If ever there was an impromptu mental novelty, this should be it. I took the basic working from an idea of Montreal’s Charles Peet about two years ago, and it has served me quite well.
Borrow a derby or soft hat. Say that you’ll show a test of clairvoyance and telepathy combined. Ask for the loan of seven or eight one dollar bills. However, before starting to collect them, step up to one volunteer and ask him to write his name in pencil on his bill to identify it later as his. Ask him to fold it over and over until it is in a small flat square. At the same time have the rest of the donors do the same. While the key subject is writing and folding, you can pick up one or two of the other bills that are ready. Holding the hat by brim in left hand, take the bills in right and drop them in. When you take the marked bill, pretend to put it with the rest, but put it under the fingers of your left hand inside the hat, and then collect the rest.
Hand the hat to a spectator who stands on the other side of the room. The left fingers keep the stolen bill. Don’t try to palm anything. Just keep it in the fingers and let the left hand be natural and out of direct use. And don’t stall around but keep moving at this point. Walk away to a far corner. Tell the man with the hat to pick out a bill while your back is turned, hold it up, and say “All right.” You turn your back. When the spectator speaks, say “Put it on the table, and take another.” Next time you say “No, still not right, put it aside and try again.” In the meantime you have been standing with your back turned and have gestured with your right hand. The left, however, has opened the stolen bill and you note the number and refold. Take it easy as you’ll find when you try this that you have more time than you think. Also you may think it hard to remember the number but if you’ll try this first before saying you can’t you’ll be surprised. And most of my readers who have a yen for this type of trick is familiar with mnemonics. On the third or fourth pick, stop the selector and say “That’s it.” Walk over to him and take the bill he holds with your right hand. Without a pause, walk to the one who signed the bill. When almost to him, pretend to pass the bill to the left hand, which immediately goes out to him with the bill in it. He takes it and you walk back towards the hat. Tell him to open the bill and see if it is his. It IS. First climax. Take the hat from the spectator with your right hand and put it on the table, dropping the right hand, bill inside. Now stand before the owner of the bill and have him open the bill and look at the number.
Slowly and deliberately you read the number. Second climax. Then ask the owners of the other bills to raise their hands.
P.S. Try to get a rather well used bill for the signed one. It helps a bit in the handling.
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