbethought broadcasting game and she needs a little morepractice. Of course, nothing will go wrong with E'Voque.

The glory only seems to be the participant's. Theaudience, as well as the participant, understand that theeffect couldn 't happen without you being there. When askedif the same effect could be accomplished with any twosubjects, even if! weren't present, I answer:

"Sure. But only after years of study. My mind issomewhat like an amplifier for your mind. You send thethoughts, I just help make certain they get to their destina­tion. You can learn to do it by yourself as your mind getsstronger." Then I go into my own metaphysical teaching.This approach may not fit the type of performer you are, butthe patter' s here if you need it.

Aftertho~hts:

E' Voque is repeatable for the same audience. Even ifyou don't go all the way through all the choices, the audi­ence doesn't care. There's built-in misdirection from thethird party. If you get to the first half of the second line, tbatis, "Now, with that finger, touch one of the items..." and shetouches the force item, the third party will react. She'll oftensqueal or say "Oh!" and that indicates to the audience thatthe procedure is finished. It doesn't matter to the audiencethat you had the first participant push two items forward andpick up the remaining two and hand you one of them. It' suncanny, but it works because the psychological points have

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Seven people in balloon hats

been addressed in your presentation so the procedure isn't abattle between you and the participant. They want it to work!

David Berglas, the father of the multiple choice ap­proach , alters his opening on the second demonstration byhaving the participant divide the row of seven objects intotwo sections. Now, instead of noting whether the force itemis odd or even, it' s noted as being on the participant 's left orright. The line changes from, "Hand me the evens," to"Hand me the ones on the right." You still mentally repeat,"Hand me the ones on the right," several times in your headso you can make your request immediately after she choosesher left or her right. Tins alteration makes the entire proce­dure seem a little different from the first one. So any othervariations are explained away without comment.

Also, you may not want this effect to stand on its own.You may require a specific item to be selected in the middleof another effect. E'Voque can be perfect for such a need.You obviously don't use the third party, but the techniqueremains the same whenever you use E'Voque.

E'VOquefn~ PeopleThe method of forcing through the use of E'Voque

isn't limited to small objects close-up . I've done it withseven people on stage. It was Kirk Charles who suggestedusing balloon hats on kids and the PATEO Force as a stagepiece. I started using adults, E'Voque and another person tomake the prediction. It' s a fun routine for parties that leaveseveryone laughing and happy. Here's how:

You need two baggies with seven different colored(uninflated) balloons in each. Nine people stand up to help.One baggie is handed to a person, (the eighth guest), who

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stands to the side. A different colored balloon is handed toeach of seven of the remaining people to hold. It' s importantthat you point out each person has a different color.

The eighth guest chooses a single balloon from herbag and holds it hidden in her fist. You either take a casualpeek at it or see which balloons remain in the baggie whenyou put it away. In either case, you know the force color.The ninth person will make all the choices.

Walk down the row and make a balloon hat for each ofthe seven participants. This is great fun. Drinking adults (aswell as sober ones) love the silliness of a balloon hat. Use allthe "shtick" you know as you make them. (For lots ofballoon "shtick" look for my NEW DVD Two Kids, aBalloon and a Very Funny Man, to be released soon.) Whenyou get to the force color, make the most outlandish balloonhat you know.

Now, go through The E'Voque procedure with tileninth person and force the correct color.

Some of the lines are modified for use with people.You don't say, "Hand me the evens," you say, " .. .evennumbered people sit down." You want the comic relief oftile holding up a fin-ger gag, so you stillhave her hold up hermagic finger . Yousay, "With that fin­ger, touch one personand take them by thehand... and with theother finger, touchanother person andbring them both for-

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Ask seven people and the hostess tohelp. Seven people have different cocktails. (If you can ' tfind seven different cocktails already being consumed, askpeople without drinks to join you. The bartender willquickly make the remaining drinks necessary.)

The bartender makes the prediction. He writes one ofthe cocktails on a cocktail napkin and keeps it hidden. Youcasually check what he wrote and whisper to the bartender toquietly make tile drink he selected. It doesn't matter if theguests hear you.

The hostess is the participant, she' ll make all thechoices. The people are numbered, the evens sit down, theparticipant chooses one person and another and you followthe E'Voque technique. Some of the lines in E'Voquc aremodified, but the procedure is the same.

You get a lot of comic by-play with people and theirdrinks. Go down the line of drinkers and tell little jokesabout the cocktail at hand, compare the drink to the personholding it (when a man has a fruity drink or a woman isdrinking straight liquor), and stage whisper (when possible)for one guy to keep sipping his cocktail so you can say, "Ifyou continue there won't be anything left for the trick!"

ward." If she touches the force person first, you dismiss theothers. If not, the chosen people are led away to sit down.Same procedure, just a little different wording.

When it's time for the participant to hold the tworemaining objects in her hands, this time you have her holdthe two remaining people by the hand. She gives you oneperson' s hand and you proceed. Same thing.

Every time you dismiss people you point out thatthey've won their hat. This way it doesn 't seem like thechosen people are losers. They're, in fact, the winners.

When you have the force person standing next to theparticipant, the eighth person reveals her choice. You getclimax number one. You blow up the prediction balloon andmake a duplicate hat for her. The participant and you arestanding next to two people wearing the same type and colorballoon hat. It' s a guaranteed applause cue. That 's climaxnumber two. They sit down and you're left with the partici­pant. Tell her how great she is for being able to make all theright choices. She needs a party prize as well, but no silly hatfor her. Take out the baggie with the six other balloons andmake the cutest balloon animal you know. You'll get"aaahs" and "ooohs" and leave the audience with warmfuzzies. That, my friend, is climax number three. That 's a lotof entertainment from a handful of balloons.

Dr Cocktarl's PartyGa me

If you don't do balloon bats or ani­mals (and you should - even if you' re amentalist) you can utilize Dr. Cocktail'sparty game. This is one of my "secret"routines that I keep from other perform­ers. I expect you to keep it from them aswell. Dr. Cocktail

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At the conclusion, you reveal the bartender's choiceby showing the cocktail written on the napkin. You empha­size the prediction by handing the freshly made drink to theparticipant! And there's a kicker. Have a small gift box onthe bar. There's a gift label on it and a small pen under thelabel. The label has the words: "A gift fo r . the lastdrinker standing" and a space for the name. As soon as youknow the chosen drink, you also knowwho has it. When you' re at the bar withthe bartender, quickly write her name inthe space on the label. It only takes asecond and nobody knows what you' redoing. After the participant is given herdrink, thank her and dismiss her.

Turning to the last guest who was The giftchosen, ask the bartender for that littlegift on the bar. Say, "I had a thoughtyesterday. I saw an image ofa beautiful woman, dressed in acream colored evening gown. She had diamond earrings anddark hair. She was holding a cosmopolitan. Her name was,Nicole. And your name is Nicole, isn't it? In my imagina­tion, I saw a room full of partiers all piled up around her.She was, in fact, the last drinker standing! So r purchased alittle gift for her, even though r didn't know what the visionmeant. Here, Nicole, a gift for you." When she reads thelabel, "A gift f or Nicole, the last drinker standing' theaudience falls out! It seems as if you predicted even morethan what's written on the label. And inside the box arehigh-end chocolate truffles. This gift is good for a woman ora man.

This routine is one I do when I'm just an attendingguest. l get invited to a lot of parties. It's one of my favoritesbecause I don' t have to remember anything except which

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person has the force drink. It's very easy and a lot of fun ­ask Dr. Cocktail!

Adapt. Improvise. Over-coreeThat's the credo of the United States Marines; Adapt,

Improvise, Overcome. David Berglas is a master at it. Heuses the Magician's Choice to force a number of peoplefrom a group of thirty to forty people! E' Voque allows youto do the same. If you have twenty objects, have the partici­pant number the objects. Use the, "Hand me the evens,"strategy. Then have the participant divide them in half anduse the, "Hand me the ones on the right," ploy. Follow therest of the procedure as explained.

If you want to force an object out of three or fouritems, shorten the procedure. Begin with, "Hold up youmagic finger," and carry on from there.

Of course, E'Voque can be used with any items or anynumber. The key to the technique is that you have the scriptmemorized. You know what you're going to say BEFOREthe participant makes her choice. You simply decide whenyou'll stop reciting your script.

In an upcoming book, Papyrus of Ani - The OpenRead, a method is explained for reading an entire questionwhile performing E'Voque. There's no peek and it' s invisi­ble and stunning. Because the question answering usescombined methods, you must learn The Open Read in orderto perform it. But it illustrates how E'Voque can be used inmany Real Time effects.

This is one of the most versatile and potent weaponsavailable in mentalism. I hope you use it wisely. And, aboveall, have fun!

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O ther Books by Docc Hilford

I. The Richey Technique Revealed

2. Mephisto's Journey

3. Ball & Tube

4. Band of the Hand

5. The Sign of Four

6. The Hermit of Dreams

7. The Lolita System

8. Fern Fatal

9. The Star Tradeshow Act

10. At the Mountains of Madness

I I. The New Cinderella Act

12. The Dance of Shiva

13. Bum, Witch Bum

14. The $1,000 Secret Seance

15. TheDarkCloak

16. It' s a Lu Lu

Coming Soon:

1. Cellular Mitosis

2. Mind Shreds

3. Number Six

4. Papyrus of Ani - The Open Read

5. Strangers in the Night, and other tales

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