1

 
 Leviathan

By Francis Girola

Copyright 2018 © Francis Girola, All Rights Reserved

Published by Arcane Arts Limited

All legal owners in possession of an original copy of this manuscript have the
right to perform the following effects, presentations and methods in all
performance settings. This publication may not be copied or reproduced in
whole or in part without the specific permission of the author.

  2  
 Table Of Contents

Introduction .....................................4

Chapter 1: Semi-Propless .................5

Chapter 2: Propless .........................21

Chapter 3: Managing Failure ..........24

Credits ...........................................26

Final Words ...................................27

  3  
 Introduction
“By Consequence, or train of thoughts, I understand that succession of one thought to another which is
called, to distinguish it from discourse in words, mental discourse. When a man thinketh on anything
whatsoever, his next thought after is not altogether so casual as it seems to be. Not every thought to
every thought succeeds indifferently.”

—  Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

Bonjour !

First of all, thank you very much for purchasing this manuscript. More than
an effect, Leviathan is a concept that you can easily incorporate within the routines
that you already have in your repertoire. The idea is to give you a tool that you can use
at a moment’s notice and which gives you the ability to elevate the revelation of a
secret piece of information.

The core methodology behind Leviathan is a system that has been widely
developed over the past few years by people such as Joshua Quinn and Atlas
Brookings. However, the goal here is to give you a technique that you can use to force
a particular outcome instead of fishing for information. We start with the assumption
that you already know what a spectator is thinking about. With that secret knowledge
in mind, you have a lot of possibilities in front of you, which we will outline in the
following chapters.

In essence, Leviathan enables you to always be one step ahead throughout the
entire process. Furthermore, it can be done totally impromptu (even in propless
situations) and gives you the potential to jazz around as much as you wish. Therefore,
the routines detailed in this manuscript are non-exhaustive inasmuch as you might
come up with your own ideas and presentations.

I would like to thank my friend Phedon Bilek for his suggestions in the
writing of this eBook. He also happens to be the first person who actually reconciled
me with the overall notion of ‘propless mentalism’. Consequently, his work has been a
big source of inspiration for a lot of the techniques and effects described in the
upcoming pages.

Let us now begin the journey with the very first chapter...

  4  
 Chapter 1: Semi-Propless
Effect #1:

A spectator is instructed to think of a word and imagine it clearly written in their

mind as if it were spelt in a blackboard.

The Perceptionist: “That word that you are currently thinking about was the result
of a conscious decision. We will now proceed with a series of
random selections to try and formulate an unconscious thought
pattern. Please focus on the second letter of your word. Now, I
would like you to make up a completely different word starting
with that one letter. When I snap my fingers, think of a fruit or
a colour, the first one that comes to mind. (Snap) Have you got
something?”

Spectator: “Yes.”

The Perceptionist: “Good! Again, take the second letter to form a brand-new
word. Could you think of ... (Snap) another colour starting
with that letter?”

Spectator: “Yes, I can.”

The Perceptionist: “Great! Finally, take the second letter one last time. Could you
please think ... (Snap) an animal that starts with that letter?”

Spectator: “Yes.”

The Perceptionist: “Okay, let’s stop right there. This final word will represent an
unconscious choice inasmuch as it has been obtained through a
series of arbitrary decisions. Ten seconds ago, you had no idea
you would ultimately land on this word. Yet, because that
selection was mainly instinctive – albeit confusing and
haphazard looking at first – this last word actually reveals much
more about you in terms of your personality and your thought
process. At this stage, you could be visualising almost any
animal in the world, but I think that you’re the type of person
who likes to view himself as an independent thinker, an
analytical person who does not take things for granted and likes
to explore new ideas and is open to new experiences. That’s
why I don’t think you would settle for the kind of animal that
you would normally find on this continent, which also suggests
to me that you like travelling and encountering other cultures
and people. Therefore, I would guess that this animal would

  5  
 probably be found in a more tropical environment. I don’t
think you would ever go for a shark, a crocodile or even a lion
because I don’t see you as a predatory type. As a matter of fact,
there is a strong sense of benevolence coming from you, which
does not mean that you never get angry, especially whenever
you are rubbed the wrong way. Indeed, there are certain values
that you hold really dear to your heart; one of them is the
notion of family. This is something that is extremely important
to you and I even feel that you were recently hurt by something
that happened to either a loved one or someone very close to
you in your circle of friends. And when some troubles occur, I
believe that you are the person that people would probably
come to for guidance or mediation to resolve a conflict. If
everything that I have just said so far is correct, I would say that
you must be thinking of a herd animal like a zebra, a giraffe or
an elephant. But that smirk you just gave me confirmed that it
is indeed an elephant, right?”

Spectator: “That is absolutely correct!”

The Perceptionist: “Excellent! Now, let’s return to you initial thought of word,
your conscious decision. (Grabs a notepad and a pen) Now that I
know much more about your personality, I have everything I
need in order to guess the type of word you would freely
choose. I think that you would definitely go for a positive
terminology that would convey a sense of hope and
determination. A word that would be oriented more towards
the future than the past. (Jots something down on the pad, sight
unseen) For the first time, what was the word you were
originally thinking of?

Spectator: “Possibilities.”

The pad is turned to reveal the word: “Possibilities”.

Effect #2:

The performer tells the audience that a certain number of people will be selected to
participate in a word association game. One first spectator is instructed to think of a
word. In this example, the selection was made from a book.

The Persuader: (To Spectator A)

“Sir, I would like you to please focus on the third letter of that
word and whisper it to the lady next to you.”

  6  
 (To Spectator B)
“Madam, I would like you to make up a completely different
word. Could you maybe think of a colour or a month that starts
with that letter?

Spectator B: “Yes.”

The Persuader: (To Spectator B)

“Good. So, bring that word to the forefront of your mind and
focus on the last letter. Now, whisper it to your neighbour.”

(To Spectator C)
“Sir, with that letter I want you to think of ... a colour. Is it
possible?”

Spectator C: “Yes, it is.”

The Persuader: (To Spectator C)

“Great. Now, whisper the second letter of that word to the
person next to you.”

(To Spectator D)
“Sir, you will be the last person in this round. With the letter
you currently have in mind, I want you to think of an animal,
have you got one?”

Spectator D: “Yes, I do.”

The Persuader: “Very good! (Grabs a pad and a marker) Now, here is the idea:
as soon as I know your word, I should be able to immediately
backtrack the entire process, which would subsequently give me
more than enough information to guess Spectator A’s original
selection. I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. (To Spectator D)
So in a moment, I will snap my fingers. When I do, I want you
to say your word out loud. Get ready and ... (Snap) what is your
word? Say it now!

Spectator D: “Elephant.”

The Persuader: (Immediately writes something down on a pad)

“Alright, I have committed to something. (To Spectator A)
What was the word you originally thought of?

Spectator A: “Possibilities.”

The pad is turned over to reveal the word: “Possibilities”. Round of applause.

  7  
The Persuader: “Thank you very much! Okay, now I feel I should probably
stop lying to you. The truth is that none of that was a
demonstration of mind reading at all. As a matter of fact, this
entire show has been nothing more than a subliminal game of
influence. You see, even though all of the previous
demonstrations seemed perfectly random and fair, I was
constantly in control of all the elements in order to get the
exact results that I wanted. Even when you thought there was
no way I could potentially manipulate your choices, I was
covertly puppeteering each and every one of you to carry out
tasks that would gradually lead to the outcome I had prepared
beforehand.”

The performer brings all the attention to an envelope that has been left in full view of
the audience since the very start of the show. Spectator A is invited on stage in order
to witness the content.

The Persuader: “Sir, you can testify that there is only one letter inside this
envelope. (He takes it out) Now, would you please make sure
that I read this correctly?

I am presently writing this letter thirty minutes before the

show. By the time you read this letter, if I have played my
cards right, several things should have happened throughout
the show:
(...)
Finally, I will have played a word association game with
several members of the audience. At the outset, I will have
asked one spectator to think of a random word from a book
which, through a haphazard looking process of letter
association, will have ultimately resulted in one word:
ELEPHANT!”

Round of applause.

Effect #3:

A spectator challenges the performer.

Spectator: “So, if you’re really a mind reader, what am I thinking about

right now?”

The Telepath: “Well, I appreciate a challenge every now and then. It sort of
ups my game! First of all, to answer your question, I must say
that it is a bit difficult to tell you precisely what you are
thinking of at this moment because I feel that a lot of things
are currently going through your mind, namely a strong sense

  8  
 of scepticism towards my skills. This is absolutely fine with me
but in order to accurately read your mind, I would like you to
focus solely on that one thought in order to have something
concrete. In fact, because we are starting completely cold, it
would help if you could reduce everything down to one single
word. For instance, if you were thinking of riding a bicycle with
your aunt in Spain when you were eight years old, just think of
the word bicycle. Can you do that for me, please?”

Spectator: “Yes.”

The Telepath: “Good. Before we go any further, you’re not thinking of

something dirty or anything like that, right?”

Spectator: “No, I’m not.”

The Telepath: “Great, then we can start! To begin with, let me tell you that as
a mind reader, I essentially have two main abilities: telepathy
and precognition. In other words, not only do I know what you
are thinking, I also know what you are not thinking about... yet!
Let me show you what I mean. First of all, focus on your word.
Try and send it to me mentally. I know you do not believe in
this sort of thing but just imagine that you can really do this.
(Brings out his wallet, takes out a business card, jots something
down and finally places the card back inside the wallet) I have
committed to something and we will come back to that in a
moment. But for now, let’s jump to the second part of my
demonstration. I will attempt to divine a thought that you are
about to have. (Grabs another business card and hands it to the
spectator) Before we get to that, I would like you to write down
your word, just so that there is no confusion later.

The spectator writes down a word and the card is placed in the wallet for safety. The
performer then takes a third business card to write a prediction and leaves it facedown
on the table.

The Telepath: “Let’s try a random thought association game. Take your
original word and focus on the second letter. Now, I would like
you to make up a totally different word. Could you think of a
fruit, a colour or a month that starts with that letter?

Spectator: “Yes.”

The Telepath: “Perfect! Now, take the second letter of that word and imagine
a zoo animal starting with that letter. Then, take the third
letter and think of a month of the year. Finally, focus on the
second to last letter and picture another animal. Have you got
something now?

  9  
Spectator: “Yes, I do.”

The Telepath: “And would I be correct in saying that this process was
absolutely fair and that, right now, you could be thinking of any
animal, which itself was the result of all the choices you have
freely decided to make? There is no way I could have known
that you would have made all those decisions, right?”

Spectator: “Yes, that is correct.”

The Telepath: “Alright, for the first time, what are you thinking about right
now?”

Spectator: “An elephant.”

The Telepath: “Excellent! (Opens the wallet and takes out three business cards) At
the very start, you challenged me to read your mind. You sealed
your thought on a business card so that there is no way you
could potentially change it afterwards. (The first business card is
turned over, it is the spectator’s and it reads: “Car”) When you
came up to me, out of the millions of things you could have
thought of, you decided to think of your car. And this is exactly
what I perceived! (The second business card is turned over, it says:
“you are thinking of a CAR”) But what is more interesting is the
fact that I told you from the outset that in addition to reading
your mind I can also predict the choices you will make. We
played a random game of word association, through which you
made different selections and eventually landed on one word.
Before all of that even started, I wrote something on this
business card. Could you remind me what that second word
was?”

Spectator: “I thought of an elephant.”

The third business card is turned over, it reads: “You will think of an ELEPHANT!”

Method:

A spectator is instructed to think of a word at the start of the routine. You will
obtain this piece of information in your favourite manner. For instance, this word
could be peeked, forced or even selected from a book. The idea is that you will use
that knowledge to secretly force another word. Personally, I prefer the word
‘Elephant’ because it is one of the easiest but it can be replaced by another one. In
fact, the effect could even be repeated with a different outcome.

  10  
 Basically, you are going to create a chain of words with different meanings and
linked by letters. Since you already know the starting word, you will use that initial
information to sneakily lead the spectator(s) through a specific train of thought that
will ultimately lead to your forcing word. How? Every letter of the alphabet is
associated with one category (or more, which gives you some choice about the
direction you wish to follow). Those specific categories only give a restrictive number
of possible options.

Alphabet List:

A: Apple - Apricot / April (August)

B: Black - Blue (Brown)
C: Cat
D: Denmark / December
E: Elephant / Earth
F: February
G: Green - Grey
H: House / Helicopter
I: Iguana / Indigo / Italy
J: Japan / January - July / Jupiter
K: Kangaroo
L: Lion
M: March - May / Mercury - Mars
N: November / Neptune
O: Orange / October
P: Penguin - Panda - Panther / Pumpkin / Pluto / Purple
Q: Queen
R: Red
S: Saturn / September
T: Tiger
U: Uranus
V: Venus
W: Watermelon
X: Xylophone
Y: Yellow
Z: Zebra

Colour Coding By Categories:

A: Apple - Apricot / April (August)

B: Black - Blue (Brown) / Banana
C: Cat
D: Denmark / December
E: Elephant / Earth
F: February
G: Green - Grey
H: House / Helicopter
I: Iguana / Indigo / Italy

  11  
J: Japan / January - July / Jupiter
K: Kangaroo
L: Lion
M: March - May / Mercury - Mars
N: November / Neptune
O: Orange / October
P: Penguin - Panda - Panther / Pumpkin / Pluto / Purple
Q: Queen
R: Red
S: Saturn / September
T: Tiger
U: Uranus
V: Venus
W: Watermelon
X: Xylophone
Y: Yellow
Z: Zebra

There are essentially 6 main categories:

• Fruits (& Vegetables)

• Months
• Colours
• (Zoo) Animals
• Countries
• Planets

The three letters highlighted in pink are the only exceptions.

In Practice:

Let us imagine that a spectator is thinking of the word: “Car”. Obviously, as

far as the audience is concerned, that information is totally unknown to you. Yet,
since we will always be one step ahead, you will use this secret knowledge to play with
the letters of that word and lead the volunteer down a path that you can follow along
with them. In this case, you would probably focus their attention to the second letter
of their word and now ask them to think of a completely different word that would
start with that letter. But you could even let the spectator choose a letter first, then go
on to give instructions on how to select the next word.

This overall process might make it seem like that person could potentially
think of anything, however the categories that I assign are somewhat restrictive.
Furthermore, since I am constantly one step ahead, I know exactly what the spectator
does every step of the way. The reason is because the letters themselves rarely offer
them more than two options to choose from.

  12  
A:
• “Think of a FRUIT”: Most people would go for ‘Apple’ in this situation. Yet,
in some rare cases, you might have people going for ‘Apricot’ instead.
Nevertheless, in both instances, you are covered by the fact that those two
words share the same second letter: ‘P’. Therefore, this is the one I would then
focus on to force the next word in the chain. This ensures a higher success rate
during the word association game.

• “Think of a MONTH”: Technically, there are only two out of twelve months
that start with the letter A: ‘April’ and ‘August’. The tiny issue is that (unlike
‘Apple’ and ‘Apricot’ above) those words do not share any common letters. To
counter that, I personally choose to ask the participant to “Think of a month, for
instance: August, September, etc. Obviously don’t think of those. Make up your own
mind!” This eliminates that option.

N.b. When a letter induces several choices of categories to force, you must usually opt
for one only. However, to make the overall selection process by the spectator seem
even more random and free, you can always throw away some categories that will
never work with that letter anyway. For example, if your volunteer is thinking of the
letter ‘A’, you can give them the choice between a colour and a fruit since they are
much more likely to think of ‘Apple’ than ‘Amaranth’. Finally, in the case of ‘A’, you
could also throw both options at once: “Think of a colour or a month” since ‘Apple’,
‘Apricot’ and ‘April’ all have the letter ‘P’ as a second letter (making sure to eliminate
August, as discussed previously).

B:
• “Think of a COLOUR”: The idea is to force the letter ‘L’ in the next round,
since both ‘Blue’ and ‘Black’ share that second letter. The only exception is
‘Brown’, which you can take care of in a similar manner is described above
with ‘August’: “Think of a colour, like brown, purple, etc.” Technically, you could
also thrown in ‘Beige’ although this colour is extremely rare.

• “Think of a Fruit”: ‘Banana’.

C:
“Think of an ANIMAL”: The most common animal with the letter ‘C’ is a ‘Cat’. I
would personally choose the letter ‘A’ for the next round, as it would also cover
‘Camel’ or ‘Caiman’. If you are ever worried that your spectator might go for
‘Chimpanzee’, ‘Cheetah’ or even ‘Chicken’, you could be much less subtle in your
choice of category by saying: “Think of an animal, like maybe a pet... or a wild animal,
anything at all”.

  13  
D:
• “Think of an COU NTRY”: ‘Denmark’ is by far the most common one.

• “Think of a MONTH”: ‘December’ (only choice!).

E:
• “Think of an ANIMAL”: ‘Elephant’.

• “Think of a PLANET”: ‘Earth’.

F:
“Think of an MONTH”: ‘February’ is the only choice.

G:
“Think of an COLOUR”: The most obvious choice is ‘Green’, however some people
might think of ‘Grey’. For that reason, the next letter to force will be the ‘R’ on the
second letter.

H:
• “Think of SOMETHING YOU COULD DRAW”: Most people would
think of drawing a ‘House’ in this case. Yet, out of all the other letters, this
option seems the least sure-fire, as the spectator could potentially think of a
variety of other things like a ‘Horse’, a ‘Hand’ or even a ‘Hat’. The advantage
here is that since this option is much less restrictive it will look even more
impressive if it hits.

• “Think of a MEANS OF TRANSPORT”: This is much more specific but it

will ensure your spectator is highly likely to go for ‘Helicopter’.

I:
• “Think of an ANIMAL”: ‘Iguana’.

• “Think of a COLOUR”: ‘Indigo’.

  14  
 • “Think of a (EUROPEAN) COUNTRY”: Italy.

J:
• “Think of a COUNTRY”: ‘Japan’.

• “Think of MONTH”: ‘January’ and ‘July’ are the only options and they share
the same last letter, which will be used subsequently.

• “Think of a PLANET”: ‘Jupiter’.

K:
“Think of an ANIMAL”: ‘Kangaroo’.

L:
“Think of an ANIMAL”: ‘Lion’.

M:
• “Think of a MONTH”: ‘March’ and ‘May’ are the only options. You will then
force the ‘A’ on the second position.

• “Think of a PLANET”: Both ‘Mercury’ and ‘Mars’ have an ‘R’ on the third
position.

N:
• “Think of a MONTH”: ‘November’.

• “Think of a PLANET”: ‘Neptune’.

O:
• “Think of a COLOUR”: ‘Orange’.

• “Think of a FRUIT”: ‘Orange’.

• “Think of a MONTH”: ‘October’.

  15  
N.b. Since both the fruit and the colour are the same word, you could give the
spectator an apparent choice between those two categories and the result will be the
exact same.

P:
• “Think of an ANIMAL”: You could even emphasize a “zoo animal” to ensure
they will land on one of these three words: ‘Penguin’, ‘Panda’ and ‘Panther’.
Then, you will use the third letter: ‘N’.

• “Think of a FRUIT or VEGETABLE”: ‘Pumpkin’.

• “Think of a PLANET”: Technically, ‘Pluto’ is not regarded as a planet

anymore; it is a dwarf planet. But, unless you are performing for Stephen
Hawking, this should work 100% of the time.

• “Think of a COLOUR”: ‘Purple’.

Q:
My least favourite letter. This is the only option that I could find.

“Think of a PLAYING VALUE”: “For instance, a J for a Jack, an A for an Ace, an S for
a Six or a Seven...” : ‘Queen’.

R:
“Think of a COLOUR”: ‘Red’.

S:
• “Think of a PLANET”: ‘Saturn’.

• “Think of a MONTH”: ‘September’.

T:
“Think of an ANIMAL”: ‘Tiger’.

  16  
U:
“Think of a PLANET”: ‘Uranus’.

V:
“Think of a PLANET”: ‘Venus’.

W:
“Think of a FRUIT”: ‘Watermelon’.

X:
“Think of a MUSICAL INSTRUMENT”: ‘Xylophone’.

Y:
“Think of a COLOUR”: ‘Yellow’.

Z:
“Think of an ANIMAL”: ‘Zebra’.

Example:

If we know that a spectator is thinking of the word “Car”, we could ask him to
focus on the second letter and think of a fruit that would start with this letter. In this
case, he would take the ‘A’ and would either think of an ‘Apple’ or an ‘Apricot’. Then,
we would take the second latter of that new word (‘P’) and ask him to think of a
planet that starts with that letter (‘Pluto’).

Technically, we could stop at any time to reveal the last piece of information.
But I like to use this technique to force a particular outcome. If you go back to the A-
Z list, you will find that a lot of options are pretty much sure-fire. I personally prefer
the ‘E’ for ‘Elephant’ since that letter is the most commonly used in the English
language. Thus, I am sure to find it at some point during the cycle. Equally, you are
free to choose your favourite letters to force during the linking process. In other
words, you do not necessarily have to memorise the entire list. You could just decide
to work with the most foolproof and frequent letters such as ‘D’ for ‘December’, ‘N’
for ‘November’, ‘O’ for ‘Orange’, ‘R’ for ‘Red’, etc. Therefore, you are free to jazz with
the letters as much as you want.

  17  
 If we go back to the example above, since the spectator is thinking of ‘Pluto’,
we could bring their attention to the very last letter and ask them to imagine a fruit or
a colour starting with that one letter (‘Orange’). Finally, they would focus one last
time on the last letter and visualise an animal (‘Elephant’). You are free to reveal that
last piece of information as you wish. This could be direct mind reading or (since you
know the outcome in advance) you could have predicted it. Should this entire process
somehow fail, you can just land on your feet by revealing the very first word anyway.

Effect #1:

In this presentation, the idea is that the mentalist uses the word association
game as a psychological technique to gauge the spectator’s personality. The starting
word could have been written down or selected from a book with an emphasis on the
fact that this was a conscious and deliberate decision as opposed to the seemingly
random selection process that is about to occur.

Effect #2:

Pretty much the same methodology as the previous effect. Yet, in this
presentation, the outcome has been predicted in advance. This gives a double
revelation that ends with a surprise.

Effect #3:

This is the one I actually prefer. I searched for a long time for potential effects
that I could do when somebody challenges me to guess what they are thinking about.
In this type of situation, my original reflex would have been to either find direct ways
of obtaining that piece of information (e.g. a peek) or to gradually (and sneakily) steer
the conversation towards the demonstration of a different routine in which I am in
full control of all the elements. To me, the former solution lacks justification (“why
should I write it down?”) whilst the latter does not answer their initial question, which
is not satisfying. And then, it eventually dawned on me that, even if I could somehow
tell that person what they are thinking of, the result – albeit slightly impressive –
would not be surprising at all: You think of something, I reveal it. Tada!

In this demonstration, however, not only can you meet the challenge, you also
hit the spectator with a second revelation that they were not expecting in the first
place. Suddenly, you are back in charge of the performance. So, if somebody asks you
to prove that you can read their mind, this is what you could do: you claim that you
can demonstrate feats of telepathy and precognition (this can obviously be adapted for
a more psychological approach, depending on your personal style of performance).

This uses a peek wallet (any one). In performance, you ask your spectator to
reduce their thought to one specific word. You take a business card and write the
following sentence: “You will think of an ELEPHANT!” and place it back inside
your wallet. As far as your spectator is concerned, you have attempted to guess the

  18  
word they are currently thinking about when, in fact, you are one step ahead à la
Mental Epic. Now, you ask the volunteer to write their thought of word on another
business card (which could even be their own). The justification is double: this
prevents them to change their mind afterwards, plus it ensures they will not forget it
later on since you are about to ask them to think of many different things at once.
That business card is now placed inside the wallet as well, supposedly for safety. As a
matter of fact, it is located in the perfect position to get your peek.

Now, you explain that you will predict the outcome of a series of random
decisions. You take out a third business card (the peek could actually be done at this
moment) and you write down the word that you caught a glimpse of. Let us say the
spectator thought of the word “Car”, in which case you would write: “You are
thinking of a CAR”. And you place this card facedown on the table. You now direct
your spectator through a specific train of thought, using the original letters of the
starting word and working your way through to the word ‘Elephant’, as described on
the previous page. When the spectator lands on a letter ‘E’, they are to name out loud
the first animal they can think of: “Elephant!”

You now go back to the wallet and take the first two business cards: the one
your first wrote on (which is supposed to be your guess on the initial word) and the
spectator’s. As you turn over the latter to reveal what the person was thinking of
(stressing the fact that it could have been absolutely anything in the world, thus
highlighting the seeming impossibility of the overall demonstration) you casually put
the second business card on the table to switch it with the one that was already there.
Because of the slight time misdirection or logical disconnect (Cf. Bob Cassidy), there
will be a slight confusion as to which is which anyway. Alternately, this switch could
also be done in the hands through a simple top change. Now, turn over the business
card to show that you correctly guessed the word ‘Car’. As a second kicker, remind the
spectator of the random choices that were subsequently made and the fact that you
wrote something down before it even started. Ask the volunteer to repeat the last
word: “Elephant.” And now turn over the last business card to display your prediction:
“You will think of an ELEPHANT!”

A.A.A. Book Test Variation:

The methodology is exactly the same as Effect #3, except that the spectator is
asked to think of a word taken from a random ungimmicked book. When they are
done, you take a business card and – under the guise of writing your impression – you
actually inscribe your prediction for the second round (e.g. ‘Elephant), thus being
already one step ahead. You now have the spectator record their word on a business
card, which you will peek and duplicate – under the pretence of writing a prediction
this time. You now all the elements in hand to verbally lead your spectator down your
own train of thought, concluding on the word you had predicted at the very start. In
the end, you will reveal both a thought of word selected from a book and an image
apparently chosen at random. All of that with a simple peek, the Leviathan system
and some one ahead.

  19  
 Some of you may not really like the idea of asking the spectator to write
something down. In this case, bear in mind that the present system is extremely
versatile. Consequently, you can combine it with other methods of acquiring the
information in the first place. So far, we have essentially been relying on the one-
ahead principle. But what if you could be two steps ahead instead? To do so, you can
use your favourite way of either forcing a page (and therefore a word) or peeking at
the information during selection process. For instance, think about the potential of
this system if you used it in association with David Hoy’s Bold Book Test (The Bold
And Subtle Miracles Of Dr Faust) or even Marc Paul’s A.A.A Book Test (Mind 2
Mind).

Phedon Bilek’s Name Reveal:

When I first showed this manuscript to Phedon, he suggested that I add a

presentation that he used for several years with the same technique. The idea is to link
each and every word of the chain through guided imagery. For instance, you could ask
a spectator to think of someone’s name (which you would secretly obtain). In this
example, let us say that person is thinking of the name ‘Paul’. Now, ask him to focus
on the second letter that name and imagine that his friend is eating a fruit that would
start with that particular letter (‘Apple’ or ‘Apricot’). Then, he could take the second
letter once again and imagine that his friend in eating a fruit on a planet the name of
which starts with the letter he has currently got in mind.

You could potentially continue this process of word association for as long as
you want, perhaps even ending on your predicted word such as ‘Elephant’. But in
addition to that, you can have a beautiful moment of revelation where you are able not
only to describe a thought of word and also a complete mental picture:

“I am seeing a man, about medium height. I see him bouncing about like an
astronaut. The environment around him looks extremely cold; he is standing on a
completely frozen surface. Therefore, it is very distant from the sun but don’t think
that it’s Uranus or Neptune because the ground is really solid. So I would guess this is
Pluto. In his hand, he has something red and round, is that an apple? Now, imagine
that you are standing right here in the picture and that you are calling him over.
Imagine that you are shouting his name as you motion him to come to you... P...
Peter...? Paul!”

  20  
 Chapter 2: Propless
In the previous chapter, we have discussed ways of using Leviathan as a system
that allows you to track and lead your spectators down a specific train of thought.
Although the method is completely impromptu, it does require you to obtain one
piece of information at the very start. So far, we have only discussed the traditional
ways of accessing this secret knowledge. But what if there was a way to perform this
technique that does not require the need to write anything down or to use a prop in
order to force a word from the outset?

The biggest propless enthusiasts among you have undoubtedly got countless
means of acquiring or forcing information. It is in fact totally possible to adapt this
manuscript to the techniques and routines that you already have. For now, we will
outline a few of them.

1) Star Sign Revelation:

For Leviathan to work, you basically need your spectator to think of a word. If
you want to be totally propless, you can simply ask them to focus on a piece of
information that you already know in advance. For instance, you might have already
learnt their star sign (hot reading, progressive anagram, etc.). In this situation, you
could definitely use that as the starting word of the overall chain.

For example: “Think of your star sign, imagine it written on a blackboard.

Now, focus on the fourth letter and think of a completely different word. Could you
imagine a colour that starts with this letter? And now, take the second letter and
visualise an animal.” You would now have the three elements: “Taurus, Red and
Elephant”, which could definitely use for a reading.

2) Peter Turner’s Phantom Dictionary:

In his manuscripts titled Real Time and Propless Mentalism, Peter Turner
published a technique that allows you to force a particular set of letters. Obviously,
this is not mine to teach so I would strongly suggest you check out those publications
if you are not yet familiar with them. Additionally, my friend Phedon Bilek is about
to release his own take on that methodology, which he has refined in order to get a
much better chance of hitting. Furthermore, he has found a way to provide a lot more
outs than the original routine, which makes it a lot more deceptive and reliable. At
the time of writing the present manuscript, Phedon has not yet released this work but
it is definitely in the pipeline. Having witnessed in person how strong this method is
over an entire weekend at the Session Convention, I really recommend you check this
out when it eventually gets published.

  21  
 In a nutshell, Peter Turner’s Phantom Dictionary technique ensures the
spectator is highly likely to think of a vowel. Thus, the choice is restricted to those
five letters: AEIOU. Those will be used to create a list of forcing words.

Forcing Words:

Apple

Elephant

Iguana

Orange

Uranus

The idea is that you will now ask your spectator to think of a particular word
starting with the letter they have in mind. You will now secretly obtain the
information through a bit of pumping, like in a baby version of Atlas Brookings’
“Train Tracking”. Basically, you will assign a category of words to choose. Depending
on the letter that they have selected, only one category will work. As a result,
determining the correct group will secretly cue the letter and word that the spectator
has in mind. This hidden code will then tell you how to get back on the right track in
order to complete the chain of words described in the previous chapter.

Branching Anagram:

Can  you  t  hink  of  a  fruit  

that  starts  with  that  
YES   ApplE   Use  the  last  letter  to  force  
letter?     the  word  ‘Elephant’.  
OrangE  

NO    
 
Either  reveal  the  planet  or  
...  a  planet?   YES   Uranus   use  the  letters  to  play  the  

NO    
word  association  game.  

 
...  an  animal?   YES   Iguana   “Is  it  bigger  than  you?”  
Elephant    
YES:  ‘Elephant’.  
NO:  ‘Iguana’.  

  22  
In Practice:

Thanks to the Phantom Diary technique, your spectator is now thinking of a

vowel. But how can you know which one? Just ask a maximum of three questions.
Only the ‘A’ and ‘O’ would lead to a fruit. Notice that ‘Apple’ and ‘Orange’ end with
the same letter, which you can use to subsequently force ‘Elephant’. If that initial
question does not hit, move on to the following category.

If the planet hits, the spectator must be thinking of the ‘U’ and ‘Uranus’, as it
is the only letter that works. At that point, you could technically decide to reveal that
piece of information instantly. Alternately, you could jazz with the letters of that word
in order to gradually lead the volunteer down your specific train of thought – and
perhaps even stop on your force word, such as ‘Elephant’.

In the case of the animal, two letters would potentially hit: ‘I’ (‘Iguana’) and ‘E’
(‘Elephant’). You could deduce the correct one by casually asking (or telling) how big
it is: “It is not bigger than you, is it?”

3) Phedon Bilek’s Proteus:

Definitely one of my favourite pieces of propless mentalism. Since Proteus

allows you to accurately deduce a thought of drawing, it could be possible to combine
it with the present system in order to obtain a double revelation. For instance, once
you have managed to ascertain that your volunteer is thinking of a house, you could
ask them to play about with the letters of their word.

  23  
 Chapter 3: Managing
Failure
As we have seen previously, some letters in the initial system of Leviathan are
more sure-fire than others. For instance, if I asked you to think of a month that starts
with the letter ‘N’, you are bound to land on ‘November’. However, other letters are
essentially based on the most common or obvious choices that people make on the
spot. Naturally, this does not mean that it can hit all the time. For example, someone
might be tempted to think of an ‘Eagle’ instead of an ‘Elephant’, or an ‘Olive’ instead
of ‘Orange’. So, what if it fails?

For the situations detailed in the first chapter, a miss is extremely easy to
cover. Since you still know the original thought of word, you can always land on your
feet with a powerful revelation anyway. When it comes to strictly propless
demonstrations, things are more likely to go wrong since you do not start with a clear
selection. In the case of the Phantom Dictionary, your spectator may well be thinking
of a consonant instead of a vowel from the outset. Additionally, they might go down a
different train of thought from the one you originally suggested.

Personally, I like to restrict purely propless demonstrations to casual and

conversational performances in impromptu situations. This enables me to set the
scene for potential failure. The idea is to calibrate your participant: “Let me try
something with you. I am not sure if it will work. Sometimes, I connect better with
certain people than others.” Bear in mind that the system is reliable but we are just
downplaying the effect in order to have a potentially bigger impact at the end. And if
it fails, you can just reiterate what you were saying at the start and go on with another
effect instead.

To sum up, if you are using the system with a thought that you have already
obtained secretly, a miss at the very end can be easily covered by the revelation of the
original word. Let us imagine that your spectator thought of ‘Eagle’ instead of
‘Elephant’. If it happens, you will realise it instantly. Instead of trying to keep on
guessing what animal this person has in mind, I would just admit that I am not
getting anything and ask them to simply tell me what it is. If you are the sort of
performer who likes readings, this would actually be a good occasion insofar as an
eagle does provide you with more than enough material to talk about its symbolism
and how this could reflect their personality. Then, quickly go back to the original
word to reveal it.

In the case of a propless demonstration like PD or Proteus, the spectator

might have gone in a completely different direction than the one you thought. If this
occurs, you will also recognise the situation quite quickly: either you will not get the
word that they are thinking of, or they will have some trouble finding a selection for

  24  
the category that you assigned. So, what is basically happening now is the following:
your spectator is currently thinking of a letter and you have absolutely no clue what it
is. I would then have two solutions for you:

First of all, if you are familiar with Atlas Brooking’s “Train Tracking”, you
might be able to get back on track fairly rapidly. Yet, personally, I am not in favour of
following one propless method by another one. In the present situation, I would
prefer to ask the spectator to write something down on a piece of paper. My
justification would be something like this: “So, you are currently thinking of a letter of
the alphabet. This could be any one and I have no way of knowing which one it could
be. In a moment, you are going to construct a thought almost subconsciously. To
achieve this, we will do it one step at a time. First, I want you to write down the letter
that you have in mind, make sure to place it on the left-hand side in order to leave
some space. Now, I want you to think of another letter, make it one that is usually
associated with the first one and write it on the card next to the original letter. Now,
think of a new letter that could go with the first two. And keep on repeating this
process until you have a complete word. The idea is to create a completely random
word through haphazard and unconscious decisions.” This game of letter association
is in line with the process that took place at the beginning of the routine. Moreover, it
essentially gives an apparent reason for writing the word down, when in fact you are
just preparing yourself for a peek.

  25  
 Credits
Joshua Quinn, ParaLies

Atlas Brookings, Train Tracking

Sylvain Vip and Maxime Schucht, System Alpha

Bazz, BrainPlay

Fernando Figueras, Linking Thoughts

Peter Turner, Real Time and Propless Mentalism

Phedon Bilek, Proteus

David Hoy, The Bold And Subtle Miracles Of Dr Faust

Marc Paul, Mind 2 Mind

  26  
 Final Words
We have finally reached the end of the manuscript. Thank you once again for
your interest in this material.

If you happen to have any queries, please do not hesitate to email me at:

[email protected]

To be updated about the latest mentalism products offered by Arcane Arts,

feel free to visit our website:

http://arcanearts-ltd.com/

À bientôt,

Francis Girola,
Glasgow 2018

  27