Introduction

RULE OF THREE Let’s begin with a favourite of mine. Why not? This effect is really strong and can, in the right settings, appear completely impossible. Best of all, all you need is a deck of cards and a small stack of blank business cards. This effect makes use of the brilliant Hoy Principle by David Hoy. Some noteworthy effects using this idea are Dave’s Pin from Michael Murray’s book A Piece of My Mind and Luke Jermay’s ‘Touching on Hoy’ from Coral Fang.

Basic Effect Three spectators each think of a different thought and write it down. Somehow, the Mentalist manages to divine all three, before showing that he knew way in advance what each of them would pick.

Presentation Three mini slips of paper are shown, with a number 1, 2 or 3 written on each. They are mixed and three spectators (Brandon, Nathan and Gaz) take a card each and remember their number. The slips are then torn up. ‘Ok, so right now each of you is thinking of a number. If you thought of number 1, think of a simple geometric shape like a square or circle, nothing too complex like a star. If you thought of number 2, think of any playing card for me, but not an ace as they’re too easy. Finally, if you thought of number 3, think of any two digit number from 1 to 50 for me. Please, no decimals or recurring fractions.’ Each spectator writes their thought down on a billet. These are unmarked and completely normal. The Mentalist is blind folded and is handed the billets.

He proceeds to correctly divine all three thoughts perfectly, (e.g. 19, triangle and Q ♣) before giving a short but extremely specific character reading on all three participants. ‘However, I have to admit something to you. I had a feeling as to what your thoughts were going to be a week ago. I gave you (indicates spectator 1) a deck of cards 2 weeks ago, and I asked you to bring it along with you tonight. Could you please get it out?’ The spectator takes out the deck, and with shaking fingers, removes the cards from the box. He is asked to count down to the 19th card. It is turned over. Sure enough, it’s the Q ♣, and scrawled across the face of it, is the word TRIANGLE in big black lettering. The Mentalist never handles the deck, and it is completely ungimmicked.

Concept The basic idea at work here is the famous ‘Hoy Principle’ by David Hoy. What this means is that all three participants are actually thinking of the same thought without realising it. To set up, take a deck of cards and write the word ‘triangle’ across any card. Let’s say the 2 ♥. Then place this at position 36 in the deck. It doesn’t matter what card and what number you use, as long as you know them. You can then put the deck away and send it to a participant of the effect weeks in advance. You will also need a small stack of business cards that are blank on one side. Draw a medium sized rectangle in the middle of each card and in one, write the number, in this case 36, and in the other, write the card, in this case the 2 ♥.

Place these two cards on the bottom of the business card stack face down in any order. You will also need five mini slips of paper. On three of these, draw a big number 1 on it, and then write 2 and 3 on the other two. Make sure the ink doesn’t bleed through. You’re now ready to perform the effect. When ready to perform, place two of the slips that have a 1 on them on your lap so you can access them easily.

Performance To begin, introduce the effect and say that you’ll need ‘three random thoughts.’ Show the three slips of paper freely and have them examined. As this is happening, get the two slips in your lap, ready to be palmed. You’ll now perform a simple switch to swap numbers 2 and 3 for the ones on your lap. Take the slips back so that number 1 is on top. Hold them face down and get a break under the top slip. You’re going to let the two below it to slip onto your lap as you place the two palmed on top. Bring your hands together and as you do, briefly dip your hands below the table and drop the two slips below the break onto your thighs. Bring your hands back up as they meet and drop the two palmed slips onto the other hand. Grab all three with your right hand and spread them on the table. To the naked eye, it should appear as though you just transferred the slips from one hand to the other and spread them on the table. Little do they know the slips now all have 1 written on them. What fools they are. Spread them out on the table and have the spectators take one at random and remember the number. Make sure to tell them not to show anyone else what number

they got. This will ensure no one will see that all are the same. Take the slips back and dispose of them. Now follow the presentation written at the beginning. If you word is as shown, then all three of the participants should be thinking of triangle. Each of them also thinks that the other two are thinking of a card or a number. I like to follow this script to the letter as it seems as though you are putting restrictions on the number and card, as well as the shape. Take three business cards (careful not to disturb your stack) and draw three boxes in the middle identical to the ones drawn earlier. Hand one to each participant and have them write down their thoughts in the boxes. Again, caution them not to let anyone else see what they write. Blindfold yourself and take the three cards face down. Mix them up and hover your hand over them one at a time to ‘pick up the auras’ the cards are leaving. You can now proceed to supposedly receive the thought one at a time. ‘I’m getting a shape coming through here, quite pointy, a triangle maybe? Don’t react anyone, don’t give anything away. Next, the number. This is quite central, like 36? And finally the card. Oh that’s easy, the 3 ….no 2 of hearts! Remove your blindfold and say ‘quick yes or no, did I get yours?’ Ask them one at a time in quick succession and they will all say ‘yes.’ Pick up the three cards and set them on top of the stack casually. Relax a little here and soak up the applause. Pick up the business card stack and transfer the top card to the bottom and turn over the whole packet. Deal the three face cards onto the table. This is discrepant but will fly past the audience.

Even though you’ve just switched out two cards, everything should appear normal. Each spectator will see their thought and what they presume are the other two people’s thoughts. You’re now going to do a quick ‘handwriting’ analysis and cold reading (Note: see the end for an alternative for this) I’ll just explain this briefly as it should be pretty obvious. Begin by saying ‘ok, the way you’ve all written and drawn your answer is very interesting to me. We’ll try this with the ‘triangle’ drawer first. Don’t say who you are, as this might give me a clue, but what I’m getting from you is…’ Give a brief reading. When you’re done, move straight onto the second ‘person’ who wrote the number. As this is no one, you can be as specific as you want as no one can verify it. The same with the last ‘person.’ Now ask each of them ‘what percentage of the information that I just gave would mean something to you?’ As all three got the first, general reading, their answer will differ, one maybe saying 60%, then 80 and so on. Because you’ll get different percentages, this cements the idea that all the readings applied to only one person each. Finally, all you need to do now is say that ‘you knew what they were going to pick’ and go into the final reveal with the deck of cards. Make sure you NEVER go near the cards so that any watching mentalists don’t accuse you of switches.

Alternative Here is an alternative to the second phase. After you’ve revealed all three thoughts, all the face down cards still say ‘triangle’ so you can have them mixed as much as possible, yet you can identify which card belongs to which

person, as they will always get a card with their thought written on it!

Final Thoughts I know this might read a bit dull on paper, but as long as you keep them captivated and involved, there’s no reason for them to be. People love themselves, so as long as you keep it centred on their thoughts and ideas, they’ll be hooked! After showing this effect to a friend of mine, they said that they liked it but they thought that revealing that you knew what they would think in advance kind of ruined the idea that previously I had read their supposedly read their minds. This is a good point, but I think that as long as you focus more on the readings and make it appear as thoughThis shouldn’t really pose an issue; make it look as though the mind reading was just a casual extra to the main event (the readings.) But if you just want to reveal the three thoughts with no deck ending, you can. Finally. I’m sure some pessimists out there will be thinking ‘what if a participant doesn’t pick the triangle? What if is all goes horribly wrong?’ The simple answer is that if you’ve built up good rapport with your spectators beforehand, then they won’t try and trick you and they will go for the triangle. Plus, what other shapes can they choose? There’s really nothing to worry about…

OR IS THERE?

I CAN GUESS PASSWORDS! Although I don’t perform this routine much as it doesn’t really fit my style of performance, I’m still pretty proud of how it turned out and how it all wraps itself up neatly. There’s a lot of nice little ideas in this routine and I hope you enjoy! Credits for this routine go to Luke Jermay for the idea of gathering two pieces of information or more during the action of getting someone to write it down.

Basic Effect Two spectators form a PIN and the mentalist proceeds to reveal it, before passing on him amazing gift to one of the other two spectators!

Performance

The mentalist begins by inviting a spectator up on stage and hands her a small billet. ‘What I want to talk to you about now is something that I find quite worrying in today’s modern society. And that is, passwords. If you think about it, there’s only one small word keeping all of your bank details, and accounts safe. So, I’d like to try something with this concept. Just think of any password you use every day. You can change some of the letters a bit if you want to keep your password safe. Fill out the billet and write the password on it, if you don’t mind.’ The password is then written down on the billet and hidden somewhere on the spectator’s person. The mentalist claims that they will get back to it a little later. Another spectator is invited up on stage. ‘Ok, so what I want both of you to do is think of the last two digits of your birth year, as the first two digits will be 19 of course. Now, write each of your digits on this billet and keep the billet close to your chest so no one else except you two can see the digits.’ The spectators comply with the demands. ‘Ok, I’m getting an 8. Look at me… there’s another 8 as well. The third digit that I’m getting is… is…, try and project it to me please…a 4? Ok, the last one is a big harder so keep repeating it over in your mind like 3, 3, 3…yes? Very good.’ The numbers are confirmed to be correct. The mentalist then claims that he will pass his ability onto the second spectator. He stares into his eyes for a moment and passes them a billet. The other billet that contains spectator one’s password is removed and ripped up. The two stare into each other’s eyes and the second spectator gradually gets the password.

‘So you see, passwords aren’t as secure as they seem. Thanks for helping me out tonight and… wait a minute, do you have a mobile phone? Yes? Well I’d consider changing the code on it from 5 2 9 3 to something a bit less obvious! Thanks for helping me out!’

Concept There are quite a lot of little ideas hidden within this routine, but what I like is that at the end, everything ties itself up in a neat way. The first stage will be a peek and some common sense, the second phase an instant stooge. Begin by writing ‘PLAY ALONG, THE PASSWORD IS _________’ on a billet and place it face down on the bottom of the stack. Then, take a piece of card and on it write ‘Date of Birth __/_/____’ and ‘Password _______.’ Writing the D.O.B in this fashion ensures they will write down their birth year as well’ The lines represent a blank area where the participant will input the required information. Finally you will need to set up a peek. This can be done any way, but the simplest way that I like to do it is to cut a hole in the back of an envelope. I also have a normal sealed envelope in my pocket which I will switch out.

Performance Begin by inviting two spectators up on stage. Once you’ve introduced the effect, ask the first spectator to think of any password that they currently use on their computer. Hand them the billet and you’re now going to use some clever wording to appear as though they are only writing the password down. Point at the D.O.B and say ‘fill this in for me…’ then point at the password section and say ‘and write your password there as well.’ A bit of DR here ensures that no one realises the date of birth has been written. Take out the envelope with the hole in it (careful not to flash it) and load the billet in face down. As you speak, casually seal the envelope and hold it up so you can see

the information. Now in the action of searching for your pen, you can easily switch it for the other envelope in your pocket. I won’t go into too much detail about this as you can probably figure out your own method being the experienced performer you are � Have them sign what they believe is an envelope that contains their password. Alternatively, you could just peek the information and not switch the envelope, but I think you get a bit more freedom this way. Say that you will get back to the password a little later.

VANISHING POINT This effect came about quite a while ago when trying to come up with an effect that was pure. By pure I mean nothing is written down, no gimmicks are used and everything is, as they say, ‘organic.’ I’d just been fooled by an ‘effect’ that was so simple it was crazy. The guy who showed it me had kept me hanging for months, and

when he finally told me how it was done, I was blown away. So I came up with this effect. The next time I saw him, I performed this. And fooled the pants off him.

Basic Effect A deck of cards is borrowed from a member of the audience and shuffled thoroughly by anyone who wishes to mix them. A card is merely peeked at, but somehow, the Mentalist always knows!

Performance The Mentalist asks for a participant to help him with his next ‘cardboard creation.’ A deck of cards is borrowed from him (let’s call him Steve) and the cards split into four random piles. ‘Ok, so you look like a smart guy. You probably know all the tricks using key cards and ‘secret helpers’ and that sort of crap. So what I’ve done is split the deck into four piles. Pick ‘em up on at a time and shuffle to your heart’s contents. ‘ The helper does just this. He shuffles the packets on at a time. The packets are then gathered and squared. Right, so I’m going to turn my back and what I want you to do is lift up a section of cards anywhere, peek at the card, then slap the deck back together and thoroughly shuffle. You done? Good. The Mentalist should have no inkling as to what the card is. He stares into Steve’s eyes. ‘I’m getting a red card, yes. Look at me please, it’s a heart yes? Ok, now think about whether or not it’s a picture or a number card...it’s a number card. Now for the

value. It a high card, is it not? I thought so. Look at me here, the 8, no 9 of hearts yes? Thank you very much.’ Steve confirms this is the card and the deck is fully examined, and there are no gimmicks or stacks to speak of. What I love about this routine is that it is totally impromptu and can be performed at the drop of a hat. I like to use this effect with the ‘move monkeys’ as it really confuses them.

Concept This effect is extremely simple, and all it relies on is making sure To begin, have any deck of cards borrowed and shuffled. It isn’t crucial that it be a full deck, but it will make the effect easier to do. After it has been examined, pick it up and spread the deck with the faces towards you. As soon as you spread the deck, upjog the first two cards. You now want to upjog the values one to ten of the same suit as the second card. In the below photo, you can see that the second card is a heart, so all of the hearts have been upjogged except the picture cards. This is all done so only you can see the faces. Strip out the upjogged cards and place this packet face up on the table. You can slightly spread the packet to show red and black cards. With the remaining cards, do the same action but this time, really do remove random cards. Repeat this two more times. You should now have four packets that supposedly contain random cards, but the first packet is actually full of hearts and the five of clubs, which will act as a cover card to hide all the hearts. Turn all the packets face down. See the presentation at the end for how to turn all this into a plot. Have the spectator mix the four piles one at a time until they are

happy the cards are all mixed. Of course it doesn’t matter how they mix them as all the hearts will stay together in one pile. Gather up all the packets making sure the hearts is on top. Now, you want to cut the cards to centralise the hearts packet. However, if you’re doing this for a woman, cut the cards do that the hearts are bang in the centre. If, on the other hand, you’re doing it for a man, place the hearts a little lower down in the deck. The reasoning behind this will become apparent in a moment. Place the deck face down on the table. Now, to the audience, the deck should appear completely shuffled. Say that in a minute, when you turn round, the assistant is to cut the deck about the middle and to peek at a card. As you do this, you are going to demonstrate what they are to do by cutting off a quarter of the deck and flashing the face card. See picture two. This is just to show the assistant what to do so that they are one hundred percent sure. Square the deck and turn around. As you do, say ‘so cut off ABOUT HALF and remember the card.’ Nine times out of ten, they will hit the hearts packet. I will cover outs of they don’t later. With your back still turned, have them square and shuffle the deck. The reason for placing the hearts in slightly different positions depending on their gender is because I’ve found from experience, when asked to cut ‘about the middle’ women will go right for the centre, but men will cut a bit deeper. Obviously, this is not an exact science, but it does make a difference. Ok, so you now know that the card is a heart, but you’re going to present this as three hits. Have them place the deck down and stare into their eyes to ‘receive their thoughts.’ Again, see presentation at the end for all of

this. First reveal that it’s a red card, then a heart, then a number card. Now all you need to do is fish for the value. Pretty cool, right? Begin by saying ‘I’m not getting a high card, am I?’ If they say yes, reply with ‘yeah I thought so…’ but if they say no reply with ‘no I didn’t think so…’ This is an old technique but does the job perfectly. Let’s say it was a high card. Look at them and call out the values five to ten, as though studying their facial expressions. Now say ‘this is quite high, is it not?’ If they agree, you can assume it’s the nine or the ten. If they say ‘not really’, it’s a six or seven. If they have trouble answering, it’s the eight. The same applies with the low values, but ask, ‘this is quite low, isn’t it?’ You should now have a choice of two values. Simply call either out. If they react, finish here. If they don’t, immediately click your fingers and say ‘eliminated, because your card was the…’ and say the second value. And that’s all there is to it. Presentation: Do you believe in mind reading? Not the sort of Derren Brown psychological stuff, but pure mind reading? No? Well, hopefully I can change your mind. Have you got a deck of cards I could use? Good, mix them up for me. Now, I’m sure you know a lot about special cards and special orders and that sort of stuff, so we’re going not going to use any of those and make sure the cards are properly mixed (Take cards and separate into four piles.) Now we’ve got four piles here, so what I’d like you to do is shuffle the packets one at a time, so that there can be no possible order to the cards. Right, so are you happy the cards are completely mixed up? Yes? Right, let’s get down to business. (Gather up packets and centralise the ‘suit’ packet.) I’m going to turn

away and what I’d like you to do is cut the deck ABOUT THE MIDDLE and remember the card you see. (Demonstrate what the assistant must do.) Right, so I’ll turn round, and tell me when you’ve done. You have? Right good, now shuffle the deck. Can I turn back around? Ok good. Now let’s recap. This is your deck you shuffled. You then shuffled the deck even more and just peeked at a card. So if I could know your card that would be pretty impressive right? Ok, just look at me. This is a black card yes? A club? Right, this is when things get trickier. Look at me. This is a… number card, yes? Ok, I’m not getting that its above five, am I? No, I didn’t think so. This is quite low, yes? Like the two of clubs? Yes? Well, hopefully, you now understand that with a little thought, anything is possible. (Finish with a cheesy and motivational line.) Outs: Ok, let’s be frank here. This effect doesn’t always work. Once every so often you’ll get a spectator who misses the block, and gets a different card. And, although this section is called outs, I don’t really have one. So, when it does happen, and you get the colour or suit wrong, I will say something like: ‘sorry, there are just too many thought going on in your head. Could you write your card down on this piece of paper for me?’ Then just resort to a centre tear. Not too ‘clever’, I know, but as it happens so rarely, I don’t have an out. You could, of course, try and fish your way out, but you must be ready with lots of double meaning sentences such as ‘the value, it isn’t high is it?’ and so on. Final thoughts: One final tip I would like to add is that if the spectator looks a little confused when you say the sentence about whether the value is high or low, it means they have selected the five.

Also, the card they may pick might be the cover card, in our example the five of clubs. Always remember the cover card, so that if the card isn’t red, you can go with that one as the second guess! And that’s all there is to know! Credits: Jason England - The Unreal Work