RECOIL is an amazing visual effect, whereby writing in INK moves to another spot!
Ask your audience to choose any card and SIGN the face. You then write the letter X, in ink, on the back of the card. Wave the card in the air – suddenly, the mark you made on the card back moves to the other side of the card back. This all happens with their chosen, signed card!
Think about what it takes to put this kind of expression on someone’s face. What does it TAKE? Find out someone close to you has died? A car coming at you head-on? Or discover a stranger knows a myriad of your personal details? We walked up to that woman on South Beach five minutes before that picture was taken and she was happy as a lark.
You have to understand that you are playing with the human mind. The mind goes deep into all corners, but is in many instances predictable. Is this manipulation? Or just pre-knowledge of the way people behave in normal life, and using that knowledge? That’s the skill you will develop. You will watch as knowledge of human psychology pays the price time and again…..and gets the reaction.
Imagine the ‘Magician’s Choice’ plot where the magician has no control over which objects are chosen to stay or go. This is Spectators’ Choice where spectators are in complete control and end up completely baffled.
You make your prediction before spectators place their own items onto the table.
The objects are split into two piles. One spectator chooses a pile, another spectator gets to decide if that pile stays or goes. If they say it goes, it goes; without hesitation.
The items are split into piles again and the process is repeated until only one item is left.
The name of the final item left on the table matches what is written on the prediction.
Your spectators have witnessed a completely impossible feat of magic.
Imagine you have a meeting with a big shot corporate executive, or a Zoom Performance for a distinct group or any other virtual platform.
You need to grab their attention and do something extraordinary on a live virtual medium!
Visualize this:
A freely chosen name was written on a piece of paper that has been in full view all the time. Bamm!
The cards they name appear to be the only ones left in an empty card case. Bamm!You predicted a number that they chose LIVE in front of everyone. Bamm!
And that is only the beginning.
Continue reading The BM Project by Haim Goldenberg and Guy Bavli (Video+PDF) – VIP
The Telephone Drama is a full multi-phase routine by the legendary Theodore Anneman that Richard Osterlind has continued to refine and update through decades of performance. This isn’t just a miracle routine, it’s also a fantastic introduction to working with “billets.”
What’s a billet? If you’re new to mentalism, a “billet” is just a little piece of paper. It’s french for “ticket”. Mentalists often have people write things down on pieces of paper and for historical reasons, we still call them billets.
“Billet work” is a sub-genre of mentalism where the performer demonstrates astonishing feats of mind- reading while maintaining a minimalist style. Using just a few slips of paper and a pencil the performer can have the audience write down names, dates, and thoughts only for them to be revealed in increasingly dramatic ways.
The Wheel Of Mind is not just an effect, it is a forcing tool. The innocent looking, wheel-of-fortune-like wheel enables an easy force of any information in a visual yet easy manner.
The advantage of The Wheel Of Mind being a prop is that the performer can use it for various different routines – so easy to do – so very effective!
More than 20 years ago the Wheel of Mind came out to the magic world as a product with rave reviews.
Now BakoreMagic decided to bring it back in a smaller size and perfectly designed to be able to perform in your Virtual shows, as well as, your Live events.
This is R. Paul Wilson’s secret weapon. And you’ll see why. It feel like you’ve gained a new super-power when you learn how it’s done, and it’ll change the way you look at cards forever.
Imagine being able to look at a deck of cards one time and know exactly which card is missing. No marks. No stacks. No sleights. This can be done with a borrowed and shuffled deck that is already in use. Now stop imagining and start performing R. Paul Wilson’s Unmarked Miracle.
Here’s what happens:
1. The spectator shuffles the deck, and peeks at a card.
2. The performer then also shuffles the deck and peeks at a card.
3. Now the spectator reads the magician’s mind and secretly pulls out the card she’s thinking of.
4. Then the magician pulls out the card she believes her spectator is thinking of.
5. When the cards are named, both the magician and the spectator turn their cards over and they’re a perfect match!
Force-Sight will provide you with the ability to pick three people at random, have them think of any question they like and not only will you reveal the exact questions they are thinking of, you will also reveal the specific answer that only they would know.
Whilst some of this thinking was originally released in my now out of print book ‘This Way Up’ with Paul Brook, over the years, I’ve learned how to not only streamline my original thinking, I’ve grown it into an entire performance piece, where the multiple methods cancel each other out.
Put it this way … I believe in this routine so much that when I was asked to perform for Prince William and The Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton) at the Royal Variety Performance in The London Palladium Theatre, this was the only routine I felt worthy of performing for them.
This release of my original book spawned a generation of performers to rely on the Svengali style notepad as their weapon of choice … but in my opinion, they’ve been using it incorrectly.
Hands down, the single greatest creation in all of mentalism is, without question, ‘Desire’ by Max Maven.
It’s simplicity and clarity is the perfect demonstration of how mind reading should feel.
I used the original routine for years, however the only thing I could never get to grips with, the one tiny part I could never get comfortable with, was the necessity to hold the billets throughout the demonstration.
.Parlour Tricks by Morgan & West is a deep dive into the mechanics of putting together a parlor magic show. This acclaimed duo has performed all over the world and their personas are that of time-traveling Victorian magicians. They are among the most unique acts in the industry, and for the first time ever, they explain not only their full show, but also how they approach assembling a magic show.
In 356 full-color pages, you’ll learn a dozen routines and host of new theories. They also provide their complete annotated scripts so that you can understand why they say what they say, and how the words mesh with the mechanics of a show. You’ll learn about sequencing a show and how Morgan & West go about material selection.
You’ll learn signature effects like “Ring on Ribbon,” “Thought-of Cards Across,” and a book test without a book, plus much more! While Morgan & West perform as a duo, ALL of this material is easily adapted for solo performers, and all of the advice and theory is applicable to solo magicians.
Continue reading Rhys Morgan & Robert West – Parlour Tricks (Video+PDF)
