Jose Prager - The Bite

Business cards (or slip of papers) are placed in the table, you (the liar) turn your back and ask a spectator to draw a cross on ANY business card, fold it and staple it, so it´s impossible to see the cross, he is asked to staple all the business cards in the same way he did with the first, so they all look the same, he can mix them as much as he wants, all while your back is turned. When returning you will know where each symbol is located.

How? When they staple the first business card, they are marking it, the preparation is easy, before the effect you take a ultra fine point sharpie and mark the first staple of the row with a tiny dot, this lets you know where the cross is, you can mark the staples with dots in different locations that way you will differentiate all the staples. This is the very basic BITE principle.

Ideas for stimulating your mind a little bit:

You (the liar) explain to a spectator about the Russian roulette game which was played with a gun with 1 bullet and five empty chambers. You don´t have your gun at that moment, so you decide to play a psychological version, you put all your money on the table and affirm that in case of losing you will not lose your life but you will lose all your money. You bring out 6 business cards and fold them in half, you explain that each card will represent a chamber of the gun, you turn your back and ask the spectator to draw a bullet on the inside of any business card and the staple it, he does the same with all the business cards, he mixes them up so even him can´t know where the bullet is. You explain that if you open the card with the bullet you will give him all of your money. The game begins and of course you keep your money! (A very nice detail about I like about this routine is the sound that the business cards make when you open them fast, it sounds like the click of a gun.)

Business cards are placed in the table, you turn your back and ask a spectator to draw a circle on ANY business card, fold it and staple it, so it´s impossible to see the circle, he is asked to draw another ESP symbol and staple it, he does the same with the 5 ESP symbols, all while your back is turned, he can mix them as much as he wants. When returning you wave your hand over the business cards and correctly tell where each symbol is.

Tom Stone contributions:

If you have marked the staples so you can identify three slips of paper, then you can place them out in this order: 1, 2, 3 Then give the spectator very clear instructions to: "Rearrange these slips, so that none of them end up in the same place they are now!" There are only two possible outcomes! Either the order becomes: 2, 3, 1 or 3, 1, 2. Come up with an amusing 2-way out, and you have a fun little prediction.

-"People ask me why I don't play the lottery, if I have these powers. To be honest, I've tried, but it seems there is some cosmic balance that precludes me from getting everything I desire. Like a see-saw, good at one thing, suck at another - I'm the worst gambler ever! I'll show you!" Write something on the back of a business card. Then ask someone to write four things that would be desirable to win in a lottery, and one really crappy price, on five slips of paper. These are stapled shut. The slips are shuffled. You let people choose slips, and change with each other, back and forth, to make it random (use all kinds of magician's choice so you end up with the marked one). When you and four others have one slip each, you let the other four, one by one, open their slips. They have all the really good prices. You open yours, and read it out and it is the worst price ever. You then lift the business card up to your mouth, so everyone can see that it is a drawn cartoon speech-bubble saying "***! I lost again!"

WEIGHTMASTER is a contribution of Tom Stone with my modifications. You give someone two slips of paper, and ask them to draw a light object on one slip and a heavy object on the other. Then staple it shut and shuffle. You then say that you have found a way to find out what they've drawn without peeking. You place one slip on each hand and at once, one hand goes down and the other up - like one of the slips is a lot heavier. And sure you let the spectator open the slips, and the "heavy" slip is in the heavy hand.

Dominik P. from Germany contribution:

As I first read “Bite” from José Luis Castillo Prager I smiled for the simplicity of the technique. After reading the whole script I came up with the following idea. The technique he describes can be used to accomplish a classic effect in mentalism: The bank nite...or let us call it the BANK BITE effect.

Five opaque and unprepared pay envelopes are handed out for examination and never again touched by the performer. The spectator mixes the envelopes and randomly selects any one of them. Inside of it he is instructed to seal a one hundred dollar bill (or a bill of any other denomination) from the performer (or if you like the more thrilling performance use a bill form your spectator). Out of hygiene reasons they are not to lick the flaps of the envelopes but to use the staple gun/stapler for secure closing. The other envelopes are filled with something valueless whatever comes into mind: sheets of (news)paper, play money, business cards or toilet paper I think you got the point. The remaining envelopes are closed in the same way as the envelope which contains the real money and all mixed again. Because of the marking you know the exact envelope which contains the money. All of the envelopes but one are eliminated and destroyed. Either by you or by the spectator. Again it is up to you to find a way that seems to be most fun and suits you performance style best. For example: burn them, shred them, tear them into pieces, flush them into the toilet You now have two options: 1.Pick the envelope (concerning your favorite presentational methodology) which contains the money and therefore destroy the others yourself. 2. Let the spectator decide which envelopes should be eliminated and destroyed. In case 1 just use the marking to get to the right envelope. In case 2 use the PATEO force (Pick any two, eliminate one) and/or equivoque to gently direct the spectator to the right envelope. Thanks to the bite principle you have an almost anytime anyplace effect that plays well for close-up and stage as well. I recommend using the BANK BITE as an opener or as your closing act. I hope you enjoy it.

Luca Volpe contribution:

This idea was given to me by my friend Luca Volpe, we both now that it is really dangerous, take it just as a stimulating idea. Before the effect make sure that there is no staple stuck in the stapler before the marked one, you can check this by using the stapler several times on a piece of paper, this way you know it is empty, then proceed to load the staples with the marked one at the beginning. You need a BIG nail with a base and 3 paper food bags, turn your back and ask a spectator to insert the base with the nail in any bag and close the bag with a staple, your instructions need to be clear as water, he needs to staple the bag with the nail first. Ask him: Have you placed the nail in ANY bag and stapled it, so there is no way I can see the nail? You then command him to staple the remaining 2 bags, If you want he can place some fruits in the remaining bags. When returning to the bags, just look for the marked staple and don´t slam your hand on it. Presentation is up to you as with all the effects. This is a really dangerous routine, try it under your own risk or change the nail for an object like a lipstick and just detect where it is with your powers. The idea of the nail in the food bag is inspired from Jon Allen and his genius effect The Pain Game.

Credits:

The first one to make use of a similar idea was Bob Ostin, in his effect "Vampire"

(Pabular, page 39, Vol.1, No. 4, December 1974). Much later, Tom Stone published a small variation in his effect "Guidichar" that was first published in the Swedish lecturenotes "Coercri" (1992) and then in English, in Lee Earles magazine Syzygy (1995).

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