Steve Fearson - Secret Knowledge Appendix.pdf

APPENDIX The style of a modern magician vs. the psychic

Telepathy In this effect a bill of any denomination is borrowed and handed to another audience member who is instructed to concentrate on the serial number. The performer concentrates intently and begins to read off the numbers, or write them on a chalkboard one at a time until he had duplicated the number on the bill.

A method suited to the magician This method involves an open switch which occurs right under their noses but it is virtually invisible. It also occurs at a very opportune moment, before the audience even suspects that the trick has begun. To start you must have a bill of every common denomination in your wallet. A 1,5,10,20,50 and 100 will cover all of your options. Ask your audience to loan you a bill of any denomination. When someone offers a bill, ask them what denomination it is and remove your wallet from your pocket, opening it. Reach inside and remove a bill of the matching denomination. Tell the person who is offering the bill that you will exchange his bill for one of the same denomination so he has nothing to fear should the bill get lost. The switch is going to take place right now, as you exchange bills with the spectator. The action resembles a top change. Remove the matching bill from your wallet and hold it in your right hand, gripping it between your first and middle finger. Approach the person who is offering the bill and reach out to take it with your left hand. Grasp their bill between the thumb and first finger of the left hand. As you take the bill from them with your left hand your right hand moves towards them to give them your bill. At the point where the hands cross paths, the bill in the right

hand will pass beneath the bill in the left and they will be switched. Right as they meet you are going to switch your grip on the bills. The right hand which was gripping it’s bill between the first and second fingers is now going to release it’s bill and grip the other bill between the thumb and first finger. At the same moment, the left hand releases it’s bill and grips the bill beneath it using the first and second fingers. The action is very similar to a top change with playing cards.

The right hand continues forward to hand the bill to the spectator as the left hand pulls away from them with the supposedly borrowed bill and finally raises it up above your head. When this is done smoothly it appears as though you have just exchanged bills with the spectator when actually nothing has been exchanged. The move should be invisible to your audience if you are doing it correctly. If you angle your body so your right side is slightly towards your audience the switch will be nicely concealed behind your right hand anyway. After the move you still hold your original bill. And it is a bill which you have memorized or recorded the serial number of. You may now perform the move again with another spectator if you like, to apparently make the selection more random. This is not absolutely necessary though. Now actually hand the bill to a final spectator who you instruct to concentrate on the serial number. You may now dramatically reveal the serial number in any way you desire. You can perform this as a very strong prediction effect. Instead of asking for any de-

nomination bill just ask for a dollar bill. Or you can ask for a 20 dollar bill. This way you can have a prediction prepared in a sealed envelope or better yet in a newspaper ad you’ve placed a week before.

Telepathy #2 This method is more suited to the psychic and is a two person routine. This method employs a technique used by the psychics to communicate without speaking. It appears to be telepathy and can be used to convey complex bits of information like the serial number of a bill or the identity of any playing card. It is called Eye Reading. The information is sent easily from one person to the other a very slight eye movement which is indetectable to the audience. Both individuals involved in the presentation have memorized a simple secret code with which they can easily translate eye positions to numbers. The code is based on the face of a clock. The sender will need to picture an imaginary clock in front of their face, then look directly at the number that corresponds with the number they are thinking of. For examples sake, lets say we are working with the 7 of hearts. The sender will start by staring straight at the receiver, imagining a large invisible clock face directly in front of their face. Then they will momentarily direct their gaze towards the 7 on the clock to send the value. The eye of the sender becomes a clock face and the receiver will be able to associate the glance with a number instantly, thanks to our familiarity with the face of a clock.

The receiver will see the reverse of what is actually being sent though. So they simply take the time number they are receiving and flip the hands on the clock face horizontally

in their mind. The new number is the correct one. For example, a 9 would become a 3. In the case of our example the receiver would see a 5.

Flipping the the image horizontally reveals that it is a 7 they are looking at. The clock face is perfect for the transmission of playing cards from ace to the queen. The Jack is given a value of 11 and the queen a 12. If the king is selected that can be transmitted quickly by the sender with a simple blink of the eyes. If necessary the performers can associate the numbers used in the code to other things such as the suit of a card. The suit can be sent with one more quick glance a few moments after the value is sent. Remember the suits in the order of Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds by associating the first letter of each with the order of the letters in the word CHaSeD. Now those are easily pictured on the face of the clock starting at 12 with the Clubs and moving clockwise around the face in order with the Heart in the 3 position, the Spade at the 6 and the Diamond at 9 o’clock.

So one glance sends the value of the card, the next sends the suit. The performer will have to again reverse the clock face in their mind as the suit being transmitted if it is the heart or the diamond. Both the sender and receiver should be well practiced so there is no confusion.

In the case of a serial number each digit is sent individually and announced by the receiver. Announce that you will reveal the serial number of the bill starting with the first number, skipping the letters since the letters are common throughout other bills of the same denomination. A psychic will prefer to miss one or two numbers which gives the impression that the effect is real and not some sure fire magic trick. The routine can be performed as a two person thought transmittal act or the second performer may act as a stooge, with your affiliation remaining secret. This method is perfect to use with telephone numbers, credit card numbers or social security numbers as well. As you can see, while the magician and the psychic perform similar feats their methods are quite different. The method of the psychic leaves nothing regarding evidence and could withstand close scrutiny like being played over and over on a tape. The method of the magician does not have to be as bullet proof since in the end his performance is understood to be all in fun. If his method was to be discovered it would not be as damaging to his career as the same exposure would be to the psychic.