23:23 By
Dee Christopher Produced by MindLapse Cover Design by Dee Christopher for MindLapse
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Table of Contents: Introduction ...................................................................................................... Page 3 Sylla-Code ......................................................................................................... Page 5 Morse ................................................................................................................. Page 7 Svengali Toss – Remastered ............................................................................ Page 9 Altered – Version 1 .......................................................................................... Page 11 Shift 2 ................................................................................................................ Page 15 Turnover 23 ...................................................................................................... Page 19
Introduction And as I sit here, wondering in what grammatical dimension I must reside in to get away with starting a manuscript with the word ‘And.’ My internal alarm bells ring... I look towards the clock and see it’s display of that enigmatical number again. 23:23. It’s dark out in here. They say that you should look with your eyes, not with you hands... In this manuscript I intend to explore a few ways in which you will allow your spectator’s to feel with their eyes. You’ll note my use of a common phrase throughout my works; “It is an artist’s job to provoke emotion.” To me this says more than it does upon first glance, of course you want your spectator’s to react – you want to provoke emotional response, however, I seek to go deeper. I look to use the aforementioned emotional response and intensify it, to create motion. To move your spectators so that the experience is one that stays with them for a long time. My first book, ‘Proximity Effects’ explored a variety of my older material, some of which I use to this day; i.e. ‘cold: the telesthesia cards’ and some of which that don’t fit my style anymore; i.e. ‘deviance.’ The running theme of the book however, was the introduction of the techniques I use to enhance base reactions, adding in phrases which might make people question whether what you are doing is real or not, turning a book test into a reading, if you force a word, why not a word that allows you to branch off to something more? With this manuscript, I intend to look at some other routines that allow you to really connect with your spectators, storyboarding your effects and using the wording to allow the participants to feel that the routine is relevant to them, or just draw the participants in when in a more intimate environment. So, without further a due, I am proud to welcome you to my latest works; ’23:23 a Collection.’
Sylla-Code Many mentalists including Anneman, Cassidy and Grant have explored the two-person code and in more recent times Max Maven, who’s heavily inspired this routine with his “Burnt offerings” which is a very unique two-person code from his Blue book of mentalism. This code also requires a small extra item, a pad on which you will draw the 5 ESP symbols we’ve all come to know and love, namely the circle, cross, three wavy lines, square and five pointed star. This could of course be done on the fly if a pad is on stage, or for close up instances it could be drawn on a napkin. The reasoning for this is so that the spectator can select one of these symbols silently. The effect is as follows: The magician calls over his assistant, his partner perhaps, (the other half to the two people you generally require for a two-person code) to help out with this effect. The assistant is blindfolded or asked to stand back to back (or cheek to cheek to coin a Banachek phrase) with the spectator. Now, in a moment I am going to ask you (the spectator) to silently select any of the five standard Zenner symbols and my assistant here is going to attempt to divine this selection! Ok, could you please point to one of these symbols for me...That’s perfect, thank you! Assistant! (Feel free to use their real name here) Divine the thought of symbol! The assistant will of course reply with the correct choice – in this case, the star! The code is in the script above. The reason I’ve named this effect Sylla-Code because it works on syllables. Don’t worry! It’s not a set of complex algorithms, but it could be made more complex with more than five options, I feel that the five options would be fine for a casual performance however. So, the code it’s self. We’ve mentioned the use of syllables, but how does it work so inconspicuously?
The key is the simple pleasantry you say right after they make their selection. Remember where I said: “That’s perfect, thank you!” That’s the code. Look at the number of syllables in that quick phrase, it’s five syllables, which equates to the star – the fifth symbol in the Zenner sequence. The full code for the Zenner symbols is below: 1 – Circle – “Great!” (One Syllable) 2 – Cross – “O.K!” (Two Syllables) 3 – Wavy Lines – “Fantastic!”
(Three Syllables)
4 – Square – “That’s Wonderful!” (Four Syllables) 5 – Star – “That’s Perfect, Thank You!” (Five Syllables) So there you go, the basis of my Sylla-Code System. As aforementioned, you could extend this idea to have more options, though I think that it’s a very strong and direct demonstration as is. You should note that the above pleasantries are just as examples, I’ll use a variety of different phrases, depending on the people I’m performing to. The key is the number of syllables in the phrase, which is a very simple idea to adhere to. I just look forward to the day that somebody comes to me with a set of 52 phrases relevant to a thought of card effect! So, now we’ve looked at the basic concept of this system, what other ways can we achieve the means to such a clean and direct end?
Morse – Syllacode Variation I’m a fan of instant stooging. There, I said it! In my opinion, you can create a very good relationship with a member of the audience, allow them to feel special and have a great time while still retaining an amount of mystery and creating a phenomenally baffling effect for all the other spectators...When it’s done right. This is to incorporate a simple stooging technique to the routine. This could be used to play as a 2nd phase. I must add credit to Luke Jermay for this, he didn’t create instant stooging by any means, but it was his work that inspired this twist on the plot. The tapping inconspicuously goes to Banachek with his PK touches routine. You will bring 2 spectators up to the stage, your partner will stand at one edge of the stage looking after the first – she will be holding the pad with the symbols drawn upon it. You will be standing on the other side of the stage with your spectator who you explain will read the mind this time. You even blindfold them to make it impossible to catch a glimpse of anything. (I think this is quite important, I’ll explain why in a moment!) You will have the sign chosen and use the code as before, but this time, rather than you naming the sign, you will say to your spectator: “Ok, so a symbol has been selected, it could be the circle, the star, wavy lines – Any of the 5. You’ll feel something that will just tell you that this is the right symbol, you’ll just get a feeling that it’s right – The square, the circle, the wavy lines. Please tell the audience, which did you feel is the correct sign?” The reason I’ve ‘bolded’ the word circle above is that you are going to give the signal to your spectator that this is the correct sign by tapping them quickly on the back at the point that you say this word each time. I do it twice in case they miss it the first time – They usually click on the second time and will usually acknowledge what you’re doing. Don’t worry though; the audience won’t catch on to this! I tap them about 3 times quickly and just hard enough for them to notice that you’re doing it on purpose rather than just brushing off them! Don’t hit them too hard though, that would be bad. As for angles, we all know that it’s bad manners to stand with your back to the audience, here especially as you’ll reveal what you’re doing! It should just look like you’re standing slightly behind your spectator as you gesture and talk.
I mentioned the importance of a blindfold earlier; this is simply to heighten the other senses. If they can’t see, they are much more receptive to touch. So it’s just a safety net! If the spectator doesn’t quite get it, don’t worry, try again or if all else fails you can still reveal as the climax as you know what sign it is.
The Svengali Toss - Remastered The following is my take on the classic Tossed out deck made popular by David Hoy. From the title you probably have a rough idea of the secret to this effect – The Svengali Deck. This is a deck where every 2nd card is a duplicate and is shorter than the other 26, allowing you to riffle through one way to see all duplicates, the other to see a shuffled deck. These are available from all magic dealers and most toy shops! While I’m sure this must have been done before, I’ve not seen it in print and feel that the bonus notes are worth looking at! I’m happy to add credits to the product page of my site to reference anyone that should be mentioned here. The effect is as follows: The magician flicks through or spreads on the table a shuffled deck. “As you can see, all the cards are different. Is there any one in who plays cards? You sir, are you familiar with the idea of a poker peek? Yes, it’s usually done with a tabled pair of cards and you simply pull up on the corner gently so that you can see your card and no one else can.” The magician demonstrates this with the deck by pulling up on a corner of a card in the middle of the deck and peeking it. “I’m going to wrap some bands around the deck to make this peek easier.” The deck is passed to a spectator who will peek one card from the face up deck. (face down would show an indifferent card!) They are asked to pass on the deck 5 seats until 3 spectators from various places have seen a card. “Ok, you all remember your cards? Could you please stand up for me? Thanks. I am going to in a moment name 3 cards, if your card is named, please sit down!” The magician names 3 cards and all 3 spectators sit down! The method behind this is very simple, as long as they peek the card from the face up deck, they will always see the force card. The rubber bands stop the deck from being looked through and as long as the script is followed (and the force card is one of the 3 you name) the spectator’s will always sit down!
Notes: The classic tossed out deck by David Hoy was the same as the above routine, but used a one-way force deck. It’s a great routine and can be picked up in various publications, though I’ve seen ebooks dedicated to the subject. The reason the word ‘remastered’ is in the title is down to this: Marc Oberon’s Master Deck. This is a great deck of which I won’t get into too much detail as not to expose the secret, but those who own it will find great delight in the idea of throwing that out, as long as you have them peek on a certain corner, you know that their card is one of very small number and then card follow similar idea’s as Maven’s “Tossed out tech” to fish and find out who’s got what for a very detailed reveal. I always carry the effect Bang-On in my jacket; it’s an ‘any named card in wallet.’ It’s very direct and very powerful. Again, this is a Marc Oberon product! Marc uses Bang-On mainly as an out for an effect where he genuinely guesses which card the spectator is thinking of. It’s perfect as an out for the tossed out deck in case some naughty spectator feels that they would like to name a totally different card when you ask them why the haven’t sat down! “Are you sure you saw that card? You must be mistaken as that card is the only one not in the deck, I keep it in my wallet here...”
Altered – Signed Coin Disfigurement – Version 1 Effect: A coin is borrowed from a spectator, is dated on one side and the spectator’s initials are written on the other. The Coin is placed in the spectator’s own hands in a sandwich manner. They begin to feel the coin warm up, it starts to twitch and the spectator can feel it warp and bend in their hands. When the spectator’s hands are opened, the newly bent coin is apparent. The magician shows it on either side and the date and initials are still intact and the coin is handed back to the spectator to keep as a souvenir. Preparation: A coin must be bent preceding the performance; the main concept involves switching the borrowed coin for this pre-bent coin. A coin has been included along with a small magnet and some wax. You must write the date of the performance on the outside of the bent coin and wax the small magnet on one half of this side, per the photo below.
You must also wear a more powerful magnet on your wrist; alternatively a PK ring will suffice. When using a PK ring, I will secretly remove it from my finger to lay it flat out on my fingers, clipping it as it is more powerful this way. It is best to make sure that the outward facing sides of the magnets repel each other, if they attract the spectator will still feel the coin move, but not to the same extent. Method: You must have your gimmicked coin in an easily accessible place so you can grab it into a right hand (if left handed like me, or left hand if right handed. You must write on the coin in the following stages,) finger palm position as you begin this effect. I place it into the same pocket as my sharpie as then I can steal the coin as I bring out the pen.
You will borrow a coin from a spectator matching the one you have bent. I often carry around a few ready to go coins of different denominations in case nobody has a 10 pence piece on them. If your not willing to invest in a few more little magnets, you could always explain that it must be a 10 pence as there is an unusual property to the metal. If you use a different currency, you can adjust the patter to fit. So, at this point you will have a borrowed coin in your left hand and will appear to reach into you pocket to retrieve your pen. In reality, you are retrieving your pen, but you also steal your gimmicked coin into a finger palm. You will now sign and date the coin for future reference. I’m left handed, so I have the pen in my left hand and the coins in my right. All I do to get to this position is switch the borrowed coin from my left with the pen from my right hand as I open the lid of the pen. Nothing sneaky there, but I feel it’s best to cover every motion. Now the coins are held as in the photo below and you’re ready to begin the marking of the coins.
You remember that you have written the date on the outside of the bent coin, so you must have the blank inside facing you ready to write on their initials. It is good practice to write the date on the same side of the borrowed coin, in case you have any very observant spectators. You begin by saying that you are going to mark the coin for future reference, in that you ask the date – I often pretend like I’m unsure and either way the outcome is as predicted. You write the date on the borrowed coin. Then you must turn over the borrowed coin in your hand and ask for their initials. When they answer you, you should write this on the blank side of the bent coin. So now you have a borrowed coin with the date written on one side and a bent coin with the date and their initials written on it in your right hand and the pen in your left. To ditch the borrowed coin you will reach over with your right hand to remove the lid of the pen from it’s bottom and replace it on top and place the pen in your left hand side
pocket. As you remove the lid you should transfer the borrowed coin to your left hand secretly and ditch this also in your pocket. Now you are left with just the bent, signed coin in your hands. The next step is to place the coin in their hands and bend it. You will ask the spectator to hold out one of their hands and pinching the coin at the bend, will place it in their hand magnet side down and ask them to sandwich it with the other hand. This is illustrated below. Ask them to keep their hands absolutely still during the effect, I often say that it might not work if they don’t.
Don’t worry about them realizing the coin is bent. You’ve not told them what’s going to happen yet and people just won’t notice, as they’re not used to holding a coin in this fashion. Now it’s all about presentation and making them believe they’re feeling the coin bend, not just move. The best way to do this is to first suggest to them that they will feel their hands getting warmer and as they begin to react change your patter to tell them that it’s the coin getting warmer. People naturally associate this heating with bending and when the coin starts to ‘warp and bend’ they have to circum! I have my hands over theirs as if I’m focusing my energy into this particular place. All you must do from here is wave your hand closer to theirs and the coin will move because of the magnet you are wearing. I tend to use my PK rig in the flat out method mentioned before. It’s easy to slide a ring on and off the finger with one hand with a little practice; alternatively you may just use a wrist worn magnet. Once they are suitably freaked out, you may show your hands empty and get them to slowly lift off their top hand. They will see the bent coin and react heavily to this, you must gently remove it from their hand before they do and see the magnet! You can just pick it up pinching it on top of the magnet (which your thumb should cover) and show it from all angles. Then you will place it back onto their hand and in doing so slide the magnet away with your thumb as shown below. The photo’s are for illustration only, these are exposed shots.
That essentially is the entire presentation of the effect and it leaves the spectator with a great souvenir they will often carry around with them and show their friends and family. This is a very simple to perform, yet powerful effect which the emphasis is on the performance, but is a simple enough idea to convey. You don’t necessarily have to have the coin signed and you don’t necessarily have to say anything. In a foreign speaking country you could walk up with a coin, place it in someone’s hand and they will feel it bend. The suggestion in this effect is not the basis on which they feel the coin bend, but merely an emphasis. The strength of using the magnet concept is that everyone will feel it happen, that’s the key.
Shift 2.0 Despite the distinctly ‘mental’ nature of the rest of this book, I felt that this deserved inclusion. This routine is an evolution from the original Shift routine from my first book "Proximity Effects." This is the way I perform this routine at every one of my gigs. It gets the spectator involved in the moment the magic happens and creates an insanely impossible twist. Required Props: To perform this effect you will need a double backed card, if you do not have one you can quite easily make one by gluing 2 cards face to face. The card is only ever shown as part of the deck or in motion, so the thickness isn't an issue. The double backed card should be in 2nd position from the top, with the force card on top. As well as the double backed card, you will also need a duplicate of the card you are going to force them to choose. This should be placed face out (so that the face is revealed first) where ever you wish to produce it. I usually use my breast pocket, perhaps my wallet or an envelope, which has been lain on the table from the start. Method: There are a few different parts to this routine. These are as follows: - The Force - The Signing - The Vanish - The Production - The Signature Revelation I'll begin by explaining the force I tend to use, I've explained this in my previous work and it's also covered by a number of different sources. This is the force I use the most in my performance and I've yet to be caught out. The photo’s are of a very exposed view, naturally! The below photo’s demonstrate the force, you simply ask a spectator to stop you at any point during your riffle through of the cards. Instead of cutting directly to the real selected card, you retain the top card and slip it down onto the bottom packet. The top ‘force’ card now looks like a totally random selection.
Any force will work though as long as you can retain the double backed card on the top after the card has been taken. Now that the correct card has been selected, it must be signed. I take quite the un-orthodox route with having cards signed for this routine, I ask for a signature on the back of the card. The real reason for this will become apparent later on, the reason I tell my spectators is that by signing on the back it's creates a totally unique card, different from all the other cards in the deck, a unique face and now a unique back. Aside from being a reasonable explanation, you'll note that it also suggests that there are no other cards with the same face in play. I feel this is something important to note, but in a subtle way. The card has been signed and is taken back by the magician - it doesn't matter if he sees the value in this trick, I'll often explain as I place the card face up on top of the face down deck. The signed card sits upon the double backer. From here we do the vanish. The vanish used is a variation on the classic colour change ala Erdnase. Essentially what this should look like is as if you are blatantly palming off the selection to drop it into the spectator's hands. I'll generally say some thing like: "You know why use magicians are often banned from casinos?" "You cheat?" "Very good, we cheat - there is one move in particular that when done right can create the perfect hand in a game of poker. The palm."
"Have you ever seen a gambler palm a card?" At this point you will push your hand forward, following the approximate motion that the Erdnase colour change does, sliding the card off into a classic palm to show the spectators. "Ok, watch - hold out your hands, get ready to catch the card in case I drop it!" Here you will mock the exact same motion, but instead of palming off the selection you perform an Erdnase colour change ending with the double backed card on top of the face up selection. This is the important bit - you must allow them to believe that the card is really in your hand and take your time. Allow it to go a little quieter and gently 'drop' the non present card onto their waiting hands - obviously there is no card in your hand, but if you jerk your hand down a millimeter and spread your closed fingers open, it looks as if the card vanishes in mid air. So now we have the first 3 parts of the routine done. The card is in the correct position for the reveal and you have the audience in awe at the vanish. I make a note to now show my hand empty, still in silence and slowly reach up to my top pocket, pulling the card out very slowly, allowing the anticipation to build. When people see the face of the card they flip - that's the card you just 'dropped' into their hand. The reaction is the perfect time to casually drop it on the top of the deck, as in the first 'Shift' routine. The reveal then is as follows: "Can you please confirm to everyone that this is your card?" "Yes!" "And can you also confirm that this is your signature?" This is the point at which a triple lift is done, literally just to flip the 3 top cards over as one so that the spectator's signature is staring right up at them and you are now free of any reversed cards.
Final Notes: As I mentioned, this routine is one that I do all the time. A variation on the vanish I've just taught is Daniel Madison's half vanish, which puts the card into the right position but rather than mocking picking up the card you can appear to just wave your hand over the deck and the card will vanish one half at a time. This vanish is taught on Daniel's "Dangerous - Disc 1 - Mystique"
Turnover 23: Evolution of the Mexican Turnover The standard Mexican turnover allows you to switch 2 cards of the same back, a card the spectator names with a joker for instance, where as ‘Turnover 23’ allows you with the aid of a double backed card to appear as if you have a different backed prediction – thus giving a really fair prediction effect. I used to use this routine with a 5-way force deck and using the fishing taught in my effect ‘Cold’ from the book ‘Proximity Effects.’ I found that this just wasn’t very logical; the 5-way force deck isn’t necessary, though it makes your location job easier, it means that a card has to be selected rather than the freer naming of a card. Also, if there’s a prediction on the table which you know is their card – why would you have to read their thoughts? Effect: A card from a different deck is laid on the table as a prediction. The spectator is asked to name the first card that pops into their head on the count of 3. The magician flips over the card at arms length to show that is matches perfectly! Preparation: As mentioned, you’ll need a double backed card of different backs – you can easily get bicycle Red/Blue backs from your local magic dealer. You will have the deck set up with a joker on the top of the deck – You could if you wished use a brand new deck still in order to make your location of the named card easier. That’s all the prep required. I suggest looking up the Mexican Turnover however – It’s described in various books, it’s in “Giobbi’s Card College Vol. 4” though Conradi described the so called "Mexican Turnover" in his Der Moderne Kartenkunstler (1896) on page 16 under the title “The American Strong Trick.” That’s the furthest back reference to the move I could find, though it could be older!
Method: “I’ve placed down a prediction here from a different deck. I’m going to in a moment ask you to name the first card that pops into your head. I’m not going to try and psychologically influence you in any way, but if you could name the first card on 1 – 2 – 3!” Once the card is named you can cover having to locate their card like so: “The 4 of clubs? Is there any reason you chose that card? – Let me just grab a joker here – Do you live at number 4 or born of the forth? So it was a totally random choice? Interesting...” I’ve found that through adding the joker line in the middle of something else allows people to take note of what you’re doing, but not really question it as you’re asking things and very much in command. You’ve found your selection, so place it on top and double lift to show the joker you have pre-placed. “I don’t want to even touch the card, so we’ll use the joker to flip it over at arm’s length!” You need to slide the selection in your hand (they believe it’s a joker), face down of course, under the bottom right corner of the card from your perspective and begin to flip it inwards. So the long left hand edge retains contact with the table. As the card flips, you need to grasp the double backed card and drop the selection letting it flip face up, and continue flipping the double backed card over to reveal the back matching the deck. To the spectator it should look simply as you have used the indifferent card to flip over the different backed prediction. You should practice the motion’s in front of a mirror to get it looking natural. The illusion is perfect as they see the indifferent back vanish and the face appear, while the same back is constant. Replace the double backed card on top of the deck as if it was the card you just took. You could double again to show a joker, but I don’t feel it’s necessary. It’s draws too much attention to what you did. After the amazement has set in from your spectator’s that you knew all along what card they would merely think of, take the card and place it face up on the face down deck. It’s now sitting directly above the double backer, so if you double lift, you can show that the
card ‘really does’ have the different back. You shouldn’t draw attention to this though, if it were a card from a different deck – you wouldn’t stress that it has a different colour back. You have flipped the cards so now the different backed card is on top of the deck, just take this off and place it back in your pocket! If you slide the top card now into the middle again, you’re reset!
Final Words: So there you have another collection of effects all wrapped neatly in an electronic jacket. I want to thank everyone for their comments, support and criticism – There are a lot of people out there who have forced me to truly look back and think about the material I present and the material I publish. The following people have all been very influential in different ways and I wish to thank them all: Lola Lenore | Chris Lafferty | Dominic Reyes | Ben Williams | Marc Oberon | Daniel Madison | Brad Christian | Chris Schuh | Steve Fearson | Jay Crowe | Aaron Smith | Andrew Mayne | Arthur Emerson | Owen Packard | Liam Montier | Brandon Wolf | Death Metal | China One| Apple | Adobe | Avril Lavigne | David Blood | David Leon | Tim Trono | Justin Miller | Paul Zenon | Uri Geller | Erick Castle | Combichrist | Titanas Many Thanks to these and everyone else I’ve missed! D.
