Quite some years ago our trade journals were seldom without an advertisement by a person named A. Honigman, of Canada. Mr. Honigman was selling an intrigue labeled The Language of The Eyes and the gist of the adverts was that one could read another's thoughts merely by looking "deeply" into his eyes. Now this may be true when practised by soul mates but it isn't readily applied by the mystical fraternity. Mr. Honigman's denouement, after seeing with his own eyes a certified check or money order, gave a system of glancing at another person without moving the head, and through…
Every bit of action in this effect means something, and I have no doubt but that there will be not a few who have discarded the number addition trick who will find the following idea a welcome new face for their routine. After other card effects the performer attempts a mindreading experiment. He hands the deck to a spectator for shuffling, and that person is to think of a three figure number as he mixes the cards. The deck is given a second person who shuffles and also thinks of three figures. The same thing happens with a third person.…
Stewart James introduced this principle in Jinx #25 under the title of Numismatigic. That erudite discoverer of oddities had found that Canadian five cent pieces were magnetic while the like coins of the U.S. were not. (It should prove both interesting and probably practical for residents of other countries ((and we get to 22 other countries, too! Ed.)) to test their own metal currencies for magnetic qualities.) My presentation here is completely different from that of Mr. James. I have also added a subtlety not heretofore used (in print) by those who have made use of magnets. It is simply…
Quite some years ago Mr Hull published an effect which he called Sheet Readings and which embodied a very effective method of presenting an old principle of sealed message reading. I made a few notes on it at the time for the action seemed very fair from the audience's viewpoint. However, there were also a few little points that didn't suit my own way of working and a detail or so which I subsequently added to make the working even more effective to the onlookers. In the original effect the performer passed out small envelopes, cards and pencils for the…
Handwriting is something which may or may not identify one person from another. It's a moot question and therefore leaves the path open for a magician to make the most of things. From a newspaper clipping reproduced here we have seen that the effect might be of use to many readers. What we reveal here is an effort to give a method so that all may accomplish the same thing, if not genuinely, as per the English newspaper man, by underhanded trickery as per nearly all magicians. In a room from 10 to 20 people the performer passes out a…
While this effect has been sold under different names and credited to as many different people, no one as yet has published the presentation which I first used over 25 years ago. (Back in Jinx #6 I used this principle with a torn out piece of newspaper. Previous to that, I supplied Thayer's Trick of the Month Club with the effect as eventually made quite popular by Mogul. Previous to that Joe Ovette sold the idea in a slightly different form via the manuscript route. Previous to that Martin Sunshine used it for private readings. And Martin told me subsequent…
If you actually could do true mind reading you would proceed exactly as you do in this hitherto unrevealed and astonishing test. That is what arouses the amazement of the spectators -- entire absence of any apparent method. Every move is seemingly done by the spectators themselves -- any one spectator or several, it makes no difference. If you see a spectator who has brought his own newspaper you may use that, if you wish. Any newspaper, any page, any column, any want ads from that column -- entirely free choice. You never see the want ads which are selected.…
Science recognizes a vast spectrum of waves ranging from extremely short to very long wavelengths. On this band are light rays, radio, X-ray, infra-red ray, death ray, and ultra-violet ray, among others, which have been placed at the service of humanity. Between the known wavelengths, however, exist many whose use is unknown. It is with these "black gaps" that scientists today concern themselves. Marconi, at the time of his death, was delving into the mysteries of one of them. Recently a black substance emitting a powerful and baffling ray was compounded by an eminent scientist and chemist. Fastened in this…
Wait a minute. I must polish the crystal and rub the black cat in the right direction. It is the year 1954 A.D. (After Diachylon) and the scene is a super magic shop of that era. Chairs are overflowing with non-buying magi. Two wizards are setting up decks; another is trying, for the fourth time, to locate the chosen card; the rest are trying to explain just why they played that two-dollar date. Chatter ceases when the inventive genius of the day enters/Elmer Slideslip. Recognized as the author of that monumental work Tracing the Thumb-tip to its Tepee his actions…
This is a routine of more or less standard items, which, when combined, offer an interesting experiment that can find a spot on almost any club or home program. The impression upon the audience, when numbers are merely thought of, is very good as I have proven to my satisfaction. The patter is based upon "the magic of numbers" (lots of material can be found on that subject) plus the fact that some scientists have been investigating the possibility of photographing thought waves, notably among them being Nicola Tesla. The performer starts by showing a chart containing 16 squares of…