Proximity

Effects
By
Dee Christopher
Produ ced by
Me rcha nt of Magic
Cover Des ign by
MilldLapse
Please visit www. OeeChristopherMagic.com for de taiis on further releases.
Tabl e of Contents
Action = Reaction: Introduction
Cold - The telesthesi a Cards
................................. .......................... .................... 3
4
The Barnum Effect - Reaction Enhancement with reading technique 9
Words That Go Unspoken - Impromptu Book Test 11
The Synthetic ArcTechnique 16
Solitary Confede rate . 20
Dev iance - Visual Pip Thru Window 22
Shift - Signed Card Transportation 30
Proximity Effects
Actton e Reaction. This isn' t a new idea, but it' s at its most rele vant here in
magical performance. The amount you put into a perfor mance is equal to
the amount you will get out in the for m of reaction from your s pectators.
This seems like straightforward logical thi nking. It's a simple idea, but I' m
here to discuss a variety of ways you can create the force, or the action to
trigger the most out landish reactions you can conceive.
Kenton Knepper discusses in his book ' Mind Reading' the things that
mentalists just should know. I highJy recommend that one should read this
manuscript, as within its pages are some of the clever est concepts in the field
of cold reading. The reason I mention this text is that here we will be discussing
some similar themes, but wit h relevance to ge neral performa nce of magic
and mentalism effects as opposed to readi ngs.

As one should learn from mi stakes, one can also learn a great deal from
serendi pitous triumphs.
The idea I'm trying to put across is best illustr ated in an example. I was
performing an effect where I wou ld tell a spectator the name of the card they
looked at in the deck. Asimple effect, I admit - but with the cor rect theatrics
a simple forced car d revelation can be worth its weight in gold .
On this occasion I had taken the idea of contact mind read ing and applied it,
I would see mingly discover the value and suit of the card they merely looked
at in the deck (we' ll come back to this later on,) by realizing the fluctuations
in their pulse.
At the beginning of the night I wou ld say:
"This is the hand you wri te with Sir?"
I ask this when choosing which wrist to use when reading his pul se. However
on one occasion (after perfo rming to seve ral people) I was wit h some very
receptive peop le and I reached down, took their right wrist and said:
"This is the hand you write with, isn't it?"
I found that-just by making this assumpti on I had hit on a reall y nice subtlety
by complete accide nt A vast majority of the public writes with their right
hand, but people can fmd the simplest things to be imp ressive. Like Kenton' s
idea, you know things a mentalist should just know.
I used this simple action throughout the night from this point and didn' t
draw any attention to it myself. If they didn't wri te with their right hand it
didn' t matter as because of the way the phrase is worded it could be taken as
a question or a statement.
Sometimes peo ple thought noth ing of it, but more often than not, someone
watching or the spectator who' s helping in the effect would notice little
subtleties like this and these are the little pieces that make up the big action.
This action is to provoke an equally impressive reaction from the s pectators.
The moral behind this anecdote is that you should pay attention to the way
your audience reacts to every element of your performance, sometimes we
ad-lib lines or actions on the fly which can be invaluable to our overall
reactions. I can honestl y say that I have come across some very powerful
subtleties this way, as I' m sure you will too.

Cold - The Telesthesi a Cards:
I chose to include this effect of mine as it includes the usage of wording as in
the example above to a greater extent. The same wordi ng allows you to
retrieve information fro m a specta tor' s reaction to the statement, thus
appearing you are reading the ir mind.
Eff ect:
The deck is shuffled, 5 cards are dealt off into a pile on the table or into the
spectator's hands. The spectator merely THINKS of one of these. The card is
never touched, selected physically, written down or spoken to anyone.
The magician eerily reveals the spectator' s THOUGI-IT OF card, the first time
the card's value is spoken is from the magician' s lips.
Set - up:
There isn' t much set up required, The effect could be perfo rmed with a
borrowed deck - however, it's a lot eas ier to pre-load the 5 key cards on the
top of your own deck.
The 5 key cards are:
6 of hearts
Ace of clubs
Queen of diamonds
9 of hear ts
Jack of spades
If you use Bicycle cards, have the joker with the ace of d ubs under his foot in
your pocket or leave it in the card box.
It is recommended that Bicycle cards be used for this reason . Impromptu
presentations are included later on.
Method:
This effect uses a clever wording technique used more commonly in cold
reading or book test style effects. Certain wording is used to retrieve the
val ue and suit of the card in an inconspicuous way.
The deck is set with the 5 key cards on top, you can shuffle and cut the deck
as much as you like as long as you retain this top stack intact. You could
even palm off the key cards and have the spectator shuffle the deck before
repla cing them on top.
Once the cards have been 's huffled' you must deal off these 5 top cards onto
the table, bar or simply onto the spectator's wai ting hands. To deal into their
han ds is a good technique to ge t them involved, as a littl e convince r.
Alternatively, why not ask you r spectators to deal off 5 car ds - again, the
more the spectato r does with the cards the better. Even if you tell them exactly
which cards to deal, because they're the one's who have dealt them out it
appears much fairer .
You ask your spectator to pick up these 5 ' random' cards and just look at
them. You could him around at this point - you don't want to see the cards
they have chosen. Ask themtocommitone of them to memory. Then shuffle
all 5 back into the deck.
Now the spectator has chosenone card outof you key 5. To them and everyone
else it will appear that they' ve simply thought of one card out of the deck.
You turn back around and look the spectator in the eyes. Her e' s when the
scripting begins to discover the colour and value of the card.
You begin to get an image in your mind, or so you say.
"I'm starting to get something, its rather hazy - Your card's IIot II red card. is it."
The importance here is that the statement 'y our card' s not a red card, is It.'
can be taken as either a question or a sheer statement. This is a very basic,
but very effective principle used often by cold readers and mentalists. You
must be careful to say the wording in a very neutral way, so your spectator
can take it how is relevant to them.
So from here they can answer one of two ways:
"No, It's 1I0t." or "Yes, It is."
If the spectator answers 'No' then you have just made your first hit straight
off - they will start to get a little freaked out as it' s pretty eerie that you
managed to guess that.
If the specta tor answers ' Yes' don't worry, you've still made a hit - it just
see ms like you've asked a casual question. Don' t forget they think they are
thinking of any one of 52 cards - not just one of five!
So, now you know the colour of the thought of card. Red or black, so natu rally
now we continue to find out the value.
"l'm starting toget all image, a picture - YOllr card isn't a picturecard, is it ."
Agai n, the same pr inciple is used - It could be taken as either a question or a
statement. Try not to think too much about it as a script, it seems really cheeky
but no one will have any idea of what you' re doing.
If the card is BLACK. you should answer as follows:
"No, it' s not a picntrecard. "
" Ah, your right. I see now. It's a joker, the image I'm seeing. You see, in
every pack of bs-yclecerds there is one card under thejoker' s foot (you bring
out the joker). This card is the ace of dubs! This is your card?"
"res, it is Q piCh'rt' card."
You've just made a HUGE hlt , it' s the black picture card, SO both of the
statements sound like sheer statements, turning you into a mind reader! So
you will say:
"Yes, it's starting to take moresllapt /lOW. 1I's a royal card, a spode : Ollt of aI/52,
tire CIIrd yor, merelytllOllg/l t of is tile jack of spades!"
If the card is RED, you should answer as follows:
UNo, it' s 11 0t a picture card. "
UNo, YOllr rigllt - it's still alittle hazy. Tilepips areall blurringilltOone, so l toanted
tobesure (there's yourget Ollt clause!). 1'11/ seei/lgaheart, a6 ora9. AmI a/lyUJllLrt'
close?"
Because a 6 and a 9 are so similar, and obviously you r visions come to you in
various forms it's easy to understand you may see the shape upside down.
Another sneaky tr ick, but who' s counting!
"Yes, it is a picture card."
"Yes, it's becoming clearer /lOW. 1'111 seeing diamonds - bllt 1101 jvst the suit. 1'111
seeing aqlletll, cornet IIIe if I'm WrDllg, bill I believe tlu!cardyou merely tllol/gllt of
Ollt of tlU! entire deck is tlu: queenof diamonds."
Borrowed deck vari ati ons:
This effec t is really nicely done with a borrowed deck, as it' s a pretty
impromptu trick. As long as you can get 5 cards up to the top your sor ted.
The only difficulties are that you must ensure that all the car ds are in the
deck, some peopledon' t take much notice if one or 2cards are missing because
all they play is snap every now and again. Always ask - If they think one or
2 may be missing, it' s the perfect excuse to bring out your full deck to make
things even harder for yourself, or so you say. In reality, you have all the
cards ready to go on your deck.
If they do have a full pack have a skim through to locate your key cards, feel
free to do one or two wa rm up tr icks before - it' ll give you lots of leewa y to
get the cards up to the top.
The only other thing is the script ing for if they choose the ace of clubs. A way
arou nd this is to dra w a little picture of the ace of clubs on the back of your
business card and have it in your wallet at all times, or qu ickly scribble a
quick picture before performance and have it in your pocket. Then scr ipting
will go as follows:
"No, it's llOt a picturecard."
"Ali, your rig/lt - I see /l OW . I'IIl catcllillg tire remuall ts of a little picture I sketclied
earlier; I wasll't surewllat it wasatfirst. But I'd likeyou toI/Uve a look at it."
You bring out you r picture of the ace of clubs.
"Tileaceof clubs. Was that your tllOllght of card?"
Final Notes:
So there' s the basic script to create this little miracle. It' s something I devised
when trying to come up wit h a no force thought of card revelation that doesn't
use gaffed decks, etc. There' s still a force involved, but because the s pectator
just takes a jumbled pile of a few random cards and merely THINKSof one
of them, it' s still extremely powe rful.
There are various ways to enhance the feeling that you are reading the mind
of the spectator. You' ll note that through the scr ipt I have exaggera ted the
freedom of the spectator's selection, as far as they ar e concerned they have
effectively just thought of a card out of a full deck and this is what will be
relayed when the word about your ' powers' is spread.

The Barnum Effect - How To Enha nce Reactions Through Cold Readi ng
Technique:
The (P.T.) Barn um effect is the name given to a psychological phenomenon
in which a spectator or someone who is being ' read' finds characteristics
about themselves or their pas t expe riences in very vague statements spoken
by the magician or ' reade r'.
P.T. Barnum was a circus perfor mer often regarded as one of the best mind
readers of his time. This is a techniqu e he often used, hence the reason they
named this technique after him.
This is the way that Tarot readings work, or horoscopes in your favorite
newspaper. This is also the way that claimed psychics often prove their
powers; sometimes not even realizing what they are doing is j ust extensive
gene ralization of people' s tra its.
Think about how using techniques like this cou ld build upon your effects
demonstrations. In a book test situation, imagine revealing things about your
voluntee r as well as the wor d they chose from that boo k. Maybe you could
build up a reason why they would choose such a word, it' s relevance to
something that happened to them in the past, or maybe insec urity or trait '
they feel conscious about. Of course the word they chose was a force, but if
you are going to force a word why not choose the right word to' force to
make almost a fuJI readi ng a possibi lity. This could give way to a multiple
kicker effect - imagine your spectator' s going away saying;
"1 chose theword 'walltillg' beCall se of that promotion 1'//1 goingforand hepllllcd if
n'g1lt out of my head - and he toldme I'd chosen tileword because oj a change I'm
10llgillg for at the moment, my promotion obviollsly. 1 don'L know IUlUl he could
knour that about me!"
Na turally that's a fictitious example incorporating the simples t of ideas. In
this example, the magician would have told the spec tator the reason that
word jumped out at them or was more prominent was due to a change they
have been working towards recently whi ch made them pick that word
subconsciously.
'I'm correct, tIlereis somethingy OIl wallt at ti,e moment?'
Take note of the way I've written the above statement, to anyone in the
aud ience it will sound as if you are getting them to verify your accuracy in
the reason they chose that par ticular word from the book. In real ity you are
merely asking the spectator if there is something they want at the moment,
which naturally the answer is going to be a positive, as everybody wants
something at any point in time. It may be a promotion at work, to win the
lottery, to overcome illness or even for world peace!
Also there is an importance in the way it has been worded. For extra security
in getti ng the answer you want there is the use of suggestion. 'I'm correct;'
and 'Thereis' areboth statements that sugges t to the spectator that they should
say yes, you are telling them that you are correct and people pick up on that
subconsciously.
Another bonus in using this kind of technique on stage is that people will
generally feel tense and won' t want to mess up and make a fool of them
selves. This often works wonders, as they will take suggestions with a pinch
of salt, so to speak.
Even if the spec tator doesn' t feel it applies, the rest of the audience will think
it does as they have provided a positive answer to your statement. The best
way to find out how effective this really is would be to work it into a routine
of your own or use it when performing ' CoM:
,
With an amount of practice and understanding of the Barnum effect and
other similar techni ques it will become simple to use these on the fly. For
instance, it' s quite possible you use a book test without a force. In this case
it' s qui te possible that they will select a word that you will be able to draw
something relevant from. Generally you will want them to select a word 5 or
more letters long, how many words of this descr iption can you think of that
doesn' t hold some value or could be interpreted in such a wa y to hold
relevance.
Try reading further into the methods of cold read ing and sugges tion as
app lyi ng simple techniques can emphasize your magic/menta lism' s effect
and reactions tenfold.
... ...
Words That Go Unspoken - Impromptu Book Test
Here I have included a simple book test I devised in which one might use
Barnum' s technique to expand into a full reading. This is a forced word book
test; I originally designed it for imp romptu demonst rati on.
Effect:
A book is selected from the shelf of a store or from the spectator's own
possessi on. The magician proceeds to flick through the pages to show that
they ar e all different and contain different words.
He explains to the spectator that a page number will be chosen at random
and that he (the magician) will then di vine the first substantial word on that
page, he goes through a few exa mp les of this to demonstrate how the
expe riment is to becarried out.
The page is chosen, either by mathematical s um or simply by flicking through
the pages and asking the spectator to call s top at any point.
The magician then slowly and methodically reveals the first substantial word
on that page with the utmost accuracy - If the pa ge contains a pictur e, he
could also revea l what this illustrates or the ca ption. .
Set -Up:
There is no set up involved here; it is ultimately a very simple practical way
of per forming a book test experiment with a random book at anytime, in any
environment.
Method:
There are two parts to this method that ar e key in creating t he illusion of
remo te viewing.
The first is a peek, or glimpse at any page roughly in the middl e and mentally
noting the first substantial word on this page. For more advanced performers,
it' s worth not ing any ot her key information on the page, for instance:
... A picture
... The caption there of
... A large quote
... A graph/ table
... Any other points of focus
These can be used as tools to enhance the feeling that you are really remotely
viewing the page through the spectator' s eyes.
The peek at the page is a really qu ick little mot ion that' s easy to practice and
becomes a second nature. During the effect descriptionyou' ll note I mentioned
the magician running through va r ious pages as a demonstrat ion of the
procedure. This is where the peek takes place.
As you run through three or four examples, peek at an extra page in about
the middle of the book. Thiscan be done while talking. you could alternatively
look at the left page on the spread and mention the first word on that page
and before carrying on, note the first word of the right hand page which you
will force.
If you would rather not run thr ough the book giving examples, you could at
the begi nning of the performance flick through the book and note a page in
the motion of examining the book a nice little phrase to quote to light en the
mood is:
"You' re sure it hasall ti,epages?"
This gives you a reason to be examining quickly the content, and no matter
what they reply respond positively and carry on with the experiment.
The Force:
Now comes the point where yOll have found your word, the first substantial
word on any one page. Let's ass ume you have found the word " Happened"
on page 112.
There are var ious ways to force numbers, I find that the easiest way is to take
your deck of cards and locate a couple of cards that will relate to your page
numbe r.
This can be done in the same way as locating the word spoken above. You
will run throu gh the deck demonstrat ing to the onlookers that all the car ds
are different, all you have to do is find a couple of cards during this.
There are four of every card SO it shouldn' t betoo much of a stretch, it usually
takes me about 5-10 seconds.
Try not to think too much about it, for the page 112, you would besensible to
find an ace and a queen (1 and 12, respectively). I would choose these over a
jack and a 2 for insta nce as you read the number "One-Twe lve", however
what eve r hooks you may use will do fine.
AUyou have to do now is force these 2 cards using a simple card force, I
would recommend a slip or riffle force as this makes sure you cut the deckso
you can litera lly just dea12 cards out.
For other methods of forcing, try reading "Anneman' s 202 Forcing Methods".
When the selections are in the hand s of the spectator always make sure you
maintain control, make sure YOUsay:
"All ace, Wllicll is equal to 1 and a queen, iohich: is equal to12 - would you like to
tum to pageene-tuxtoet"
By saying it one-twelve, it makes it sound much more logical. Pract ice with
other page outcomes.
I also mentioned that flicking through the pages and calling stop is applicable-.
This is just the usage of a simple riffle force (more commonly used in car d
magic) to force the page. No matter where they call stop dur ing.your riffle,
always stop on your force page.
A riffle force can be a good method to emphas ize the freedom of the choice,
and it means you can do this effect even when you have no ca rds on you.
Psychological Forces:
A perfect psychological force for book test use is the 37 force. If you ask
someone to thi nk of a 2-digi t number between 1 and SO, where both digits
are odd and both di fferent from one another, there is a big chance they will
choose 37.
If you wish to have extra security with this technique, you should note down
all the poss ible outcomes of this quest ion and gather enough books so that
you have one book on your table for each outcome. You could write the
relevant word fromeach book on a bookmar k or the back of the book itself if
you don' t wish to memor ize each outcome and relevant word .
When so meone answers with a number, simply' pick a book at rando m' and
ask him or her to turn to a page - when recapping, you say:
"YOIl selected litrandomapagefromaralldomly selected book, IIl1d eoenunder these
impossible condinons - Oll t of tile THOUSANDS of words ill lids book yOIl freely
selected one word. I unil nmnIn) alldditnne tltis word. This is the hand yOllwrite
unlh, isn't it?"
Uyou don't already, I suggest you pick up a copy ofBanachek's ' Psychological
Subtleties' or the successful follow up ' PS2'There is a wealth of information
on psychological forcing in both the volumes and they are staple readi ng for
any perfor mer interested in the use of psychology within menta lism.
Making it real:
From here it' s all showmans hip really, you have had you r spectator turn to
your des ired page and you are aware of the first substantial wor d on that
page. You must however besure that they choose your word.
The best way I find is to take this script, assuming the first few wor ds are:
"And as it happened"
And your word is "happened" you will want to say:
"I Wllllt y OIl tolook to the first selltellce011tne page, thefi rstfewwords - I wallt"you
to select tile fi rst substantial wordOil ti,efi rst line mere. DOlI't choose words like
"at" or "and" or "tile" vv and make it 5 or so letters long."
To your spectators this is a fair enough patter - reveali ng the word "i t"
wouldn't make for a very impress ive perfor mance now would it! (Feel free
to rationa lize using this reason.)
Ok, so your spectator has your chosen word in mind. You will then say
something along the lines of:
"YOII 've got olle? Falltastic- would yOIl like toclosetile bookIl OWandstepf OlWllrd?
Could I takeYOllnorist ?"
You take the spectator' s wrist and look them directly in the eye, you may ask
for silence, but generally it' s more powerful when you let the audience fall
quiet of their own accord.
"(Slawly) I' m starting to catch somet llillg - It's j llst a j llmble of letters, it's quite a
sizable word is it uot t"
We already know this - you asked them to choose a sizable word, but in
different wording. Simple things like this can help to build the mood and
impression that you' re just catching a glimpse of something, that you'r e
confide nt in your 'powers: but at the same time realize that you could be
mistaken.
"I' m seeing all 'H'. Is there al l 'H' itt YOllr word?"
Obviously they will say yes as they have selected the word "Happened".
"There's defini tely fl "P" ill there -I'm catcl/iug the letter"P" very strollgly, perhaps
there's 2?"
That' s where they begin to freak - always act as if you just have inkling -
you're jus t ' drawn' to certain letters. It makes it appear far more genuine
and builds tension.
"It's comillg together 11010, alld "A" is it 'Happen'? No, it's 'Happened'! Ollt of the
thousands of words ill tllat book, off YOl/r oum sllClf the aile word you merely
THOUGHT of is the word 'Happened'!"
Final Notes:
There' s the basic effect, like I mentioned earlier this could be expa nded upon,
de pendi ng on how much information you can process during the flicking
period. An idea if you wish to repeat it again is to note 2 words on 2 pages
during the flicking.
For this you will need to note the first word as menti oned above, and for the
second word you could look at a separa te page say page 214 on which the
key word is "marching" and while you are noting this say:
"And 0/1 page 187, thefir st eubstantiai word is 'doomed' ."
Say a page near by to the actual page, and invent a random word which
could beon this page - The spectator can' t choose that page, so don' t sweat
whether the word is even in the book.
Don' t bereckless however, there's no real need to repeat an effect like this-
it' s far more powe rful a single time.
To demonstrate your powers further, use a different effect that invo lves mind
readi ng. Or maybe even explain that the effect isachieved through noncontact
mind read ing and then do a contact mind reading demonstration - a pulse I
muscle reading effect for instance, you can explain the working behind a
contact effect as it is science - it can baffle spectator s even more than some
thing they can put down as being just a ' trick' .
Have fun with the effect. I have not designed it for stage use, though it would
work in any environment, I have des igned it for a casual demonstration at
somebody's home or maybe in a bookshop. Somewhe re that such an effect
would usually be very di fficult to pull off, unless you carry your favori te-
gimmicked book test everywhere you go!
For Stage demonstrations, you may prefer to use your gimmicked book test.
Here, however, is a great little effect that' s very organic and simple to do,
which leaves you lots of time to concentrate on the other aspects of your
perfor mance to build tile desired reaction.
This effect would also work perfectly with Luke Jermay' s ' Burst Bubble
Suggestion: that way the spectator could actua lly FEEL the word leaving
their head and coming into yours. This is a brilliant suggestion described in
various publications of Luke's and also on his DVD "Skulduggery" that I
would highly recommend to anyone!
"' ...
The Synthetic Arc Bend - The Non Bending Spoon Bend
We' ve all come across cutlery we just can't bend . It' s made from long lasting,
hardened steel forged in an olden Viking civilization in Norway hell bent
(forgive the pun ) on destroying the livel ihood of the metal benders among
us.
Snapping back to an amount of reality, it happens - and it' s not always easy
to get outof a de monstration like that. I tend to carry around a bent l0 pence
piece so I always have something I can bend when someone asks for that
kind of demonstration.
The closest thin g so far that I have found to counter such circumstance is the
absolute ly fantastic "Ga Uer ian bend" created by the renowned Erick Castle.
I highly recommend purchasing the DVD. It' s a highly visual bend and is as
impromptu as it gets .
The only downside is that you do sti ll have to bend the spoon in your hands,
which with some spoons / for ks is an impossible task. So, I've set out to
create a visual spoon bend (or fork bend - I feel it actually looks better with
forks!) where the spoo n never actua lly bends.
This is a metal bendi ng routine geared towards the performer who iscaught
off guard; if you can use a routine where the spoon actually bends I highly
recommend doing so. When this is not possible, this is the only routine of its
kind.
Method:
The bend is based on a move taught in Erick's Gallerian DVD, but in this
case the spoon does not have to be bent for the visual bendi.ng.
Upon st udying the shape of a spoon or fork, you' ll note there is already a
slight bend as the metal forms into the bowl of the spoo n or the tines of the
fork.
You should hold yourspoon (or fork, for demonstrative purpose, we' ll use a
spoon) ove r the bowl, so the four fingers hide it. This is so that when the
spoon is rotated forward, it appear s that the bowl stays in the same position.
Using pos itive linguistics - you can tell people that they 'can' see the spoon
bend. However this is not the best techni que to use. I will explain suitable
suggestive techniques and emphas is later on.
The little bend should be visible, as should abo ut a centimetre more. You'll
notice that if you use your thumb to move the handle forward, in the motion
it is bending, because the bowl is hidden and the reflection of t he light of the
bend it really looks as if the handle is bending. Practice this in front of a
mirro r to per fect the illusion - it' s all optics.
The only problem visually is that if you wa nt a nice noticeable bend, you will
begin to see your thumb poking out from behind your ha nd. You ar e
esse ntially moving your finger and thumb in a slow moti on finger click
motion.
To hide the conspicuousness of the thu mb, you will want to wave your fingers
in front of the bend - in a similar motion to if you were rubbi ng the bend to
soften it. I find it looks more impr essive to wave your finger abo ut a hal f
inch in front of the spoon as it looks much more magical and it gives no
feas ible way for you to be bending the spoon as you are holding it in one
hand.
Finally, be careful of angles, naturally the effect must be performed head on
as at other angles it is possible to see what is happeni ng. A way to counter
such d ifficulties is to work on the positioni ng of the arms to obs tr uct anyone
else view, so they can just see the handle.
"Straighte ning" the spoon:
Obvious ly, there is no way to hand out your "bent" spoon for exa mination,
so you must straighten it ou t aga in.
Th is can simply be done in such a way, as you wo uld normally bend a spoon
back to normal.
You should practice the motion in a mir ror with a rea l bent spoo n so you can
see how it natu rally looks. Then move onto practice with a non-be nt spoon,
doing the "bend" and then "straightening" the spoon once more.
l inguistics:
The way this effect is performed rel ies heavily on the show manshi p and the
patter. If you believe that the spoon is bend ing and use positive suggestion,
SUGGFSI'ING to the spectator that they can see the spoon bending, that it' s
incredible and the like, they WILL see the bend happen, they will find it
incred ible and wo n' t question whether your actu ally bend ing the spoon or
not as they have the suggestion matched with the visible aspect of the trick.
A key idea like I mentioned ea rlier is to not tell them d irectl y the spoon is
bendi ng NOW. Introdu ce the trick as a metal bending feat by all mea ns, but
never at one poi nt say "The spoon is bend ing at this moment in time." This
allows the spectator to see it happen themselves, they expec t the spoo n to
bend and if you gaze long enough into that little bend it appears to deepen,
its just your eyes going out of focus in reali ty.
So rath er than say " it's bendi ng, look!" go for a "Watch closely, you WILL
see it happen - sometimes it happens faster than ot hers but you will see it
happen." Then as they begin to react cha nge your patter , "See, there it goes
(suggests movement), You can see it - Watch closely (allows eyes to get
confused)"
At this point the spoon is apparently bending; you could even go as far as to
begin with the spoon in the spectator's hands - if they clench a palm up fist
around the spoon and slowly release their gr ip it feels as if the spoon is
moving. This should only rea lly be used after another effect in which they
have got into the swing of believing and taking your suggestio ns. You can
then go onto the opti cs part of the illusion.
For information on suggestion and particular ly that which applies to metal
bending, try Kenton Knepper' s "The Miracle of Suggestion."
When it comes to the s poon being bent, allow the fact to sink in, then
immedi ately explai n how the spoon's par ticles part allowing for a flexible
substance to manifest. This is how you bend the s poon back - then you may
hand the s poon out to a spectator saying:
"YOli tn) and bend it - wi thout the correct mi ndect, it's " ear imposs ible!"
By saying near impossible you clear yourself if you have an incredibly strong
man to whom you handed the spoon whom then proceeds to bend it outright.
Also, saying without the correct mindset sugges ts you bent the spoon with
your mind.
If your strong man does manage to bend the spoon, take it with a pinch of
salt; lighten the mood by saying something like:
"Now tn) it wi t/lOu t tile other honat"
As this is exactly what you did - it crea tes a perpl exing p uzzle for the
onlookers, and your strong man!
Final Notes:
Like I menti oned at the beginning of the explanation, if you can bend the
spoon comfortably, do so. Th is is an effect desi gned to counter the spoo ns or
forks we cannot bend.
The followi ng two rou tines are in a slightly di fferent strain from the former
effects. This next effect being a nice anywhere, anyti me (as long as the props
are in you pocket,) twist on the card thr ough window plot we have all seen
so many times before. My idea was to put only an amount of the card through
the window, leaving the s pectator with a reall y nice littl e souvenir.

Devi ance - Vi sual Pip Thru Window

Effect:
A spectator selects a card and signs the face - the card they select is fully
examinable and has no gaffs.
Taki ng the spectator's signed card, the magician draws attention to a glass
door /window/pane of glass and asks the audience to watch carefully.
The car d is slapped against the windo w and one of the pips flies visually
straight through the glass into the magician' s waiting han d.
Preparation:
Preparatory materials:A deck of cards, a duplicate of one of these cards (4H in
this instance), a sharp craft/ Stanley knife.
You must first remove one of the pips from the du plicate card (figure 1); I
tend to choose eithe r of the red suits to work with, as the pi ps shapes are
much simpler to cut around. Also it' s an idea to use fours as the pips are
evenly spread and it's easy to cover a missi ng one with you r thumb.
Figure 1
Hearts and diamonds are simplex shapes whereas the clubs and spades can
be difficult to cut around without mutilating the rest of the card.
This is your gaff card and your pip - the card the spectator will sign and the
pip, which will beseen to travel through the window.
Then you must set up the deck as so;
The gaff, pi pless card on the bottom of the deck,
e The dupli cate. Normal card on the top (ready to force),
eThe pip inside an easily accessible pocket or waxed so mewhere it can be
stolen easily.
This is all the necessary set-up for the effect, you could even use this as a
finisher to a card routine - if the gaff and duplicate cards are pocketed, they
could easily beadded to the deck with sui table misdi rection techniques.
Alternatively, it' s a fantastic effect to open with as you can have your cards
set as you walk up to your 'victim' and perform a really sharp, visual effect
to grab their attention.
Sleights Nee ded:
This effect comprises of a few really easy moves, but once the bas ic concept
is learnt it can beexpanded upon greatly - I will show you late r on a bonus
met hod to penetr ate the pip into a wine glass.
The moves are easy to grasp, but make sure you practice until you have all
the moves down and flowing.
The Sli p Force:
Any force can beused to get the spectator to select the desired car d, but my
prefer red force for this effect is the slip force as it looks like a very random
selection, it also gets the spectator to phys ically touch and hold the card in
their hands.
With an effect Li ke this it' s ve ry important the s pectator has the card in their
hands and then there is no feasible way for the card to become mu tilated like
it does.
With the selected card on the top of the deck you hold the cards in a left hand
mechanic' s grip.
You ask the spectator to stop you as you riffle throu gh the deck (figure 2).
Figure .If.3
When they do say stop you hold still. Make sure you ask them if they are
happy wit h their selection, or if they wish to continue the riffle. This is an
extra convincer - if they think you've stopped in a s pecific place for you to
continue the riffle, choose a different card and still do the effect will be doubly
impressive.
Whe n they are happy wi th the space you've stopped at as their selection,
you need to do a speci al move this is the slip in the title.
You have your force card on the top of the deck and you want it in the middle
where they' ve stopped, the top of the bottom packet, So all you have to do is
lift up the top packet, as you would if you rea lly wer e getting them to choose
a card from the centre, but retain the top card with your thumb and slip it
onto the bottom packet. (figure 2)
You as k them to take the card they' ve stopped at - it' s a nice idea to say "Ok,
so if you' d like to take the card you stopped at," or something along those
lines, just as an extra conv incer .
Now they are holdin g the duplicate of the plpless car d and can examine it to
the ir hearts content, as it is jus t a regular card!
The Reverse Glide:
1was taught this move in a magic shop in Limerick, Ireland ye ars ago but r
was never sure on what it was called - if indeed it had a technical name.
I felt the best way to describe the motion is a ' reverse glide' as a glide move
is to remove the second from bottom card as the bottom card.
This move is to act as if you're putting the card on the bottom of the deck,
when really you' re sliding it in second from bottom.
You will take the cards in a left hand mecha nic' s grip again and with your
right hand take the spectator's selection - I often let them know t hat it doesn' t
matter if I see it as some can be quite guarded about you finding the value of
their card.
j
.
. .

Figure 4,15
Wit h your left forefinger , gently pu ll down the top right corner of the card as
in the photo (figure 4).
This gives you the space to slide the card in as if you were just putting it onto
the bott om of the deck, when the cards are turned face up after this moye
they see the face of the dupli cat e ptpless card so think nothing of it.
When you hold the deck face up, it' s a good idea to try and keep the missing
pip covered - try and be loose and natura l about it however. The card
underneath has the same print so the cut card is only just visible in very close
proximity.
Th e Signa ture:
There is no funny moves to go on while the signature is made as it' s going
straight onto the gaff ca rd, bu t be caref ul to cover the missing pip at this
point as the s pectator is looking close ly at the card to sign thei r name acros s
the face.
The Fli ck Move:
You need to slide the s igned gaff card from the bottom of the deck wit h out
reveali ng the duplicate underneath it. I find the easiest way to do this is to
flip the dec k and with your right midd le finger slide the card off from
underneath as in the photo (figu re 6).
i u ~ 6/l
Make sure to use your thu mb to hide the missi ng pip at this point and hold
the card by just grasping tha t corne r. This gives you the ma neuverability to
show both the front and back of the ca rd eas ily and ge t into the position to
perform the flick move.
Hold the card as shown and then move your fingers up the back of the card
so you are able to hold it wi th a slight bend as in the ph oto (figure 5), this
bend is importan t as it provides the velocity to ' slap' the card aga inst the
window.
Hold the card up to a window and then squee ze the card ge ntly between the
two ends and release the pipless end you' re holding with your thum b. This
will ca use the card 10 rotate vertica lly and s lap the wi ndow revea ling the
missi ng pi p, to any spectator it really looks as if a hole has just appeared
visually in the card - at the sa me time you should perform the ' drop' move.
Figure 8/9
The Drop Move:
When you slide the signed card from the deck place the deck away in your
pocket or on a table (make sure no-one can see the duplicate bottomcard, or
do a quick one hand cut if you like to be doubly surel], you will then want to
draw attention to the nearby window/ glass door or what eve r your
penetrating.
As you do this you will wa nt to steal the pi p from your pocket, or where ever
you' ve waxed itto. Do this wit h your left, free hand and slip it in to a "Tenkai' .
palm position (figures 10 & 11).
Figure 10/11
This is demonstra ted in the photo (the first pictu re is the spec tator's view,
the second is the top view), but look up the Tenk ai palmon the net or search
through your old card/coin manipu lation books for further explanation.
An alternative sleight to use here is t he Coshma n pinch, though I wo uld
recommend the Tenkai for ease of use and angles sa ke whe n bringing your
hand a round the other side of the wind ow. When on the othe r side of the
window the Cashman pinch will allow you to spread your thumb wide like
the other fingers, but use which ever is most co mfortable to you.
The drop is performed when you sla p the card agains t the wi ndow (the card
hol ding t he pip is on the other side of the windo w).
As it hits, you just drop t he pip from the Tenkai into your wai ting pal m. It
looks to the spectator as if it' s jumped from the card (which now has a hole
in) into your hand on the othe r side of the glass (which was previously shown
to be'empty' )
You can now ha nd the specta tor a grea t souve nir of your performance
ensuring you will be tal ked about to fr iends.
Recap:
.. Caff card on bottom of deck, Dupl icate on top, pi p in pocket or waxe d
elsewhe re.
.. Force duplicate.
.. Reverse glide to slide under ga ff.
.. Turn over pa ck and ask spectator to sign.
.. Slide off signed ca rd and dump deck in pocket or on table. (Ma ke sure
missing pi p is covered.)
.. Draw at tention to wind ow or to t he signed card while you steal pip from
pocket and slip into Tenkai pos ition.
.. Move your hands either s ide of the window and get ready to perform the
flick a nd d rop moves.
.. As k spectator to watch carefully and execute the moves so it appea rs that
the pip has pe netrated t he glass .
Fina l Notes:
Tha t's how to perform my visual pip through window effect, I' ve found that
in the correct circumstance it gets great reactions and is perfect when people
ask;
"Can you put a card through a window like Davi d Blaine! Criss Angel!
Paul Zenon! This guy on TV did?"
Now you can show them something even move impressive by putti ng par t
of a card that they've verified is real and signed through a window in the
most visual manner.
I wish you every success with the effect and hope you have fun with it; it is a
grea t little effect and really does baffle onlookers.
Bonus Effect:
Sauvignon Devi ance - The Wine Glass Penetration:
This is to have the pip penetra te into a wine glass, or any othe r type of glass
for that matter. The set up is just the same, as is the first part of the trick -
however instead of slipping the pip into a Ten kai palm, you will have the
pip hidd en in you left hand as you pick up an indifferent card. .
You place this indifferent card ove r the mou th of a wine glass, secretly
sandwiching the pip in betwee n the card and the rim of the glass. Be cereful
to ge t the balance right before letti ng go.
This time, instead of slap ping the card aga inst a window, you s lap it against
the side of the glass or the top of the indifferent card.
This motion dislodges the pip and causes it to drop into the glass as the hole
' appea rs' in the signed selection.
Thisslightly different approach to the effect is based on the old idea of making
a coin penetrate a card into a glass in the sa me manner, this appear conjoined
with a simple coin va nish made this effect poss ible.
Bonus Notes and Cre dits:
I' d been toying about with the idea of twis ting the card through window
effect a little for some months preced ing my creating of this effect. Why not
put just part of the card through the wi ndow, leavi ng the spectator with a
nice souvenir of your performance.
I originally set about taking a card, the4H for instance, wi th just 3 of the pips
pr inted on the card. Then I would use this in conjunction with a pre-placed
pip on the other side of the window - it sti ll invol ved an amount of set up,
but a small pip on a wind ow is much less conspicuous than having a full
card placed there. However, this involved using specially printed cards and
pre-placi ng the pip on the wi ndow.
I wanted a more organic effect, whic h was much more wo rka ble in rea l
situations and where the spectator is left wi th something a bit more special.
Also, the idea that this effect could be used on any glass surface at any time
was a thought of mine, inst ead of having to choose exactly where and when
you will perform the effect in time to prepare for this.
The look of the actual penetration of the pip in ' Deviance' is loosely based
around the look of Kevi n Par ker' s ' Edge' effect.
When I first saw the 'Edge' de mo an amount of months ago, I smiled - Though
it' s not so much of a magician fooler as the rest of his effects I could se( the
potential it had to as tound laymen. So I took to bui lding a s imilar look to my
pi p through window, while retaining a usa ble spectator driven routine, en
voila! ' Deviance' was born.
For those not famiIiar with Kevin Parker's effects, he is a very talented magical
creator whom co mes up wi th some fantast ic v is ua l ma gic . Visit
www.Kevi .. Parker Prodli ctiOIlS.COIll for fur ther detail, or consult your favou rite
magic dealer.

Shift - Signed Card Tra ns port ation
Th is effect is a rea lly nice card transpo rtation I often have set up ready for
performance. It's a simple method, simple effect and with the correct patter
and theatrics it can be made in to a miracle. I' ms ure there are many creative
ways the concept of this effect could be used, it' s a very versatile move. Good
news is there' s absolutely no palming involved !
Effect :
The spectator selects and signs the back of a card, which is lost in the middle
of the deck.
The Card is then IMMEDIATELY, with empty hands and no fu nny moves,
removed from your top pocket or your wa llet or practically anywhere else.
The s pectator ve rifies the value of their card, the card is flip ped and the
spectator's signature revea led proving it is in fact the very sa me card.
Prepar ation:
You need to have a regu lar deck of cards, a duplicate of one of these cards -
for demonstrative pur pose we' ll use the 2 of clubs. (Figure 1)
Also a double backed ca rd is used, these can be pu rchased from most magic
dea lers or simply made by sticking 2 regular cards face to face - the double
backed card will always be used in conjunction with the rest o f the deck so
thickness isn't reall y an issue.
Fig".., 12
Set up:
Have one of the du plicates face forwar d in your top pocket or where eve r
you wish to pull the card from. In the demonstration, I have the card appear
in my business card case.
You will have the spectator sign the back of the card, so you need to ma ke
sure the side they see come ou t of your pocket is the face. It is however just
as powerful as people won' t suspect your using du plicates.
You need to set the deck wit h your other duplicate on the top ready to force
followed by your double backed ca rd, 2nd from top.
Th is is all the prep you need to create thtsmiracle. This makes it rea lly usa ble
in most environments - as long as you have 2 decks of car ds on you and the
dou ble backed card, you have enough duplicat es for 52 performances!
Me thod:
You first need to force the dupl icate you have on the top of the deck - I tend
to use the slip force, it' s a really solid simple little force.
The below photos demonstrat e the force (figures 13 & 14); you s imply as k a
spectator to stop you at any point during your riffle through of the cards.
Instead of cutting di rectly to the rea l selected card, you retai n the top card
and slip it down onto the bott om packet. The top ' force' card now looks like
a totally random selection.
Fip" 1,vl4
Any force will work though as long as you can retain the double backed card
on the top after the ca rd has been taken.
The Ca rd (2 of Clubs) has been se lected, so now you wa nt it signed. Take the
ca rd and lay it face down on the top of the deck - tell the spectator that
though all the faces of the cards are di fferent, the backs are ident ical
"Could you sign your name across the back of the card here, just to make it
completely unique in every way."
It also reinforces the idea that you can' t do any funny moves. There' s no
need to say, however:
"Now there' s no way I could overha nd shuffle control the card to the top of
the deck to pal m off and place in my pocket!"
The idea is that the car d has vanished and re-mat ena lized in your pocket,
not that you've done some special moves to put it there.
Always try and remember to think of your magic as sheer ma gic, not as a
sleight of han d display - though super slick passes are impressive, they' re
much less impressive than making real magic happen.
The Flip:
The flip move is an integral part to making this trick work; this is why we
must use a double backed card.
In the action of cutting the signed selection into the centre of the deck we
must flip the selection and double backed card over so the selection is left
face up in the face down deck.
This is done by cutting the deck, and sliding the 2 cards off as one into the
hand holdi ng the bottom half - as in the photo (figures 14 &:15). As far as the
spectator is concerned, you will bejust stressing that the card reall y'is going
st raight into the centre by re-showing the signature.
As you lower the bottom half on top of the top half to complete the cut, you
allow a swi ft rota tion of the 2 cards at the same time - as illustra ted. Take the
time to rea lly perfect this move and make it look natural.
Figul'l.' /.1/15
Figrm: 17(18
Now you need to get the 2cards back up to the top of the deck, I tend to use
an underh and pass and the n a series of false cuts - so it just looks as if I'm
thoroughly shuffling the deck. Any cont rol will suffice, but it makes sense
that you' d wa nt to shuffle the deck af ter cutting a card in so you lose it
complet ely.
The specta tor isn' t going to sus pect that you've cont rolled the card up as
they see on one of the sides of ou r double backed card. The dec k should beas
follows:
Double backed card (top)
Face up signed card
Face down rest of deck.
Now you explain that their card is lost some where withi n the deck. You ask
them to wa tch, build a bit of tension - I find a good techniq ue is to go ove r t he
steps that have taken place and e mphasize t hem:
"You freel y selected any single ca rd out of a11 52, you signed t he card across
the back making t he car d completely unique - the only one of it' s kind in the
world. Then we lost it in the deck somewhe re and thoroughl y shuffled it
throughout. Now, watch closely. I want you to see this happen slow."
You're holdin g the deck in a left ha nd mechanic' s grip, you are to show your
right hand unmistakably empty - don' t st ress this, just allow the spectator to
expe rience what's about to hap pen.
You slowly reach up and wi th your very fingertips; begin to slide the card
ou t of your top pocket - facing the spectator. Do not allow t hem to see the
back of the card, as it will give away your using a duplicat e ca rd.
When the amazement has sunk in, take the card fully out and la y it on top of
the deck in your left hand. The orde r will be as follows:
Face up du plicate from pocket (top)
Double backed card
Face up Signed du plicate
Face down deck.
You point to the face of the card and say,
"Sir, can I ask you to veri fy that is the value of your card?"
"(PRE'ITY AMAZED) Yes, it is"
Then you qu ickly flip over all 3 cards as one, reveal ing the signatu re.
" And can you verify that is your signature?"
"( VERY AMAZED) Yes, it is!"
You can then hand out the ca rd as a souve nir and thank your participant.
Final Notes : This basic concept can rea lly be expande d upon, once the basic
routine is down you can play abo ut with where you make the card re-
materialize.
Try in the card box which has been laying one the table at all times
Und er so meone's drink
Your wallet
Your shoe
Stuck to your spectator's back
Taped to your necklace
Absolutely anywhere else!
All you need to make sure of is that you will be the one who picks it up, you
don't want your spectator catching glimpse of the unsigned back!

As Banachek says at the end of his newest boo k PSZ. with the relevant
information, your brain has just processed 10,231 words or 44,189 letters. He
suggests a rest, I suggest you pick up a pack of cards and go get some awesome
reactions!
Dee Clmetopher