For two people this is a cute idea in clairvoyance with coins or other objects. I like the money version. The medium or psychic is sent from the room. The performer asks someone to donate for the time being a piece of money and it may be either a coin or a bill. Stating that the psychic has a strange faculty where money is concerned (so have a lot of people), the performer puts it in an ordinary letter envelope and fastens on a spring paper clamp to one of the tabs (where you pinch them together to open the…
Faked envelopes all run along the same basic principles but I think that I have a new variation and also a very practical improvement on the old style. I've never considered such envelopes as sound magic when used to obviously change an article. We know they do, but if an audience sees the Four of Spades go in, and the Ace of Clubs come out, they at once consider the envelope as the medium of exchange and center their interest upon it. However, if a card is freely chosen and sealed without being shown, and later removed to be revealed…
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…
One of the greatest effects in thought transmission is the coding of pictures freely drawn by the audience. It goes without saying that it is at the same time the most intricate of methods. Julius Zancig was most adept at this feat and developed it over a period of years through undisputed ability plus a thorough grounding in transmission secrets. What I am presenting here is a poor substitute for what that master could accomplish, but in itself and as far as it goes, the effect is quite marvelous to an audience and at the same time satisfying to the…
An extremely cute match divination can be presented impromptu with the paper packages that are so common now. Hand a paper of them to a person and ask him to turn his back. First he is to remove several and pocket them so that the performer will not know how many are in the pack. Now he is to count those remaining and tear out enough more to represent that number. For instance, should there be fifteen left, he is to tear out one and lay it on the table, and then tear out five to lay alongside it, in…
Here is an old card principle in a new dress and for a different effect. Magicians all know the old stunt of putting four aces on top of the deck and having it cut into four piles. Then, cards are moved from pile to pile by the spectator, at the performer’s direction, and for a climax, the top card of each pile is turned and shown to be an ace. Now try it this way. While seated at a table, write a prediction on a piece of paper, fold, and let someone keep it. Pick up the pack, false shuffle…
One of the subtle methods for the transmission of signals has been passed around a good deal in its original form. The switching on and off of an electric light in another room was found to act on the radio with sharp static like snaps. Presumably the performer would be given a number or card and leave the room before the medium returned. In another room he would signal her through the radio which had been turned down a little but not off during the test. I played around with this idea and found out an important secret which allows…
(Note: Mr Read needs no introduction. As the author of The Calostro Mindreading Act, he can be thanked by the profession for a most practical and much needed system. The following is another of his very original ideas.) Having stolen, or otherwise secured, original written questions, or duplicates thereof, this new method of tabulating them for later secret reference is one of the cleverest means yet devised for the mentalist. It is so innocent looking and so easy to handle that no suspicion can possibly be aroused. It is now released for the first time and will fit in with…
I thought for quite a while before deciding to release this secret because I've used it a lot for press work and the effect is absolutely original. I had it listed as a dollar trick should I ever let it go, but Spring has made me weak so here it is. Pick out a friend from the telephone book. Count down and remember its position from the top of its column. Make 26 one inch square cards containing letters of the alphabet. Make 25 more all containing the first letter of the friend's last name. Put the 26 duplicate letters…
A most unusual test that can be introduced into a program at any time is one which needs no preparation in one version and but a little in another. It is one of those tricks that can be done before practically any sized audience and it is just as effective if presented for a single person. Professional performers know only too well how rare and hard to find such an effect is. The first version is impromptu with any cards that may be borrowed. The performer states that what he is about to do must not be confused with card…