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…
Do you happen to have a set of the old card from the pocket indexes among your souvenirs? And have you, by chance, one of the popular card in the pocketbook effect? If you have but the first, you have the makings for a stunning press and drawing room stunt. And if you also have the latter, a neat variation is possible. Fill the indexes, not with the usual cards, but with folded slips of paper on which are written the names of the cards, like this "The chosen stranger will think of the -------". Fifty-three of these papers are…
Book tests come and go about the same way as do Four Ace Tricks, for it seems as though one is on the search continually for improvement. Of course, favorite methods vary according to the individual. I've seen some people who would swear by a method that to me seemed cumbersome, drawn out, and obviously a fake because of the round about way of getting to the word. However, one advantage of using, or at least, knowing several methods for a test makes it possible for one to repeat it at some later time without fear of anyone following the…
Natural looking methods for the selection of a book page and word are seldom seen. With the following method, the principle of a recent illusion, and an older die and frame trick, has been brought into play, and provides a most perfect way of getting to the proper page. Some of the complicated methods seen should always be performed in a show where there is an intermission. Then one could start the selection before intermission, during intermission perform all of the intricate and complicated means of selecting the page, and after the intermission finish the test. By doing this, the…
All magicians who have bought and use the addition slate invariably do it the same way. I used it twice, up on the northern peninsula of Michigan, back in 1927, but stopped for two reasons. One was that I had personal reasons for not doing it, and the second was that everybody hopped on the band wagon when it was first sold, and made it too common. Dr Daley doesn't like the idea of prophesying the total, so evolved an entirely new presentation. Have four people stand. Each is to think of a four figure number. You hold a slate…
Back in the March, 1935 issue of The Jinx ( #6 ) there appeared a billet reading method of great value. The test, in that case, used a newspaper and on a torn out piece a word was encircled. I have found that many are not in a position to read the stolen paper, and this variation in a slightly different dress, will make for greater ease in the reading. In your left coat pocket have a deck of cards and a match or two. Give the pack to a person with the request that he look them over well…
Asking everyone present to think of a card, the mentalist passes around a small pad upon which several write their thought of cards, one under the other. Someone else takes the written on sheet, secretly crosses out any one of those thereon and pockets the paper. The performer states that he will not make the card appear, but rather will take a thought photograph or thought image of the card marked out. Showing a blank playing card, it is placed on a spectator's left hand face down, and their right hand used as a cover over it. The person who…
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,…
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…
Around 1925 Hugh Mackay published his tome, Classical Conjuring, in which was a new and novel two person telepathic effect using the four aces from any deck. I made a notation at the time, and subsequently used the effect whenever the opportunity arose. Mr Mackay's method made necessary the learning of 24 different arrangements in conjunction with two key cards (from the rest of the deck) for each. This way is extremely simple, yet the effect is still worked, and very different in theme from other such problems. The lady assistant retires to another room with a spectator as a…