This one when told how to do seems easy but it is quite hard to do.
To do this all you have to do is sublimely tell them which one they are going to
choose (easy enough). The way derren does this is by making “subconscious”
signals to the subject to tell him to pick the one he is signalling.
E.g. on derren brown; mind control 2 when he does this effect he says to the
subject
“We’ll play paper scissors stone where you go 1 2 3 (hits his fist on his
other hand 3 times) and then you do something (does scissors)”
This sublimely tells the subject to choose scissors. And sure enough the
subject chooses scissors and derren chooses rock to win.
Then on the second go the subject chooses rock (as you can see this was
derrens last choice) and derren chooses paper to win.
And finally on the last go the subject chooses paper (derrens last choice) and
derren chooses scissors to win.
You may wonder how he did it when he asked if the audience want him to win
loose or draw. Well, this was the same as above apart from he asked “do you
want me to win loose or draw (making paper sign for subliminal signal)” so if
the audience say win he chooses scissors if they say loose he chooses rock
and if they say draw then de chooses paper.
NOTE: when doing the effect try and make the person look at you hand (not
by saying, “look at my hand” because then they will know that you are up to
something). Just try casually leading their eyes down with your eyes or at least
making sure the signal is in their line of vision. Also after you play each game,
and you see who wins leave your hand out longer than theirs so then they
subconsciously get the picture of which one they should pick.
15.9.09
What was your Pin Again
PIN Number Prediction:
Imagine knowing something that would normally be impossible to know. For example you might want to reveal someone’s surname, even though you never met them before. You might want to know what their best friend’s hamster is called. Whatever it is, this Prediction effect will allow you to do so. In this case we will reveal the PIN number of a person’s bank account.
Basic Effect:
You ask to borrow a pen and pencil from the subject. You confirm with them that they have a PIN number for their bank and that there is no way you could possibly know it. You write down a 4 digit number and return them the pencil. You ask them your pin number and it matches what you have written on the paper.
Full Methodology
To perform this effect you need what is known as a ‘Swami Gimmick’. This is a small device, which looks a little like a thin flesh coloured rubber band with a pencil nib in it. You can buy them from any magic store. They are designed for secretly writing information. If you don’t want to buy a swami gimmick, you can just break a piece of lead off the end of a pencil and wedge it under one of your finger nails. Personally I don’t use a swami gimmick, I find that lead from a pencil works brilliantly.
Before you try to perform the trick; take a piece of lead, find a way to attach it to your finger, I put mine just under my nail sticking out. If you bite your nails a tiny bit of sticky tape will work to hold it in place. Practice writing with the gimmick, try to make it look as much like your handwriting as possible.
You: Have you got a pen and pencil I can borrow there?
Subject: Yes
You: Great! Now let me just get things straight…. You’ve got a bank account with one of those plastic cards – is that right? You have a PIN number for the card? Is that right? You’ve kept it secret, so there is no way that I could know it… is that right?
Subject: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
You: OK, what I want you to do is hold out your hand, place it flat on thetable; I just need to be holding onto your wrist for this to work. (This is the misdirection needed for the trick. Whilst you are holding their hand, explain to them how its possible to get clues about what a person is thinking just by holding on to a part of their body. Talk about eye accessing cues using the information I gave you in the previous effect, they aren’t needed for this trick – but the more ways you can distract attention away from the real method the better!)
You: Your PIN number is 4 digits long. I want you to visualise the 1st digit. Visualise it brightly in your mind, draw the shape of the number with you mind, let it burn and image there. Keep visualising…. (allow a few seconds of silence to pass) Stop. (You need to repeat this visualisation process for each of the 4 numbers. At this point you should pretend to write a 4 digit number down. Just move the pencil across the paper very lightly, so it makes a noise as if you are writing but doesn’t leave more than a very faint mark. Make sure the subject can’t see that you’ve not actually written anything.)
You: Right, I’ve made my prediction, take the pencil back. (Don’t make a big deal of passing the pencil back to them. However, the mere fact that you don’t have the pencil any longer will remove any suspicion that you have another way to write with the swami gimmick!)
You: What is your PIN number?
Subject: 1234
You: So it would be pretty amazing if I got that right?
(By asking the above question, you are delaying things by just a couple of seconds – this gives you the time to write the number they have just told you on the paper with the swami gimmick (or the pencil lead stuck in your nail.) With practice you will be able to write with just one hand, so you can be waving the piece of paper around as you are writing!)
Subject: Yes
You: Take a look at this!
Closing Notes
This is truly incredible effect. It is a very simple concept, but magicians frequently sell tricks based on this effect alone for many pounds. You can of course do it with anything! I’ve gone up to girls at clubs and bet them a kiss I can guess their second name – and it’s worked. Try it on people you’ve just met and win a drink out of it!
People really are truly amazed – because they never consider the mere existence of the pencil lead!
Imagine knowing something that would normally be impossible to know. For example you might want to reveal someone’s surname, even though you never met them before. You might want to know what their best friend’s hamster is called. Whatever it is, this Prediction effect will allow you to do so. In this case we will reveal the PIN number of a person’s bank account.
Basic Effect:
You ask to borrow a pen and pencil from the subject. You confirm with them that they have a PIN number for their bank and that there is no way you could possibly know it. You write down a 4 digit number and return them the pencil. You ask them your pin number and it matches what you have written on the paper.
Full Methodology
To perform this effect you need what is known as a ‘Swami Gimmick’. This is a small device, which looks a little like a thin flesh coloured rubber band with a pencil nib in it. You can buy them from any magic store. They are designed for secretly writing information. If you don’t want to buy a swami gimmick, you can just break a piece of lead off the end of a pencil and wedge it under one of your finger nails. Personally I don’t use a swami gimmick, I find that lead from a pencil works brilliantly.
Before you try to perform the trick; take a piece of lead, find a way to attach it to your finger, I put mine just under my nail sticking out. If you bite your nails a tiny bit of sticky tape will work to hold it in place. Practice writing with the gimmick, try to make it look as much like your handwriting as possible.
You: Have you got a pen and pencil I can borrow there?
Subject: Yes
You: Great! Now let me just get things straight…. You’ve got a bank account with one of those plastic cards – is that right? You have a PIN number for the card? Is that right? You’ve kept it secret, so there is no way that I could know it… is that right?
Subject: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
You: OK, what I want you to do is hold out your hand, place it flat on thetable; I just need to be holding onto your wrist for this to work. (This is the misdirection needed for the trick. Whilst you are holding their hand, explain to them how its possible to get clues about what a person is thinking just by holding on to a part of their body. Talk about eye accessing cues using the information I gave you in the previous effect, they aren’t needed for this trick – but the more ways you can distract attention away from the real method the better!)
You: Your PIN number is 4 digits long. I want you to visualise the 1st digit. Visualise it brightly in your mind, draw the shape of the number with you mind, let it burn and image there. Keep visualising…. (allow a few seconds of silence to pass) Stop. (You need to repeat this visualisation process for each of the 4 numbers. At this point you should pretend to write a 4 digit number down. Just move the pencil across the paper very lightly, so it makes a noise as if you are writing but doesn’t leave more than a very faint mark. Make sure the subject can’t see that you’ve not actually written anything.)
You: Right, I’ve made my prediction, take the pencil back. (Don’t make a big deal of passing the pencil back to them. However, the mere fact that you don’t have the pencil any longer will remove any suspicion that you have another way to write with the swami gimmick!)
You: What is your PIN number?
Subject: 1234
You: So it would be pretty amazing if I got that right?
(By asking the above question, you are delaying things by just a couple of seconds – this gives you the time to write the number they have just told you on the paper with the swami gimmick (or the pencil lead stuck in your nail.) With practice you will be able to write with just one hand, so you can be waving the piece of paper around as you are writing!)
Subject: Yes
You: Take a look at this!
Closing Notes
This is truly incredible effect. It is a very simple concept, but magicians frequently sell tricks based on this effect alone for many pounds. You can of course do it with anything! I’ve gone up to girls at clubs and bet them a kiss I can guess their second name – and it’s worked. Try it on people you’ve just met and win a drink out of it!
People really are truly amazed – because they never consider the mere existence of the pencil lead!
Simple Shape Prediction
You walk out on stage and place a large card on a chair or easel facing the audience. The card has three shapes drawn on it;
a square, a triangle and a circle.
You choose an audience member and ask him to stand. You explain that when people are asked to think of a simple shape, these are the three commonest designs chosen. Youask him to choose one of the shapes, in this case he chooses the square.
You then ask him to reach under his chair where he'll find an envelope stuck underneath. Ask him to remove the envelope and as he does so, explain that earlier on you made a prediction as to which shape he would choose and stuck it under his chair.
When he opens the envelope, there is a postcard inside that reads
'You will choose the square'.
This is a nice opening effect and usually works very effectively. Make a large card with the three shapes drawn on it as described above. On the back write,
“You will choose the triangle”.
Write “You will choose the square” on a postcard and seal it in an envelope.
Before the show, stick the envelope underneath a chair in the auditorium. To perform the effect, simply reveal the appropriate prediction either by asking the spectator to remove the card from under their chair or by asking him to come on stage and turning the card around to reveal the prediction.
If he chooses the circle, then your prediction fails but all is not lost. State that most people choose either the square or the triangle and because he has not done so, that makes him an interesting choice to participate with an experiment.
Note that you don't mention anything about the prediction until the spectator has named their choice. If your prediction is right, then great! If not, disappointing but you've not yet mentioned your prediction so no one is the wiser. Just get the person up on stage to assist with a sure fire effect whether the prediction works or not.
a square, a triangle and a circle.
You choose an audience member and ask him to stand. You explain that when people are asked to think of a simple shape, these are the three commonest designs chosen. Youask him to choose one of the shapes, in this case he chooses the square.
You then ask him to reach under his chair where he'll find an envelope stuck underneath. Ask him to remove the envelope and as he does so, explain that earlier on you made a prediction as to which shape he would choose and stuck it under his chair.
When he opens the envelope, there is a postcard inside that reads
'You will choose the square'.
This is a nice opening effect and usually works very effectively. Make a large card with the three shapes drawn on it as described above. On the back write,
“You will choose the triangle”.
Write “You will choose the square” on a postcard and seal it in an envelope.
Before the show, stick the envelope underneath a chair in the auditorium. To perform the effect, simply reveal the appropriate prediction either by asking the spectator to remove the card from under their chair or by asking him to come on stage and turning the card around to reveal the prediction.
If he chooses the circle, then your prediction fails but all is not lost. State that most people choose either the square or the triangle and because he has not done so, that makes him an interesting choice to participate with an experiment.
Note that you don't mention anything about the prediction until the spectator has named their choice. If your prediction is right, then great! If not, disappointing but you've not yet mentioned your prediction so no one is the wiser. Just get the person up on stage to assist with a sure fire effect whether the prediction works or not.
Name that Card in One
You produce a normal deck of playing cards and ask a spectator to cut the deck anywhere they like. They remove the card they’ve cut to without letting you see it and concentrate on its design.
After a few moments concentration, you announce the exact card they’ve chosen. You have read their mind!
You’ll need a normal deck of cards but you need to arrange them in a special order. Mentalists refer to this as a stacked deck.
One of the easiest methods of stacking a deck is the Si Stebbins system. In this system, each card has a value; a jack is valued 11, a queen 12 and a king 13. All the other cards take their respective value, with an ace valued 1.
The suits are also arranged in the order clubs, hearts, spades, diamonds. The easiest way to remember this is by the word
'chased':
Clubs Hearts Spades Diamonds.
Start with any club, then for the next card in the stack add 3 to its value and make it a heart. For the next card, add 3 again and make it a spade. For the next card, add 3 again and make it a diamond.
When you’re adding 3 to 11, 12 or 13, subtract 13 to get the value of the next card. The system repeats like this until the whole deck is stacked.
For instance, if you started with the 3 of clubs (3C), the stacked order would be:
3C, 6H, 9S, QD, 2C, 5H, 8S and so on.
Place the cards face up as you stack them. When displaying the deck to your spectator, make sure you fan them and let them see the faces. Don't make a point of this – just fan them as you say “normal deck of cards”. Whatever you do, don't say “As you can see, they're in no particular order!” Statements like this should be implied non-verbally.
This is important later on, if the spectator tries to 'reconstruct' the trick and work out how it was done. If they can remember you casually spreading the cards, they'll discount any theories about the deck being in a special order or perhaps all the same card.
Put the stacked deck face down on the table and invite a spectator to cut the deck anywhere they like. Get them to place the top half of the deck face down next to the bottom half. Invite them to take the top card from the bottom deck and keep it secret.
Pickup up the bottom half of the deck, place it on the top half and then pick up the whole deck. You now need to glance at the bottom card on the deck and there are a couple of ways of doing this. You can either put the cards back into their box, casually glancing at the bottom card as you do so. Better still, hold the deck in front of you, as if demonstrating to the spectator how to hold their card. Either method will need a simple verbal misdirection such has “Now hold your card up, still keeping it secret and concentrate on the design.”
As they concentrate, ask them to look into your eyes. Pretend you are looking for subtle psychological clues as to the value of their card. Look at micro-movements in their facial muscles also. All you need to do to name their card is work out the next one in thesequence. So if the bottom card was the ace of hearts, their card is the four of spades. Rather than just simply naming their card, increase the drama and effect of mind-reading by revealing it bit by bit. The color first, then whether it is a low, high or picture card.
Then name the card in full.
To really play with the system, you can subtly suggest that you are about to read the wrong card. For instance, if the spectator's card is the nine of clubs, you might reveal it in the following way:
“OK, its a black card, yes?” Look for visual confirmation.
“I'm getting an 'i' ... 'i' ... five ... a five? No, sounds like five – its a nine, yes?”
“Definitely not a spade so it must be the nine of clubs!”
Another method of revealing the chosen card is to draw it on a notepad. Keep your drawing hidden, then invite the spectator to turn around their card and announce the design. You can then flip over your notepad, revealing the same design.
This is a terrific routine and with a little thought, the Si Stebbins stack can be used for many other mind reading effects. What’s more, the stack is instantly ready to use again simply by putting the spectator’s chosen card on top of the deck face down.
After a few moments concentration, you announce the exact card they’ve chosen. You have read their mind!
You’ll need a normal deck of cards but you need to arrange them in a special order. Mentalists refer to this as a stacked deck.
One of the easiest methods of stacking a deck is the Si Stebbins system. In this system, each card has a value; a jack is valued 11, a queen 12 and a king 13. All the other cards take their respective value, with an ace valued 1.
The suits are also arranged in the order clubs, hearts, spades, diamonds. The easiest way to remember this is by the word
'chased':
Clubs Hearts Spades Diamonds.
Start with any club, then for the next card in the stack add 3 to its value and make it a heart. For the next card, add 3 again and make it a spade. For the next card, add 3 again and make it a diamond.
When you’re adding 3 to 11, 12 or 13, subtract 13 to get the value of the next card. The system repeats like this until the whole deck is stacked.
For instance, if you started with the 3 of clubs (3C), the stacked order would be:
3C, 6H, 9S, QD, 2C, 5H, 8S and so on.
Place the cards face up as you stack them. When displaying the deck to your spectator, make sure you fan them and let them see the faces. Don't make a point of this – just fan them as you say “normal deck of cards”. Whatever you do, don't say “As you can see, they're in no particular order!” Statements like this should be implied non-verbally.
This is important later on, if the spectator tries to 'reconstruct' the trick and work out how it was done. If they can remember you casually spreading the cards, they'll discount any theories about the deck being in a special order or perhaps all the same card.
Put the stacked deck face down on the table and invite a spectator to cut the deck anywhere they like. Get them to place the top half of the deck face down next to the bottom half. Invite them to take the top card from the bottom deck and keep it secret.
Pickup up the bottom half of the deck, place it on the top half and then pick up the whole deck. You now need to glance at the bottom card on the deck and there are a couple of ways of doing this. You can either put the cards back into their box, casually glancing at the bottom card as you do so. Better still, hold the deck in front of you, as if demonstrating to the spectator how to hold their card. Either method will need a simple verbal misdirection such has “Now hold your card up, still keeping it secret and concentrate on the design.”
As they concentrate, ask them to look into your eyes. Pretend you are looking for subtle psychological clues as to the value of their card. Look at micro-movements in their facial muscles also. All you need to do to name their card is work out the next one in thesequence. So if the bottom card was the ace of hearts, their card is the four of spades. Rather than just simply naming their card, increase the drama and effect of mind-reading by revealing it bit by bit. The color first, then whether it is a low, high or picture card.
Then name the card in full.
To really play with the system, you can subtly suggest that you are about to read the wrong card. For instance, if the spectator's card is the nine of clubs, you might reveal it in the following way:
“OK, its a black card, yes?” Look for visual confirmation.
“I'm getting an 'i' ... 'i' ... five ... a five? No, sounds like five – its a nine, yes?”
“Definitely not a spade so it must be the nine of clubs!”
Another method of revealing the chosen card is to draw it on a notepad. Keep your drawing hidden, then invite the spectator to turn around their card and announce the design. You can then flip over your notepad, revealing the same design.
This is a terrific routine and with a little thought, the Si Stebbins stack can be used for many other mind reading effects. What’s more, the stack is instantly ready to use again simply by putting the spectator’s chosen card on top of the deck face down.
Heads or Tails
Onto the table you place a sealed envelope and a 10, 20 and 50 pence piece. The spectator chooses one of the coins and the
others are discarded. The chosen coin is flipped so itlands heads or tails.
The envelope is opened, turned upside down and a folded piece of paper falls out. The spectator opens the folded paper to
reveal a prediction. You have correctly predicted the not only the chosen coin but whether it would land heads up or tails
up.
This simple routine introduces two important concepts important to mind reading and mental magic.
The first is known as magician’s choice and can used in many mentalist effects. Although the spectator appears to be
getting a free choice, they are choosing exactly the coin you want them to.
For instance, if you want them to choose the 20p piece, invite them to choose two of the three coins. If they choose the
10p and 50p,you ask them to push those to one side, leaving them with the 20p.
If they choose the 10p and 20p, ask them to push the 50p to one side. Then ask them to choose either the 10p or 20p. If
they choose the 20p, say “You chose the 20p. Then that’s the one we’ll use,“ and ask them to push to 10p to one side.
If they choose the 10p, ask them to push it one side and say, “And you’re left with the 20p. That’s the one we’ll use.”
Then ask them to flip the coin. See whether it lands heads or tails and ask them to call it out.
This is where the envelope comes in and as you’ve probably guessed by now, all is not as it seems.
This is our second important concept - multiple outs. We've already seen this used in the first effect, where two outcomes
were covered by two different predictions. Effects that use this concept have more than one way of finishing, so you need
to have all possible outcomes covered.
You will need two identical brown pay envelopes. Take one envelope and trim off about 1mm from the bottom and sides. Trim
off the flap so you are left with what used to be the front of the envelope: a rectangle of paper just slightly smaller
than the envelope.
The trimmed envelope slips inside the other envelope, creating two compartments.
You’ll also need two predictions, one that reads “You’ll choose the 20p and it will land head side up” and another that
reads the same but ending “tail side up”. Place one prediction into each compartment and stick down the flap.
When you slit open the envelope to reveal the prediction, slip your first and second fingers inside to open up the
envelope. As you do so, push the flap back or forward depending on which prediction you need to reveal. Once the flap is
in place, hold it there with your thumb and finger, then tip the envelope upside down so the appropriate folded prediction
falls out.
As the spectator is unfolding and reading the prediction, slip the envelope into your pocket.
others are discarded. The chosen coin is flipped so itlands heads or tails.
The envelope is opened, turned upside down and a folded piece of paper falls out. The spectator opens the folded paper to
reveal a prediction. You have correctly predicted the not only the chosen coin but whether it would land heads up or tails
up.
This simple routine introduces two important concepts important to mind reading and mental magic.
The first is known as magician’s choice and can used in many mentalist effects. Although the spectator appears to be
getting a free choice, they are choosing exactly the coin you want them to.
For instance, if you want them to choose the 20p piece, invite them to choose two of the three coins. If they choose the
10p and 50p,you ask them to push those to one side, leaving them with the 20p.
If they choose the 10p and 20p, ask them to push the 50p to one side. Then ask them to choose either the 10p or 20p. If
they choose the 20p, say “You chose the 20p. Then that’s the one we’ll use,“ and ask them to push to 10p to one side.
If they choose the 10p, ask them to push it one side and say, “And you’re left with the 20p. That’s the one we’ll use.”
Then ask them to flip the coin. See whether it lands heads or tails and ask them to call it out.
This is where the envelope comes in and as you’ve probably guessed by now, all is not as it seems.
This is our second important concept - multiple outs. We've already seen this used in the first effect, where two outcomes
were covered by two different predictions. Effects that use this concept have more than one way of finishing, so you need
to have all possible outcomes covered.
You will need two identical brown pay envelopes. Take one envelope and trim off about 1mm from the bottom and sides. Trim
off the flap so you are left with what used to be the front of the envelope: a rectangle of paper just slightly smaller
than the envelope.
The trimmed envelope slips inside the other envelope, creating two compartments.
You’ll also need two predictions, one that reads “You’ll choose the 20p and it will land head side up” and another that
reads the same but ending “tail side up”. Place one prediction into each compartment and stick down the flap.
When you slit open the envelope to reveal the prediction, slip your first and second fingers inside to open up the
envelope. As you do so, push the flap back or forward depending on which prediction you need to reveal. Once the flap is
in place, hold it there with your thumb and finger, then tip the envelope upside down so the appropriate folded prediction
falls out.
As the spectator is unfolding and reading the prediction, slip the envelope into your pocket.
in the begining
And it begins. This site is a grand experiment aswell as a resource for all those interested in mentalism. By now means do I consider myself a master mentalist. But i know that we haven't scratched the surface of what's possible with online mentalism. Deep in this website i''ve hidden all kinds of juicy content in with the also juicy but not hidden content. I hope you enjoy finding it all. If this is something you think you could do some cool stuff with then get in touch, let's see what we can do together.
I've done my best to find all the tips and tricks of becoming a jedi master so you can all go out and do it yourself. Some of the cooler stuff I've tried to hide but that's just because if your into this stuff then you've got to love all things secret and esoteric and it probably won't take you long to pick it all out. Oh and if you'r a bit code inclined don't cheat yourself,, the fun is in the finding.
If you want any clues or if you want to add a trick or two then please send me an email, I've tried not to hide that one too well :)
C o N u N d R u M
I've done my best to find all the tips and tricks of becoming a jedi master so you can all go out and do it yourself. Some of the cooler stuff I've tried to hide but that's just because if your into this stuff then you've got to love all things secret and esoteric and it probably won't take you long to pick it all out. Oh and if you'r a bit code inclined don't cheat yourself,, the fun is in the finding.
If you want any clues or if you want to add a trick or two then please send me an email, I've tried not to hide that one too well :)
C o N u N d R u M
12.9.09
Something Dark is lurking
mmmmmmmwwwwwwwwuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaa nothing more ominous than an evil laugh,,,, just testing the length of the text.
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