Liam Montier - The Furtive Glance - Version 2

The Furtive Glance Three pieces of bizarre magic created by Liam Montier

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Copyright © 2005 by Liam Montier No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system known or yet to be invented, without express written permission. If you do, I reserve the right to put your head on a stick.

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Introduction Welcome to The Furtive Glance. This booklet is designed to be a quick glimpse into bizarre magic, and the impact that it can create. If If you are new to this kind of magic, then the pieces will surprise you. At first, first, you’ll be unsure that such simple effects pack any kind of punch. Once you’ve you’ve used them a couple of times, you’ll wonder why you learnt all the other other stuff trust me, I know. All the routines are fairly standard in terms of method. There are are some basic card moves, and other familiar gimmicks and techniques. Nothing will cause the average magician any difficulty, aside from the presentation. presentation. That’s what sets these pieces apart from the others. Anyway, enough chatter for the time being. I leave you to casually casually stroll through the pages, and enjoy the scenery. I hope you enjoy your (furtive?) glance around. Liam Montier June, 2004

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Astral Vision The magician proposes an experiment in “Astral Projection” – the idea of projecting your inner being to another place to witness something. He asks Michael to help him, and Michael is curious enough to agree. From an attractive wooden box, an old deck of cards and a small cloth bag are removed. The magician demonstrates that he wants Michael to shuffle shuffle the cards, cut them and put one in his pocket while the magician looks away. As Michael is doing this, the magician shows the rest of the group group the contents of the small cloth bag. It is a crystal clear piece of quartz. He explains explains that this will help him focus. Once Michael has pocketed the card, the magician turns back and asks Janine to take his pulse. “Something unusual might happen to it, because to project project your inner self, you have to… well… Die, basically.” The magician closes his eyes, and begins to breathe deeply. Eventually, Eventually, both his pulse and breath slow down, before they come to a complete stop. The seconds go by, and everyone begins to feel a little tension as they watch the motionless and technically dead magician. Then suddenly, he awakes awakes with a start. “I saw it, clear as day. It’s the Three of Diamonds, but there is something else. It was small and silver… a five pence coin?” Michael reaches into his pocket and removes two items – a Three of Diamonds, and a five pence coin.

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Discussion For this effect, there are a few points that need to be addressed. Firstly, we shall deal with the revelation of the card. Of course, there are many methods (peeks, stacked decks etc) but I think you’ll like this one – it is a variation of the old cross cut force where the spectator forces the card on himself. To prepare for it, choose your force card and crimp it somehow. I prefer the “Breather” crimp of Dai Vernon’s. It is also recommended that you mark the back of the force card in a subtle way. The next effect is the pulse stopping, and we’ll use the classic Ball under the arm method. So, at the start of the effect, the deck with the crimped and marked force card is in an attractive box, along with your crystal. The ball is underneath your arm, and the five pence coin is on your right knee, if you are sitting down. Otherwise, you’ll have to palm it. With that done, we are ready to perform…

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Performance Begin by introducing the experiment, and then handing the cards to Michael to examine and shuffle. As he is doing this, secure the five pence coin in your right hand. Once the shuffling is done, demonstrate how he is to select a card by cutting the deck, and dropping the bottom half on top, but at an angle. However, this is where the sneakiness begins… you cut to the crimped card, and drop the bottom packet on top at an angle. (If you are unsure if you cut correctly, you can check by looking for the mark on the top card. If it is not the force card, simply cut again). Continue the demonstration by picking up the top packet with your left hand and showing the top card of the tabled packet with your right hand (which is also concealing the coin). Finally, put the card into his pocket, but only about half way as you mention he is to put the card there. It is now that we load the coin, by simply allowing it to fall into his pocket. With that done, remove the card again, putting it back where it came from. Finally drop the original top half back on top, thus positioning the force card. www.magicwww.magic-mirror.co.uk

So, turn back to the rest of the guests and introduce the crystal as Michael cuts the deck and marks where he cuts, essentially forcing the card on himself. Have him drop it into his pocket. You can now talk about the crystal to act as time misdirection, before convincing Janine to take your pulse for you. Obviously, Janine is sitting on your left, if the ball is under your left arm. Anyhow, your work is basically over at this point. With Janine on your left hand, and the crystal in your right fist, close your eyes, slow your breathing and will your pulse to slow down. Surprisingly, this does actually slow your pulse, and if Janine notices, then that is fine. If she doesn’t, however, that is fine too. Allow the atmosphere to build, before stopping your pulse by pushing your left arm against the ball. WARNING!!!!! DO NOT STOP YOUR PULSE FOR MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS!!!!! I have never heard of anyone having any problems, but I take no responsibility at all if you are the first! If you are in any doubt at all, leave this part of the effect out. If you can hold your breath for the few seconds that you have stopped your pulse, you will, in the eyes of the spectators, basically died. Allow some tension to build, and then release the pressure on the ball so that your pulse starts up. Then comes the acting. Wake up with a start, and act very excited. Name the card immediately, but then slowly “remember” that you saw something else as well… Go on to reveal the presence of the coin.

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Variations As I mentioned before, you can vary the method to your own personal tastes. For the card, you can use a stacked deck, a marked deck, a glimpse or even a one way force deck. For the pulse stop, I suggested the use of the ball under the arm. However, if you would like a completely impromptu version, I suggest you check out the work of my good friend Luke Jermay. His pulse routine appears in “For Andruzzi” from “7 Deceptions”. If you are not comfortable with loading the coin so boldly, you can of course slip it in a pocket long in advance. Be aware that they may find the coin or simply not be around at the time of your performance, however. Andi Gladwin suggested an excellent idea to save loading the coin. Simply keep an eye open during the evening, and note where someone keeps their keys or what have you. Then when you come to perform this piece, have the card placed into that pocket! You can now of course reveal the card and the other object that it is with.

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Alternative Ending Assuming that you are familiar with Luke Jermay’s “For Andruzzi” routine, you are able to perform a mind blowing encore to this demonstration. You will need a regular deck that is stacked in your favourite order and a matching invisible deck. Your presentation remains the same, only instead of using the cross cut force, you have Michael freely cut the deck and show around the card. He then places it back into the deck, but reversed, making it stand out from the others. Now when you place the deck into his pocket, you simply glimpse the bottom card, which gives you the identity of the selection. Reveal the card, and the extra object if you like. Then, in the natural offbeat when an effect is over, switch the deck for the invisible deck, and ask if Michael would like to try. Turn away, and pretend to reverse a card in the deck. In reality, you do nothing. Then drop the invisible deck into a pocket, and have Janine take Michaels pulse. Instruct Michael to close his eyes, relax, and visualise a card, which he does. In the meantime, you use Luke’s routine to make Michaels pulse stop. When it comes back, ask him to wake up and name the card he “saw”. You can now finish by simply revealing that card to be the reversed one, thanks to the invisible deck.

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Credits Astral Vision has been used as a plot pretty often in bizarre magic, although my inspiration came from several ideas by Tony Shiels. The Breather Crimp that is used in the force is associated with Dai Vernon. To learn it and some of excellent effects available with it, Bob King has several booklets dedicated entirely to the Breather Crimp. Finally, the idea with the coin at the end was inspired by Ted Lesley, who uses a similar idea in a routine where he predicts the amount of small change in someone’s pocket, that I read from his book Paramiracles. Thanks also to Andi Gladwin, for the excellent idea detailed in the Variations section.

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Pyromancy “Pyromancy, Pyromancy, fortune telling with fire, has been around for thousands of years, years, although it is rarely seen today – People realise that fire is not something that can be toyed with.” “But now, it will serve our purpose nicely. Firstly, we must prepare prepare these.” Two plain candles are lit, and all the other lights are turned off. off. The mage blows out one of the candles, and holds the other above it. Nothing happens. happens. This is repeated several times, until eventually, the flame from the top candle shoots down and lights the candle underneath. This is repeated a couple couple of times.

“That’s good, very good. They are now ready to reveal your fate… fate… The fate that we already know.” The spectator is directed to pick up the tarot cards and pass them them one at a time over the flames of the candles. Eventually, one of them is engulfed in a momentary flash of fire!

“I think they’ve made their point. Did they confirm what we already already knew was true?” Gingerly, the spectator turns over the tarot card and reveals the the lightly toasted tarot card that she selected earlier… the high priestess. The magician reaches into his case, and removes an envelope which which contains a reading. Popping the tarot card into it, he offers it to the spectator as a keepsake.

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Discussion This effect is a very effective one to combine in with a reading. The “sitter” can cut to a card, you can read it, and then use this ritual to demonstrate the relevance of the main card in the reading. Having convinced her of her future being related to that card, giving her a nicely presented written meaning of the card, together with the actual card, in an attractive envelope is a good idea. It makes a treasured artefact. Anyhow, you will need two candles, ideally in holders. A nice, expensive lighter or alternatively, matches, although I prefer lighters as they are more reliable. Then find a tarot deck, and a matching duplicate of the card you want to force. On the duplicate, attach a square of flash paper, sticking it to the face of the card with magicians wax. It is important that this square is stuck on the top half of the card, so that your spectators’ fingers will not be burnt to a crisp. Before we head into performance, we’ll assume that you’ve already forced your regular tarot card. Your spectator knows what her card is, and the gimmick lies about fifth or sixth from the top of the deck.

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Performance Bring out the candles as you begin your presentation, as detailed detailed above. Light them, and have the lights turned out. You are now going to use a very old stunt to apparently charge the candles. Hold the two lit candles, one in each hand. Blow one out, and hold hold the other one above it, but turned on its side, so that the wicks make a right angle with each other. If you get this right, the flame from the lit candle will light the fumes coming from the extinguished candle, relighting it. If it doesn’t work first time in performance, don’t worry. Keep trying. You’re supposed to be charging the candles with some mystical power anyway. Something to bear in mind is that when you do this, there is a possibility possibility of candle wax dripping down, so perform this over your own surface, as opposed to somebody’s carpet or table. Once that is done, it is indeed a simple matter to hand the spectator spectator the tarot deck, and to have her pass the cards over the flames one at a time. I use a one way tarot, so that I can be sure that her fingers will not touch the flash paper. paper. So once the card has revealed itself, simply give a brief reading reading on the card, before dropping it into the envelope containing the full meaning, and hand hand it to your spectator as a gift.

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Variations For a darker finish, I had thought of scratching the name of the spectator onto the force card, further proving that the tarot card held a meaning for for her. Obviously, it was a pain setting up a new card each time, but that is something you you may consider using for a special occasion. However, Colin McLeod suggested to me that you can just scratch the word “Yours” onto the face of the card… thereby personalising it, but eliminating eliminating the need to know your “sitters” name before hand. I conclude that this is an excellent excellent idea. Whichever option you choose, here is a way of preparing the writing writing so that it is visible on the face of a tarot card. Begin by scratching the word onto the face with a sharp knife. Cut into the card, but not so much that you go right through through it. Then burn some paper in an ashtray, and wait for the ashes to cool cool down. You can now use these by rubbing them into the scratched on word. This is the best way of producing the word, as it looks spooky, and doesn’t have the problem problem of a writing instrument involved – the last thing you want a sceptical spectator saying is where did did the tarot get a Sharpie marker from. Finally, you may be aware that you can use the same method to affect affect a very scary colour change. For example, you shuffle and cut the tarot, and end up with the lovers. However, you pass it over a candle, muttering an evil spell, and there is a flash of fire. Gingerly, you turn the card over, and it now shows the face of the the Devil. The workings should be pretty obvious. The Devil card is prepared prepared with the flash paper, and is on the top of the deck, with the Lovers card underneath. underneath. False shuffle, and then double lift. Flip the double face down, and then pass it over a candle, to finish.

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Credits The basic idea for the presentation came from “Doc” Tony Shiels (again!). It was also from his original effect that I discovered the candle stunt, although he mentions that it is an old party trick. The other main source of general inspiration comes from a Eugene Burger effect called “The Burned Card”. It originally appeared in his booklet “Secrets and Mysteries for the Close Up Entertainer”, and was later reprinted in his hardcover collection, “Mastering The Art of Magic”. Eugene later published another variation of “The Burned Card” that also used the tarot. That variation you can find in his book “The Experience of Magic”. On the subject of The Burned Card, you may like to check out David Parr’s work on it. In his book “Brain Food” there is a variation of Eugene’s effect that features some lovely touches. Both effects are very different from the one just explained. The tips for preparing the word on the card at the end came from Book One by Shane, which is a truly excellent book. Colin McLeod also deserves another mention for the inspired “yours” approach to the final message that personalises the card without all the hard work.

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Cruel Hand of Fate “How many of you here have heard of Marcus Blacke? He was an occultist expert, and the author of many books on witchcraft, cartomancy, astrology, and so on, who died in 1996.” “However, for an expert in his field, he had one embarrassing phobia… he was petrified of tarot cards.” “Eventually, however, he had to research their meanings and study them, to form part of a forthcoming book, so he summoned up the courage.” “According to the story, his plan was to select a tarot card, and place it, sight unseen, into a sealed envelope. He scribbled the date onto the envelope, and continued with his day, the idea being that he could record the day’s events, and then check if the tarot reading was accurate when he arrived home.” From a box, the performer removes a deck of tarot cards and a brown envelope. The spectator shuffles the tarot, and then cuts them placing one of the cards into an envelope. “However, on the day of the experiment, Marcus was killed. Since then, this envelope has sat in the folds of his wallet, with the date of his death crudely scribbled on it in pencil. Just hold your hand out for me.” The envelope is laid onto a spectators’ hand. “Close your eyes, and imagine a date in your head. Name it out loud for me.” The envelope is turned over, and has the same date scribbled on the other side. “And had he been able to check the results of his little experiment, he’d have found that the tarot predicted his sudden end quite nicely…” For the first time, the spectators’ tarot card is tipped out of the envelope… It’s the Death card. “Perhaps a lesson to us all that these things are to be taken seriously?”

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Discussion This effect was inspired by Paul Hallas, who, in Son of Totat, published a story about an occultist who was afraid of the number 13. I have changed the story a little, and the method, doing away with the need for a switch wallet or pad. The effect has also been expanded, now featuring the coincidence of the date matching. Finally, the climax has been altered for maximum impact, as the production of a blank tarot card didn’t make as much sense to me as the Death card. The story is set in modern times, so this is one routine where your props do not need to smell of coffee. As long as the items look a little worn, as in used, they will do nicely. To perform this little routine, you need to assemble the following… • A deck of tarot cards. • An envelope that fits the tarot cards, and in the wallet. • A thumb writer. By now, I suspect the working is clear. You introduce the props, and force the spectator the death card, which goes into the wallet. The force that I use is the Cross Cut variation that you can find in Astral Vision. So, set up for the effect by crimping the death card in your tarot pack. Then put the empty envelope and the thumb writer in the same pocket, so that you can get both easily. Now it is simply a case of forcing the Death card as you remove the envelope from your pocket, putting on the nail writer at the same time. Have the card placed into the envelope and then nail write the date that the spectator named. Finish up by revealing the date matches, and then reveal the death card.

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Final Words Thanks are due to the usual “suspects” for this publication and any others that come in the future – Andi Gladwin, Luke Jermay, Morley Budden, Colin McLeod and Steve Dela are the ones that come immediately to mind… apologies to anyone that I’ve missed. Also, a big thank you to yourself for purchasing (or at least reading!) this work – I genuinely hope that you find something of use within its pages. All the best, Liam Montier Website Email

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