Cards, counters, and other foreign appliances have no part in this really new conception. The spectators select any page and any line in a Reader's Digest, or similar magazine. They remember the first word of the line, and on a blank card write the page number and line number. The writing is sealed in an envelope. The flap is either initialed to prevent opening, or wax may be used with a ring impression to build it. The envelope is slipped under the door of a room wherein the performer has been concentrating (?) during the entire process. A minute later…
An original method for securing a question or message makes use of a common hat pin. Holding the hat pin in my right hand, I request a spectator to write on a piece of paper, fold it into a small bundle, and stick the paper on the end of the pin. The first illustration is followed here. There has already been stuck onto pin another duplicate paper roll, which isn't visible because I am holding the needle between my thumb and first finger in a manner so as to conceal the duplicate. Now, with the left thumb and forefinger I…
Ladies in the audience always make available a powder case, or compact, which becomes a valuable accessory in this feat of fake clairvoyance. It is practical as an interlude during your performance, and is an excellent publicity stunt for impromptu work. A compact having been secured, the owner is asked to write a single word on a business card, enclosing it in the case. The performer is given the case behind back and he faces the audience. Immediately he says that the second letter is exceptionally clear and is round, like a letter "e" or "o". Then, after building up…
Rather a nightmarish effect is this, it going slightly beyond the pale of things. It is the only feat of its kind, to our knowledge, in which the materials used never leave the possession of the spectator, and at no time is he approached by the performer. A pad, pencil, and envelope are put before a spectator. He thinks of someone who is dead and unknown to the performer. Another spectator now turns off the light, and with the magician in the corner of the room, the first person prints, on the pad, the name of the thought of person.…
Once more there comes along an effect which has been tested thoroughly before appearing herein, and the directness of its presentation has much to do with its success. One who can tell fortunes is always the lion of the gathering, and it is seldom that a magician is not asked if he is so gifted. Just giving a straight "spiel" reading is one thing, but I've found it 100% more effective if one can answer a direct question in giving the talk. And the following routine will be found attractive because it can be done practically impromptu. A pack of…
Once in a while a really good effect pops up and is found to be different in its psychological appearance to an audience. There isn't any definite part of this that is new or original except for the dress. Dr Jacob Daley first told me of the general effect using playing cards for both spectators used. Al Baker then came along with the idea of illustrating to one person how the slip should be torn for burning, and getting information in this ingeniously ordinary way. Finally, after using the stunt for a dozen or more times as an impromptu item,…
Fifteen or sixteen years ago, Al Baker originated an effect using a deck of cards, three pieces of paper, and a borrowed hat. To the audience the procedure was to have three cards selected and thought of while the pack of cards was in their own hands. The names of these selections were written on pieces of paper, folded, and collected in the hat. One by one, the performer would take out the papers, and apparently by divination reveal the selected or thought of cards. I first obtained the original method in 1924 and later, around 1929, added somewhat to…
Simplicity is ever a virtue in magical effects. This should find favor with many because it is effective, to the point, and there is little chance for the subject to miss. Writing a prediction on a slip, the performer folds and deposits it in a cup. A deck is mixed and spread on the table. A spectator freely chooses one and is given a small book of poems or fiction. He is asked to open the book to the page corresponding with the number of spots on the card and then count to the word at the same number. The…
Of all the single or group reading methods that have been invented and created, I think none have been as practically simple as the window frame idea. I've always thought that it was mine but after eleven years I'm not so sure. I made my first note of it on January 12, 1924 and thought of it while reading about an alcohol envelope feke on page 92 of Alexander's Dr. Q book. I handled a lot of correspondence then and passed it around. Later it was advertised in The Sphinx. Howard Albright used it in his Super-Psychic Mental book, and…
So many have asked me for something along mental lines that can be done practically impromptu and yet has the appearance of genuine mind reading without cards, etc., that I am disclosing a secret that I have been using for a long, long time, in fact, since October 1929 it being so dated in my notebook. I know this may sound difficult or rather long winded, but if you follow the routine with the material at hand, you will grasp the principle very quickly and have no difficulty. All that is needed is a thumb tip and seven or eight…