The Way To Her Heart

The Way To Her Heart (A Spiffy Prediction/Pendulum/Whatever Effect)

The Effect: The spectator is shown five ParaLabs cards. Each card depicts a different way a man may choose to win a woman’s heart…or at least her temporary attention. The cards are displayed in a wide spread and the woman chooses the one that best answers the question: “What would be the best way to my heart?” She shows her selection to the audience and then takes all five cards and shuffles them. The selection is revealed in a seriously spiffy fashion, either by the spectator herself using a pendulum…or by you, the performer, depending on your personal taste. I always use a pendulum for the reveal…but you can use any method you like. The key to doing this effect is not in the unveiling of the prediction. It’s in the interaction with the spectator. It should be fun and light and funny. 1|Page

The Way To Her Heart The First Note So I Don’t Get Hate Mail BUT Which Has Nothing To Do With The Effect So Feel Free To Pass It On By I don‟t know who designed the “method.” I‟m sure someone, living somewhere around the time of the dinosaurs, squatted in a cave with stone cards and figured this out long before I did. All I am saying is that I was sitting in my Sanctum Sanctorum (also known in my house as the “place where David works on his magic stuff”) trying to figure out how to make this effect “go” when I worked this out. The Second Note Which Also Has Nothing To Do With The Effect, But Kind Of Explains Some Other Stuff When I ordered the Depicting Thoughts card set, I deliberately didn‟t order the book. I have HUGE respect for ParaLabs. But I wanted to see if I could put together effects only I was doing, as opposed to what everyone else was performing. I‟ve performed this exact effect many times and it‟s actually working splendidly. Who knew? ParaLabs cards are designed NOT to work like smooth finish playing cards. So a lot of the stuff you‟d ordinarily use to make things happen, don‟t work. BUT I know that people like to talk about themselves and that effects that are designed to make them the STAR really work well. I also know people are interested in other people…so this effect was cold-bloodedly designed with those two factors in mind. (It‟s also a great way to get pretty girls to actually like…y‟know…talk to you and stuff.) So, thank you for reading through two notes that have nothing to do with the effect. Don‟t you feel better? Me too.

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The Way To Her Heart Presentation I admit it. I was a nerd in school. Theater. Chess club. Magic club. That‟s where most of us sat around and tried to figure out how to get girls to talk to us. We‟d see pretty girls walk by and they never even knew we were there. This is a perfect time to put on a sad look and get the audience to “awww” for you. Thank you for your sympathy. You guys know what I‟m talking about, right? I mean the pretty girls were untouchable. They‟d see right through you. And I would stand there, my heart breaking… Yup…this is an AWWWW cue…help them along if they aren’t getting it. …shattering… Another AWWWW… …splitting into two inside my chest… Insert last AWWW here1 What do pretty girls want? How do you attract their attention? I could never have asked that question when I was in high school. But I can ask it now. Because we are in the presence of…a beautiful woman. Gesture here to a woman as though you are presenting a true beauty for the open adulation of the audience. I try to choose a woman who is reasonably pretty for two reasons. First: it won’t look like I am ridiculing a woman if she’s NOT at all attractive…which would be in poor taste, very nasty and decidedly not cool. Second: If she’s pretty, the audience will be far more interested in what makes her tick. (Me too.) 1

There‟s an actual reason for doing this, by the way. We are conditioning the audience. We‟re getting them to laugh along with you, as the performer – and as they do so, they are actually quite kindly disposed to you as a human being. For a while, I actually produced a little card with AWWW on it and held it up like a cue card…but I found that, if I presented it properly that people just picked up on it.

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The Way To Her Heart Would you…could you…possibly assist me? You ask her name and get her to talk about herself a little. I’m not putting my script here because it’s mine. But the idea is that you want the audience to meet this woman. You want her to feel at ease and you want people to be intrigued by what you’re about to reveal about her…or what she’s about to reveal about herself. Lay out five ParaLabs cards in this order:

I’ve chosen five that would represent ways to get a woman’s attention.2 They are (in order) a Car, A Fine Dinner, A Secret Gift, A Trip Somewhere Exotic and a Love Letter. I remember them like this: Auto, Bubbles, Cadeau (French for “Gift” since I am, after all Canadian and have learned much French by studying the backs of cereal boxes), Number Four Which Has No Word, and Envelope. Having made a careful study of this, I have concluded that there are five primary ways to get a pretty girl to notice you…in a good way. They are: a boss car, an expensive dinner out (where you can order like TWO Big Macs), a secret gift, an exotic trip or a love letter. 2

Ignore the spiffy pendulum on top of the cards. I have put it there purely to make the image completely delightful and visually stimulating. You‟re welcome.

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The Way To Her Heart I don‟t know you, do I? Go through the fact that you don’t know this woman, that you’ve set nothing up (probably because she wouldn’t talk to you…). This is the point in the effect where you can have fun, make comedy…make her smile. Again: my script is my own. But the idea is that you are getting to know her a little because you are going to make a fabulous prediction.3 This is the one and only “move.” As you cleverly patter about this and that, you are picking up the cards in order. You hold them exactly as in the picture below. Finger placement is important.4

Let’s look at this wonder, shall we? From the spectator’s viewpoint: my pinky is resting on card #1 (The car), my fourth finger is on #2 (The Dinner), my third finger is on #3 (The Gift), my index finger is on #4 (The Trip) and #5 is, sadly, fingerless.

Use her name when you speak to her next. And make your words drip with earth changing import. For example: “Mildred? If a man were to choose one of these options, which would be most likely to get your attention, and find a way to your heart? Please show the card to the audience.”

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Yeah yeah…I KNOW the prediction isn‟t a really big deal. But the effect is about the journey. This is exactly how the fingers go. I made a picture for you. Don‟t say I never gave you nothin‟.

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The Way To Her Heart I expect you’ve already figured out this effect. You are just going to feel with your finger which card she removes when she shows it to the audience. The very instant she does, you have all you need. You’re done. Game. Set. Match. You’ve “peeked” with your fingertips and are now good to go. SO this is the point where misdirection is KEY. Here are some ideas: 1) You can make a production of having a member of the audience cover your eyes before your spectator makes her selection 2) You can remind her of the circumstances (she has free choice etc…) 3) Fake a small seizure…whatever. The KEY is that the audience be paying NO attention to the moment when she takes the card from your hand. You want them interested in her…in her choice. You want all eyes fixed on her and the card she’s holding. I haven‟t seen your selection, have I? But you all have. (C’mon. It’s true. You haven’t actually seen it. Not with your eyes…) Mildred, I want you to shuffle all five pictures.5 Shuffle until you are happy they are totally mixed. Then I want you to lay them face up on the table. Any order you like. Let me stress something: The idea is to get the cards out of your hand and into hers as quickly as possible. You don’t want the audience to remember you were ever holding the cards when she selected one. If you do this right, they won’t. They WILL remember she shuffled. And they WILL remember you couldn’t have seen the cards when she made her selection...because someone else had their hands over your eyes and your face was turned away. The “no kidding” point here: you want to move onto the next stage as quickly as you can. In well over a hundred performances of this, I’ve never been caught…although the first few times I did it I was you-know-whatting6 bricks. Big ones. 5

Note: They are never called “cards.” We don‟t want the audience thinking „card trick.‟ We want them thinking „Holy crap! This guy is AMAZING. Wherever did I put my checkbook?‟ 6 (pooping)

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The Way To Her Heart The Spiffy Reveal

It‟s up to you as to how you reveal the information you‟ve gleaned from the presentation. I like to use a pendulum for several reasons: 1) Pendulums rock. Seriously. They are as close to real magic as you are likely to find, they don‟t need batteries and they are…well…pretty (in a manly kinda way). 2) The magic happens in the spectator‟s hand. (Hopefully.) 3) Pendulums are visually interesting to watch. It is at this point that people tend to crowd forward. They know…and you know…the reveal is coming. I don‟t do much of anything during this part of the effect. I show the spectator my pendulum and explain a little about the history of pendulums and the link they have to secret knowledge. I‟ll do a demonstration here. Holding the pendulum, I tell the spectator to put her hand over my wrist to ensure I‟m not moving my hand while I tell the pendulum to make clockwise circles, then to stay still. Then I tell the pendulum to go from side to side. I stress at this point that the pendulum is responding to my commands. By this time the spectator should be wetting herself dying to get her hands on the pendulum. When giving instructions about pendulum use, be clear. It’s critical that the spectator KNOW how the pendulum is expected to respond so they can unconsciously make it happen. “Now you‟re going to see something amazing,” you say. You hand them the pendulum. Have the spectator hold their arm out straight, as this is what facilitates the movement.7 Tell them to pass the pendulum over top of the cards one at a time. On the first pass don‟t say anything…and it is entirely possible your spectator will finish the effect for you as they watch in relative wonder as the pendulum starts to move over their selected choice. If this happens, you’re golden…the effect is done and you’re a legend. 7

You can find outstanding information on this process, which is called “Ideomotor Movement” in the classic book called “The Pendulum of Fate” by Bob Cassidy.

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The Way To Her Heart If that doesn‟t happen (and it doesn‟t about 30% of the time…although it blows the doors off the joint MOST of the time) you have a back-up plan. You already know which selection your spectator has made because of your clever fingertip reading ploy. Ask your spectator to move the pendulum over top of the cards again. This time help them along a little. As they near their selection, you can say something like “I think you‟re going to feel the pendulum moving. I think there‟s something happening.” That takes care of things most of the time. Your spectator will usually unconsciously take the hint and the room will fill with wonder as the pendulum starts to move. On it‟s own. Ooooo! “And if it DOESN‟T move?” you ask8, which is a very reasonable question. “What do I do then?” If that happens, it‟s time for you, the beleaguered performer to take the effect into your own hands and save the day.

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And if you DO ask, I am thinking you‟re probably a magician more than a mentalist because mentalists will have that sucker doing cartwheels by now. BUT there is that nagging doubt, right? There‟s still magician in me. I would rather drive bamboo needles into my eye than fail in front of an audience…

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The Way To Her Heart You act like the effect isn‟t working (which it isn‟t…so we‟re not talking a Robert DeNiro performance here) and take the pendulum in your hands and slowly pass it over top of the five possible selections. Do it slowly and YOU will notice that the pendulum starts to move, thus granting you the acclaim you‟ve worked so hard to achieve. As you work with it, the pendulum will actually begin to glow with an ethereal white light as it nears the card. A soft humming will fill the air9 and from far off will come the unearthly perfect sounds of angels singing. You will have found the spectator‟s selection and may now feel free to start your own cult and/or religion.

A Few Parting Ideas I‟ve done this effect using ParaLabs cards. I like them because they don‟t look or feel like playing cards. But more importantly, they are thick. If you hold the spread relatively tightly as the spectator makes her selection, you WILL feel the right card slide past your fingers. Finding the right tension is part of what makes this work. But the effect could also be done with Tarot Cards and, I suppose in a pinch, you could use standard cards. And you don‟t have to use a pendulum either. You can make your revelation using your hand passing over the cards, searching for heat or fumes or whatever. But unless you‟re using a pendulum, I am not seeing how the spectator can be involved in their own reveal. And trust me: when that pendulum starts to move in the spectator‟s hand…well…it seriously rocks the house. So there you have it: the secrets of the way to a woman‟s heart. Enjoy! 9

Boy oh boy…people who don‟t read footnotes are seriously confused now, huh? Cause that stuff isn‟t gonna happen. But you WILL make the pendulum react over top of the selected card…cause you are the mentalist guy.

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The Way To Her Heart

SPEAKING OF PENDULUMS…please keep an eye out for the launch of our website www.MagicPendulums.com which goes up on August 1/11. It‟s a site totally devoted to pendulums and pendulum magic featuring highquality pendulums made from fine Swarovski crystal, pewter, blown glass and much more. We‟ll be carrying eBooks for mentalists and magicians on how to USE pendulums in performances…along with great material from working pros like Pablo Amira. And me. We are actively seeking more eBook material, and effects SPECIFC to pendulums right now. If you‟d like to get involved, please contact us at [email protected] We look forward to seeing you all at the grand opening of our website on August 1/11. A Treasure Hunt! At SOME POINT during July/11 the site will be up for a short period of time with everything on sale. The FIRST PERSON who emails us to let us know they have found the site will get a Pirate Gold pendulum FREE.10 (Backdrop to the Pirate Gold pendulum is from Paul Prater‟s outstanding Haunted Key effect. Used with his kind permission. Check out his excellent work at www.paulprater.com ) 10

Okay. ONE last footnote. It won‟t be THIS pendulum…cause that‟s mine. But it will be very much like this: a glittery skull and crossbones, fine gold leaves (to add that pirately tinkle) and an equally glittery hold.

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