Epiphanies

c.
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Epiphal/ies

Copyright and Performance Notice

A huge thank you fur purchasing these notes. It honestly

means a great deal to me that you would choose to buy
them and continue supporting the art of Mentalism.

Please respect yourself and your investment enough to

not want to share this material with friend s or other
performers.

Please respect me (Colin McLeod) enough to not

illegally scan, photograph or share the content of this
manuscript with anyone else.

Please respect the other owners of this manuscript

enough to NOT upload any live performance footage of
you using any of this material in a public video. And
please do not use any of this material on any televised
broadcast (online , prerecorded , live or live streaming)
without contacting and receiving written permission to
do so before it's recording . Th is material is designed to
be used in live performances environments only. You 're
one of a small group of people who will every see the
majority of this material. Please help me keep it that
way by ensuring it stays known to only a small few.

Colin McLeod - June 2015 All copyright is reserved and remains solely with the
author Colin McLeod You have purchased the rights to
practice and use this material in li ye real world
performances only.

Copyright 2015 © Colin McLeod

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CONTENTS

Colin McLeod Does Not Matter - 6

Do. Not. Read . This. Introduction.- 10

Thought Square - 17

Prophecy - 35

Use The Force - 51

Thief - 65

Prev' - 92

The Zen Peek - 104

The Real Bookless Test - 124

In Closing ... - 136

Credits - 138

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 Epiph allies
Colin McLeod Does Not Matter
Hello and welcome to my latest set of lecture notes.
This set of lecture notes is designed to compliment the
lecture you 've just watched me do. If you bought these
second hand off The Magic Cafe, or your friend has
scanned them for you , they won't make any sense as
the lecture contained subliminal language . All of that
acts as a trigger allowing your subconscious mind to fill
in the blanks in the text that you're about to TRY to
read. So when it comes to the methods and actual hush
hush secret bits, you simply wo n't understand. Sorry
about that.
Now that we got that awkwardness out of the way let
me just start by addressing a few points.
First of all , NO! I am not the secret love child of Patrick
Redford and Shakira. I mean, I can understand the
comparisons and , as great as I'm sure they would be as
parents, it just isn 't the case. And trust me. These hips
would not lie .
Secondly, my hair? YES , it's real. But much like a
Kohler Hold Out system , I am really only planning to
borrow it and will have to return it at some point.
Finally, are the rumours that all the mentalists from the
UK need to have tattoos and variations of the 'Coin in
Hand routine ' true? No comment. All I will say is that I
am definitely not the one who started it, but Peter Turner
and I think it was Uri Geller. He has a mean-ass phoenix
engraved on his lower left thigh .
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I pride myself on living in the country which I feel has
taken leaps and bounds at improving the qual ity of
mentalism that we see today all over the world . Derren
Brown, Andy Nyman, Luke Jermay and Peter Turner. In
your own wonderful ways, you are masters. (I'll touch on
everyone else who has influenced my creative thinking
at the end of these notes).
Without this progression , the constant drive to improve
and continuall y raising the bar, I wouldn 't be half the
performer I am now.
I feel like I'm living in the golden age of mentalism. All
the best stuff has been invented for my choosing and
technology isn't too advanced yet to void any of our
performances. I mean, in another one hundred years,
potentially what will be the pOint of mentalism
anymore?
So , welcome to The Golden Age of Mentalism! I'm well
aware Bob Cassidy has discussed a number of potential
Golden Ages in his works. I think the problem with Bob
trying to discuss it is that he misses the fact that he is
one of the most important pioneers of some of the most
deceptive techniques in this current age, as well as
being one of the best live practitioners of them. A rare
combination.
So what do I, Colin McLeod , do? I listen . I read. I study.
I wri te. I practice. I attempt. I reflect. I refine. I attempt
again. I reflect for slightly less time . I refine again. And I
have spent the last twenty years repeating this process.
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I don't take myself too seriously, however I take what I
do incredibly seriously. These notes are not about me.
For them to be about me would first of all be a massive
assumption that you gave a shit. Furthermore , I would
need to layout for you exactly how I write my scripts
and what those scripts look like; what exact books I
read in order to find my personal presentations for the
routines I share with my audiences; and ultimately
explain every detail of what I do on stage. In all honesty,
I'm not ready to do that.
But what I'm more concerned with , within these pages,
is you.
My aim is for you to finish these notes with your mind
buzzing with excitement and a fresh desire to get on
stage to share with your audiences your skills and
abilities - to leave them having had a feeling of pure
astonishment and ultimately to crave more of YOU (in
the most appropriate and business minded senses
possible).
What you're about to read is how I've taken classics of
mentalism and tweaked them using other classic
techniques in mentalism to ultimately generate a fresh
piece of wonder. I don't think that I am creative. I believe
I have a very analytical mind. I believe that I am good at
storing information and , much like a computer, I can
assess situations and the techniques available to me to
utilise the best possible outcome. On top of that I layer
psychological, verbal and physical deceptions to
enhance the illusion. I've said it before ; I do not believe
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that anything I create is completely original. It's a
combination of other wonderful ideas. These ideas have
come from the true greats of what we do. I am standing
on the shoulders of giants. I'd be completely arrogant to
assume that everything you're about to read is an
original combination of those ideas, but to the best of
my knowledge and resources, everything you 're about
to read has been discovered by me before any other. I
say discovered because I know that if I didn 't think of it
someone else would have eventually. '
Please enjoy these ideas , master them and, for the
sake of everyone else who buys these notes, do them
justice. You owe it to yourself and your audiences to be
utterly incredible and, with the right amount of effort,
you're more than capable.
Trust me, if I can learn to do these routines, ANYONE,
can do them.
So , before we go any further, let me leave you with
something that Teller once told me that changed my
thinking forever. " ." - Teller,
2015.
Pretty thought provoking , right?
Enjoy.
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DO. NOT. READ. THIS. INTRODUCTION.
I'm a big believer of the fact that until the audience buys
into you, they will never buy into what you are doing.
Yes, they may allow you to entertain them . Yes, they
may enjoy you in the moment. Yes, they may tolerate
you , but ultimately, once they part ways with you and
venture off in different directions , will they really
remember you? Will they really think about how
wonderful their experience with you was for years to
come? Will they even sit up and take notice during the
show?
Until you grab them by the balls (or suitable gender
equivalent) and show them you're in complete control;
until you 're utterly aware of them and they feel like they
are in safe hands (these are hands which are grabbing
them after all!), they will not give you their full attention.
Allow me to begin by asking you some questions th at I
am constantly asking myself as someone who wants to
deserve to be a professional performer:
A· Why are you doing th is?
B· What gives you the right to stand on that stage and
perform for those people?
C· Have you taken the time to ensure that what you're
performing is unique and not a direct rip off of other
performers?
D· Is what you 're doing both deceptive and perfected?
AND, perhaps most importantly ..
E· Is what you 're doing fundamentally entertaining
allowing it to transcend being more than just a mere
puzzle?
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Until you can answer yes to all of these above
questions, I do not believe you deserve to be standing
in front of paying audience members, delegates, or
attendees. By all means, perform for your friends ,
family and colleagues , but ensure what you are doing at
least positively answers questions D and E.
Now that I have your attention, let me share with you my
answers to these questions. These are not the right or
on ly answers; these are just my answers. It's important
you think about your own.
I do this because I fundamen tally love mentalism . I love
constantly discovering more and more wonderful facts
about the history of it and developing brand new effects
to use in the future.
I stand on that stage because I've learned - through
many bad performances, many average perform ances,
and (from what others have told me) some outstand ing
performances (their words, not mine!) - how to ensure
the audience leaves in a better place and with a better
impression of our art form than when they came in.
I make sure that what I do is unlike anyone else and I
do my best whenever possible to know wha t other
performers are doing in their act so that I can either
avoid it, or, if I'm already performing something similar,
attempt to make it even more different and unique. Over
the years I've had to have some meetings with fellow
performers (a few of whom I have the upmost respect
for as artists and consider to be absolute masters in
what we do) to ensure that similar things we are
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performing are of independent creation and the
outcomes were arrived at through a shared path of
development, so that our minds are at rest that neither
of us have just taken the other person's concepts.
Why would that be the case? Why would two people
who are performing what are essentially magic tricks
allow that to bother us? Honestly? Because we care.
We care about what we do enough to work hard every
single day to focus on perfecting methods, refining
scripts and honing the blocking of a piece to guarantee
that by the time the audience sees it, it's perfect. I'm
utterly protective of my material , my lines, my apparent
processes, my reveals, my look , my stories, my jokes
and my branding. Furthermore , I applaud, respect and
support all performers who are wil ling to adopt this
attitude.
If you're saying the same lines the guys 'off the telly' are
saying. Stop. Stop and get a notepad and pen. Work out
why you like what they're saying. Work out the affect it
has and then work out your own alternative. Emphasis
on work out your own alternative.
The biggest piece of advice I can offer on creativity is to
work out what no one else is doing then ask yourself,
"Why not?" If the answer is it's flawed , ridiculous or too
extreme, then perhaps shelf it for now. If, however, it's
because no one else has thought of it yet, then off you
go!
I should point out that I don 't just mean the method . The
method is the least important part when we're looking at
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developing your uniqueness and appeal. I'm talking
about the presentation. What presentations are not
being tapped into by any other performer at the
moment? What effects can you take, flip on their head
and make into pieces of entertainment that a modern
aud ience will actually care about?
For someone who wants to appear more magical in
nature, instead of a torn and restored card , why not a
crushed and restored iPhone? Or how about a cut and
restored shoelace while talking about when you try to
get knots out of them? Or what about car keys in bottle?
Okay, not the best examples, granted , BUT. but, but,
but, the point I'm making is that when you start looking
at what's around you and you apply your magical
knowledge to them , you allow yourself to evolve.
You'll notice that I didn 't say, "someone who wants to
appear to be a magician. " I purposefully said , "someone
wan ting to appear more magical." I truly believe that
call ing oneself merely a magician or a mentalist is too
limiting. These are terms along with things like juggl ing ,
pickpocketing , hypnosis, line dancing (Maybe? No?
Okay, I take that back) , that I feel are 'backstage' labels.
They are labels that should determine which drawers
we take inspiration and ideas from , but should not
influence or affect the performer we see on stage.
You need to decide what type of character you want to
be on stage, the story you want to tell and the journey
you want to take the audience on. When and only when
you 've decided on these details should you start
accessing those drawers and the avai lable information
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within to best present the experience you want to share .
This is a beneficial exercise for not only picking
material, but also for cull ing material that fits your
current skill set.
Now that I have decided on my performing approach for
real world audiences , I find it much easier to write
exactly what I want to be presenting. This leads back to
question D. I have a number of venues in which I can
regularly perform to work on and hone new material
before using it in my corporate or theatre work. As much
of a luxury as this is, the real benefit is that I get to video
record everyone of these performances (exactly as Ken
Weber suggests in Maximum Entertai nment) , then , the
hard part . I let people watch and critique them. I put
my ego aside and I send them to three trusted fr iends
who literally tear them apart.
They highlig ht the positives and things I should keep
doing in performance ; they note the parts which need
work and explain why ; and they make it clear which
parts I should never (like, literally NEVER!) do again. It's
grueling . On occasion , it 's soul-destroying. But most
importantly, it's the most rewarding and quickest way to
improve. Their notes and input ensure that my
techniques are invisible and that my scripting is as clear
and concise as possible. They also help make sure that
the entertainment value is as high as possible; the
laughs are loud , the gasps are big and the dramatic
moments are even felt through the camera.
I cannot recommend this enough! If you 're thinking , "But
I don't have a video camera. " You probably do. That
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smartphone in your pocket has one of the best quality
pocket cameras available. Hand it to the person in the
sound booth, take the lock code off (it saves them
having to divine it) and ask them kindly to hit record.
Now send it to your most trusted friends and start
helping each other improve, grow and find new and
unique ways to present your material.
Let's just pause to address the more important point
here. If you have Maximum Entertainment by Ken
Weber, please reread it again and again. It's one of the
few books I go back to every year when I'm writing a
new show and I always find something I missed! It's
priceless. And if you don 't have it, please buy it. It's
going to be the most important book you own if you
want to take your performances to real people.
The final point is question E. If you have successfully
completed the rest of that list of questions, question E is
a no brainer. You 're already there. If you 're passionate
about performing for people ; you're entertaining people
and leaving them in a better place ; you 're taking time to
be unique and original AND you 're ensuring your
methods cannot fail , then you are absolutely going to be
engaging and entertaining audiences.
All you need to do now is remind yourself to enjoy it and
have fu n.
So with this in mind , I would like to share with you how I
have taken classic effects and tweaked them to make
them more unique as an example of practicing what I
preached in the above points.
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Use them , evolve them and ultimately, find your own
way of making them even more you by tying them into
your own unique performing approach and character.
So , now that you you 've hopefully bought into me and
the fact that my goal as a creator of mentalism is to
ultimately benefit you and as much of your performance
as I can , let me tell you a little bit about myself.
.. I've also done my best to ensure that everyone who
has this book has read the introduction. I mean , we al l
love doing what we're told not to, even if only on a
subconscious level ... thus the title .
Now then , don 't even think about reading the rest of the
notes.
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Thought Square
The Effect
You open by introducing yourself and then displaying a
photograph of a grid of numbers. How peculiar.
Everyone in the room is asked to think of a two-digit
number and , in an attempt to ·make it a number that
even they didn 't think they'd be thinking of, they add ten
to it.
Someone is picked at random to join you in stage.
Emphasis on random. This participant is requested to
read the numbers off of the photo one at a time allowing
you to write them even bigger onto your note pad.
The entire audience watches you write this. The
participant on stage confirms it's correct.
Now, for the first time, they tell the audience what
number they are thinking of. Alas, their number is not
one of the numbers in the grid. How very awkward.
But then you realise something miraculous.
You have everyone at table one add up the numbers in
the first row. Everyone on table two add up the second
row. Table three adds up the third and table four, the
forth. Table five is asked to add up column one , table six
is tasked with column two, while seven and eight get
their respective columns. Tables nine and ten are on the
diagonals. Tables eleven and twelve are on the corners
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and middle four numbers. Everyone else is asked to I he grid you'll be looking to draw up must look exactly
add up any combination of four numbers that make up a like this... .
square.

When you go back to each of the tables and ask them

to shout out what their sum added up to, all of them,
. ;--f-

I .....
\ I I ...
~ ;"~ ..~
--
.....,~~ ... :; :~.. -.- ....
'
yes, ALL of them add up to the number which was
thought of by that previously emphasised random I
I"..
"~

person.

That person leaves the stage with a personalised grid

Z. 53 j Z
adding up to their number to enjoy for, potentially, the
rest of their life.
1/ 8 l
Now you 're ready to start the rest of your show. 5 10 414-
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The Requirements

A Bluetooth printer
A smartphone which is Bluetooth enabled
An offstage assistant who knows how to work Bluetooth
Not really! Relax l ! Panic over. This effect requires next
to nothing . What you will really need is ..
A photograph of printed numbers (and I'll show you the
exact grid you 'll write out in a moment)
A ball of paper, or other 'random audience member
generating tool '
A pad and a marker to rewrite the grid much bigger, on
to
This grid was meant to be my attempt at coming up with
a completely random grid inspired by the work of Doug
Dyment in his wonderful book Mind Sights. As it turns
out, even though it was inspired by one of his sq uares, it
was actually one of squares in the book all along . So
thank you Doug for doing the hard work for us l If you're
planning on doing any other type of magic square
sequence , 'Flash Square' is a routine you should
definitely treat yourself to reading .

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You will notice that a few of the double-digit numbers
have a dot in the lower left corner. This is for ease of
preparation on the pad later. It means that even if you
haven 't done this routine in years, you can find the
photo again and do it immediately.
Fold up this photo and put it in your pocket.
Leave your pad , marker and ball of paper on a table off
to the side and you are ready to go!
The final part to this method is the use of The Dunninger
Ploy. The Dunninger Ploy was originated by Joseph
Dunninger for secretly learning a spectator 's name ,
however it was Luke Jermay who first explored this
concept for something greater. When I first saw his
routine 'The Envelopes,' my brain exploded with ideas
of how this principle co uld replace many more
complicated methods. Everything I have since come up
with utilising this technique is thanks to Luke's thinking
with that routine, so please check out his International
Magic Lecture DVD as it's a wonderful resource for
inspiration .
Ok, so the final , FINAL part is 'Chutzpah ' ... but in all
honesty, I'm not Jewish , so I had to search for how to
spell that. So, you know. Thanks Jeeves. Jeeves knew
immediately, so I can only assume he is Jewish. A 'wee'
fact for you there.
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rhe Performance
After introd ucing yourself to the audience, command the
room and get everyone in the banquet room looking in
your direction. Even those who can't see because of the
pillars are given the chance to move their chai rs slightly
and those with their backs to you are encouraged to
turn around to face you .
You talk about how wonderful it is to be sharing live
entertainment with them in a world that is now reliant on
staring at smartphones and compu ter screens.
You remove a photo from your pocket explaining that
some of the younger members of the audience have
probably never seen one of these before. "It's what we
used to call a PHO-TO-GRA-PH. It's basically an early
edition of Instagram . Except more people cared about
seeing it. "
You show that it has a grid of numbers on it, but you
don't show it for too long because you 'd like everyone in
the room to think of their own two-digit number. And so
that it's a number that they themselves didn 't even think
they'd be thinking of, you ask them to add ten to it.
In reality, thi s is to ensure that if their number is 11-24,
there's a chance of you getting it out of the 'weaker
range.' Because you 're about to subtract 21 from their
number, you do ideally want to have it just a little higher
than all of the consistent numbers. The numbers which
will always be appearing on that re-drawn grid in every
performance.
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So now that every member of your audience has a
number in mind , you need to pick one randomly. That's
where that ball of paper comes in. Throw it around the
room a little. Knock over a few drinks. Bump it into some
candelabras and when the spectator whose chair it
finally lands under picks it up and stands, introduce
yourself to them . "Who caught the ball of paper? Hi ,
your name is? Hi , I'm Colin. Do you have a number in
mind? Good! Please give them a massive round of
applause as they make their way to the stage!"
Getting their name is not only expected as a social ly
accepted gesture , it's also going to make The
Dunninger Ploy more deceptive. Now that you know
their name, ask them to join you on stage and as they
start walking , ask everyone else in the room to applaud
them "until they get to the stage!"
Having their name means that you do not need to ask
for it later. You 'll be asking them something else under
the cover of the applause.
Also , by asking the audience to applaud until they get to
the stage ensures they'll do just that. This allows you to
greet the spectator at the edge of the stage and
immediately ask them for the information you require.
I've seen some performers leave the stage and meet
them in the aisle asking them the information as they
escort them up. This just isn 't for me . I feel that meeting
them at the edge of the stage is plenty of time to ask. I
feel that when you leave to meet them , it starts to look
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SUSpicious. Maybe that's just me personally? I feel guilty
doing that, therefore I probably project some guilt at the
audience and as a result it isn 't as convincing .
Either way, as they step on to that stage, you say to
(hem, "Thank you so much for helping , what number are
you thinking of?"
Yes. That is it. I ask them pretty loudly so I know they've
heard me. They hear it loudly and think , "Oh he's asking
(hat pretty loudly and he's not trying to hide it. It must be
okay to tell him ." And do you know what? They tell me.
Every time. Never EVER has anyone yet not told me the
information I need.
I hear you ask, what if they didn 't tell me? (Avoiding all
lame and pointless mentalist jokes here .)
Well , if they didn 't tell me the number, I would either say,
"Oh? You 're going to look pretty silly if you don 't tell me!
And I really don 't want that. "
By turning it on them and making them worry, that THEY
will look bad and that you 're trying to help them , they
will tell you. The wording of stating that you , "really don 't
want that" also makes it seem like you're trying to help
them out. They'll tell you.
Plan B. When they get to the stage I would say to the
audience, "They've just told me they don 't want to take
part and I can assure you , I'll be respecting everyone
who comes onto this stage tonight. So, will you throw
that ball of paper to choose someone else please? And
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give them an even bigger round of applause as they
switch places!"
Too many performers have things happen in their show
that they don 't address . Show the audience how aware
you are of all situations by staying in control of them
regardless of what happens. Let them know that you're
present and really in the moment rather than just
pressing play in your head. This obviously means that
you need to know your material inside out. But once you
get past the rehearsal phases, it will become much
easier.
The dual reality of switching people also makes you
seem like an even nicer guy. It seems like you 've said to
the audience that they don 't want to take part, so you
want to respect their wishes! What a nice guy. What the
spectator hears is, "This little rascal chose not to
actively contribute to the performance at hand. They are
not willing to respect my performing construct and as a
result, are hindering the immersive experience for al l of
those who are presently viewing the current attempted
demonstration!" ... or something .
Peter Turner has a wonderful ploy which he has allowed
me to share with you . Before the spectator joins you on
stage and even before you ask the audience for
applause , you say to them , "Who caught the ball of
paper? Hi, your name is? Hi, I'm Colin. Do you have a
number in mind? Good , in a moment I will be asking you
what number you 're thinking of, but for now, please give
them a massive round of applause as they make their
way to the stage!"
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Epipfwuies
I his is wonderful as you 're overtly telling them that you
wi ll be asking them what their number is ; you just don 't
lell them when you 'll be asking. So now when you
requ est the information from them on the way to the
stage , there will be zero resistance . They know they're
supposed to tell you what number they're thinking of.
Obviously the audience will have no idea whatsoever
Ihat this has taken place, but later when you ask them
to tell everyone the number they're thinking of, everyone
else will assume that moment is the time when you
previously meant you'd be requesting the information.
We'll get to that in a few moments so don 't worry about
It right now.
Just to be clear, the situation as it stands is that you
know the randomly chosen spectator 's number. They
know that you know it, but the audience at large have
no idea that you know it - only that you'll be asking for it
sometime soon . The important thing is that you retain
this number for now.
I now give them the photograph with the grid and
explain , "Obviously it's going to be quite difficult to see
this towards the back of the room , so when I say go, I
want you to start reading those numbers out, one at a
ti me, from this first square, all the way along the first
row, then the second row, third and finally the forth . I'll
be writing those numbers much bigger on here. Ready?
Go!"
I now openly write the first number (the number '2') onto
my grid as they say it. Then I say, "Next," and I turn the
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pad toward myself, as we 're now about to do the first of
four bits of dirtiness.

You remember that number you learned using The

X I z ":l-
Dunninger Ploy? (I really hope you do , because
otherwise, at this point, you 're dead!) You are going to
I J S I X+l
subtract 21 from their number and write it in the second
square. S 10 . _4-
As a quick side note , those dots I mentioned earlier that
are in the photo - those are the dots that you also put
onto your pad. These will then cue you as to where you
, :; ~ ,q
are required to write your 'false numbers.' So make sure Continue doing this with the numbers in the third row,
that in your pre-performance set up, when you draw the this time adding 1 to the Y number when you reach the
grid , you also include these dots in order to make your third box in row three. We'll call this new number our 'Z
performance that bit easier. number '.

Now that you 've subtracted 21 from their thought of

number and written it in the second square , the most
difficult work is over! You can now almost completely
relax. Let's refer to this number as the 'X number ' from
now on. Continue writing in '12' then '7' for the top row,
2'x 1'2. 1-
then move down to the second row.
II B I . Y
Continue to write in '11 ', '8' and '1', but now when you
get to the forth and final number of row two , instead of S 10 Yio/ =2 4-
writing in the number they've said from the photograph ,
add 1 to the 'X number' and write that in its place. We'll
call this X + 1 number the 'Y number '. • 3 b '1
Finally, the convincer. For the forth and final row, you
need to add 1 to the Z number and it gets written in to
26 27
 Epiphnllies
the grid. But notice it gets written in first on this row. This
means that once you 've written in the final number
required for the dirty work, you still have three legitimate
numbers to go : the '3', the '6' and the '9'
11
II s I
s 10 Z.
Once I've written in the number in the bottom left corner,
the dirty work is over. So , after the spectator says '3'
and I've written it in , I then turn the pad back around as I
write in '6'. Meaning that by the time they say the last
digit and I openly write in the '9', it appears that I must
have written in all the other numbers they've read off
too .
28
Epiphnnies
So you now have a perfectly completed magic square
wi th a number that's never been written down and that
Ihe audience has not heard being called out yet. You're
so far ahead of the game at the moment.
10 sell the idea that both grids both definitely match ,
now turn the pad towards the onstage spectator and
ask, "Is that right?" As I'm asking this, I'm actuall y
pointing at the square in the top right corner, the '7'.
Naturally, the audience assumes that I mean 'is the
whole grid right? Do they match?' However, the person
on stage perceives this differently. They assume I'm
checking this one square against the same square in
the photo. They will of course state that it is correct,
referring to that one square while everyone else
assumes that they mean the entire thing. Either way it's
a subtle convincer for any sceptical members of the
audience that it must have been legitimately filled in if
you're happy to confidently have it verified.
Take the photo back and put it in your pocket.
Now ask the on stage participant to , "tell everyone for
the first time what number were you thinking of. " Notice
we're not asking them to tell 'us' the number, we 're
saying , 'tell everyone ,' suggesting we mean 'everyone
else.' Why everyone else? Wel l, because we have
already asked them . Now it's a case of sharing that
information with everyone else.
As I'm asking them , I stand slightly upstage of them and
point to one of the numbers on the grid. When they
announce their number, I look quickly at the pad and at
29
 Epiplwllies
them. To the audience they think I am thrown that the
number I pointed at wasn 't their number. But I
immediately turn the pad to the on stage participant and
say, "But that number isn 't even on here . Umrn, right,
sorry about that. Wait a minute actually .. ."
The participant remains on stage with me as I begin the
revelation sequence. In all honesty, I'm just as proud of
the revelations sequence as I am the method behind
this approach to the magic square.
When I'm performing this in a banquet room , I go by
table number. If I'm in a theatre , I go by row. If the room
I'm in doesn 't have allocated seating , I just point at
columns of the audience , starting with the extreme left
and I slowly work my hand to the right or the room,
assigning a different area of the grid to those different
areas of the room .
For the sake of explanation , let's imagine it's the
banquet room scenario . Having just asked the audience
to , "wait a minute ," I continue by saying ..
"This is quite weird actually. Table one , can you quickl y
add up row one for me please. Table two, wi ll you add
up row two . Table three you guys are on row three and
table four, you 're on row four. But table five, it's a little bit
different with you . I want you to add up this col umn
here. Table six, you 're on this column. Tables seven and
eight, these two are for you. But table nine, you 're on
this diagonal. Table ten , you 're on this other diagonal.
Tables eleven and twelve, you 're on the middle four
numbers and the numbers on the corners , and
30
Epiplulllies
"veryone else I want you to add up any of these two by
Iwo squares ... "
I ly this time, everyone in the room is talking and people
," e more totally stunned as they come to realise where
you are going . So you want to ensure your inclusion of
'lVeryone adding up gets faster and faster too. This also
lI1akes it become more amazing and funnier as you go.
It also means you avoid that awkward stumbling as you
Il y to add it up yourself in front of everyone. Quite
Simply, give them some work to dOl
l3y the time you 've finished assigning the different
combinations to areas of the room , you can now go
back to table one to ask them what the total was. This
will have been enough time for them to check and
double check their working . They will of course shout
out the correct total. I then ask table two and they also
confirm the correct total. By table three or four, the
audience likes to keep you on your toes and someone
wi ll more often than not shout a number that isn 't the
total , just to try and play with you .
Be aware that th is can and will happen. Do not let it
throw you. Instead , on the back page of your pad , write
the following in clear, bold lettering.
"LIARS!!!
THE REAL
TOTAL
PLEASE "
31
 Epipllflllies
Do no reveal this right away. Let them have their
moment to have the audience laugh. If you step on this
too quickly, you seem like a jackass for ki lling their fun
or it will be missed because they'll be laughing. But
allowing them to laugh , essentially at your expense,
causes the audience to have that moment where they
half feel sorry for you and half curious to see how you 'll
react to the situation .
So when you take time to pause and look a little
shocked, then flip the pad over and reveal what you
have written there , it's almost the most powerful
moment in the routine . Not only are these numbers al l
adding up , but you 've also overcome a heckler from the
audience by essentially using real people reading skills
to demonstrate advance awareness of the situation.
I cannot recommend enough that you keep that
message in there just in case you need it. And you wi ll
absolutely need it. Trust me.
After I have had the fifth and sixth table shout out their
totaled number, I then say, "In fact, everyone else, shout
out, what number you got. "
Everyone joins together and shouts their total and they
all equal the randomly named number.
It's a wonderful moment that unites every single person
in the audience. I tear off the page with the drawn grid ,
give it to the participant and send him back to his seat
while everyone is applauding.
32
Ep iphanies
I II lal Thoughts
II li S opener has served me well. I feel it's a unique
IIpproach to both performing and handling the magic
·.quare. At no point is the required number written down
III lorced and there is still just as strong of an effect fo r
Ille on stage participant as they believe, more than
IInyone, that those are the exact numbers from the
pllotograph.
I urthermore , this presentation is designed to engage
uveryon e in the room. It stops anyone from running
IIhead and adding it up before you get to their number
,)s you 're actively encouraging people to add up certain
" reas. It means they're not only engaged , but they're
kept focused. They've been given a task that requires
mental thought and it conditions them to provide their
undivided attention for the rest of the show.
Finally, you wil l notice that my photo has four completely
diffe rent numbers. '53', '74', '41 ', and '62'. These are
lust generic numbers . They are never actually written in
to the final grid , however, as the odds of the X, Y and Z
numbers being in either the forties , fifties, sixties or
seventies is quite high given that you 've encouraged
them to add ten to their number, before you secretly
subtract twenty one . At least then , later, seeing the
relevant range of numbers wi ll sound familiar. It's not a
worry though as the single digit convincers are laced
throughout.
33
 Epipllflllies
Furthermore, no one will be able to remember more
than one or two of the numbers. Beyond that, they will
naturally get confused and doubt themselves.
However, if you really wanted to play this completely
safe, each time you say, "next" you could request that
they even say the two digit numbers as single digits too.
So where there is a '37,' instead of saying 'thirty-seven',
they would say '3', '7'. To be honest, I thought I would
need this early on , as a comforter, but I realised very
quickly that it just wasn't necessary in the real world.
But by all means use it until you 're comple tely
com fortable with the technique.
34
Epipllllllics
Prophecy
I he Effect
While you're warming up in the beginning of your show,
you explain that later you'll be attempting to pick up on
IIle exact names and thoughts belonging to specific
people in the room . But before you can do that, you
Ileed to become attuned to the audience at hand .
You invite someone completely at random to join you on
stage and they are asked to take part in a profiling
exercise .
You explain that when you ask people to think of
someone famous it's always the same names that come
up: Taylor Swift ... Justin Beiber ... Eric Dittelman.
So the only way to make it random for them , but still
im possible for you to know even roughly who it might
be, is for them to make a series of decisions about the
profile of the individual.
You explain that each round will help them decide a
different characteristic about the person.
They are given a coin to hide in one of their two hands
behind their back. Round one is for the gender. You
explain that if the coin is in their right hand , they are to
th ink of a man and if it's in their left hand they are to
think of a woman but not yet, because they need
more information before they settle on a specific
celebrity.
35
 Epipllflllies
The second round is to determine what this person is
famous for. So again the coin is hidden and the hands
brought out. You explain that if the coin is in the right
hand , the person must be an actor and if in the left hand
a singer.
For the final round , the coin is once again hidden and
when the hands are brought out, you again label the
hands. If the coin is in the right hand , they are to think of
someone al ive and if the coin is in their left hand,
someone who is dead.
Based on the three criteria they have secretly decided
for themselves, they are now to think of someone who
meets it.
Once they are satisfied they have someone in mind you
explain that this could still potentially be any gender
person, who is famous for anything and who is either
still living or has passed away. There is no way for you
to know that profile , thus no way to have any clue as to
who this person might be.
You ask them to help you by simply focusing on the
surname of this individual. Without anything being
written down, you begin spelling the surname of the
person being thought of with perfect accuracy.
36
Ep iphallies
rhe Requirements
For this you will need a piece of electronic equipment,
but it's one that I believe most of you will already have,
or at least own a version of this. I personally use Hugo
Shelley's 'Sixth Sense 2.5'.
Other devices which wi ll work perfectly with thi s are:
Craig Filicetti's - Promystic:
Multidimensional Cube
Real Die
Proximity 1 or 2
Finders Keypers
... etc.
Labco:
UFO 1,2,3 or 4.
Essentially, any electronic device which wi ll allow you to
detect which hand is secretly containing an object,
whether you 're looking at the spectator or not, will do.
Don't worry if you do not have any electronics which will
allow you to achieve this , later in these notes I will be
explaining my most up to date handling for a routine
called 'Serial Prevaricator.' That piece will teach you
exactly how to perform a 'Coin in Hand-esque ' piece
while you are at the opposite side of the room to your
spectator. More on this later.
For now, I will assume that you have a device which
cues you as to which hand secretly contains the object.
37
 Epiplwllics Epipllfwics

The other thing which you will need to memorise is my I remove the magnetic coin from my pocket and hand it
progressive anagram for establishing which dead , male , II) them. Both my hands go into my pockets at the same
singer, will be thought of. Irrne and as I remove the coin from my pocket with my
Ir>ft hand. My right hand removes the 'Sixth Sense' unit.
How do I know it'll be a dead , male, singer? Because
I'm going to make them think of it ... without them
realising I'm making them think of it of course.

As you 're about to realise, under the guise of apparently

making things fair, random and ultimately more
impossible for yourself, you're actually controlling them
to do exactly what you want them to do in order to make
your life as easy as possible.

Let's begin . I he right hand retains the device in what I can only
describe as being the worlds safest finger palm. I mean
I basically wrap my fingers right around that little critter.
The presentation I here is no chance of flashing that unless someone
plans on climbing inside that rather clenched grip.
"I need to start with something simple to help me warm
up. Let's go with a celebrity. Would you mind helping
me?"

You can pick anyone here, at random or from near the

front. I tend to use someone who looks compliant,
attentive and (most importantly, for some of the late
night venues I play) sober.

"I want you to think of a random celebrity, but I don 't

want it to be a common celebrity who just happens to be
quite current , so you 're going to randomly choose the
profile of this celebrity using this ... "

38 39
 Epiphanies
Now with the index finger extended for pointing , it
makes sense to hold the hand in this position , as you're
about to label the back of the spectator 's two hands.
The other plus point is that you can now use your Sixth
Sense unique (or retained Proximity receiver) without
any unnecessary jewellery, or with a shorter sleeved
top . Ironically, I sti ll perform th is with long sleeves and
wi th unnecessary jewellery, what can I say? I'm clearly a
maverick.
You hand the coin to them and ask them to hide it in one
of their two closed fists behind their back. You'll also find
that acting this out and keeping your hands in fists is the
perfect actions to continue hiding the receiver without it
becoming unnatural. No one likes a mind reader
stand ing with an index finger extended for just a little too
long . It becomes quite unsettling.
40
Epiphallies
I w,lI also take this time to point out that I find it
Ii" IOdibly easy to turn on the device while it's held in the
1111 1" hand. This means I don 't have to have it turned on
'''''" before the show. I also turn it off immediately after
I "' clone wi th it in the performance . With some practice,
v",,'11 very quickly become familiar with the orientation
V"" need to hold the device in order to ensure that it's
'" ,Io ff feature is easily accessi ble by your thumbnail.
Now you're ready to get to work. I tap the back of the
light hand and if I get a vibration I know that is the hand
I wi ll be labelling wi th the word male. If I don 't get a
vibration, I'll be honest and tell you I'm too much of a
wi mp to ensure it's the empty hand. I always move
immediately to the left and tap it before labelling any.
As much as I trust Hugo and his creations implicitl y(!) , I
don't trust myself to always have refreshed batteries
enough.
41
 Epiphallies
So if I need to tap both hands first I don't make a big
deal of it. I wouldn 't say I quite tap the hand either until I
get the vibration. I more just hover my extended index
finger near it as if I'm still deciding. If I get the buzz at
the right hand I tap it. If I don 't I swiftly move on to the
left, get the cue and tap it first.
"If the coin is in this hand , the person you're going to
think of in a moment wi ll be male. If the coin is in this
hand you 'll think of a female. Don 't say which it is and
don 't even think of anyone yet, because you still have to
decide on two more details about them .
Remember whether they are male or female ..
I tap both hands again to remind them to remember
which gender they are.
"Put your hands behind your back again and either
leave the coin where it is or switch it to the other hand ,
just make sure we don 't know.
42
Epiplwl/ies
I lone? Good. Then bring your hands back out in two
II',IS and this time we'l l decide what this person is
IIII1l0US for. If the coin is in this hand , the person you are
'I oll1 g to think of will be a singer and if it 's in this hand ,
Illoy'li be an actor.
'I\gain, for now, just remember that word and again put
Ille coin behind your back and mix it around one final
lime.
" I his final time, if the coin is in this hand , the person
you're thinking of should be someone who is dead and if
II'S in this hand , make it someone who is alive.
'Now put your hands behind your back again so the
coin is still hidden . Switch it about a few times and hand
II back to me with your right hand."
I laving them mix it about a few times and then hand it
IJack to you with their right hand ensures no one think's
Ihat it's telling you anything .
As they are mixing the coin around a few times before
handing it back , I am switching off the receiver and
dropping it back into my right trouser pocket.
They hand me back the coin and I put it back in my left
pocket, set and ready to almost be accidentally spent
another day.
"So now you 've randomly decided on a gender, a
reason they're famous and if they're alive or dead. Don't
43
 EpipllaJlies
give me any clues on which of those cri teria they are,
but can you think of someone who fits those criteria
now?"
By all means, force the categories male, singer and
dead on the participant any way you like . ' use any
electronic device , or a stack of options which have been
written out (really there are only eight options) , or the
impromptu method you'll learn in 'Prev" a little later on.
Now we are playing the odds . We are assuming they
are going to be thinking of one of the more popular dead
male singers. Before we go any further, to build your
confidence with this (and if you haven 't done so already)
think of as many male, dead , singers as you can.
Now let's have a look and see if how many from my list
you got?
Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, Johnny Cash, Frank
Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Kurt
Cobain and Michael Jackson.
If there were any you think are appropriate to add in
because of where you live in the world , or because
you 've tried it a few times and another name comes up,
by all means, insert it into the anagram.
For example, other names which have come up a
handful of times are Tupac, Notorious B.I.G and Sid
Vicious. Now, I don 't have anything personal against
them or any real opinions on the quality of their work or
their contributions to the wo rld of auditory
44
Epipllflll ies
oJntertainment. Nor am I massively aware of the impact
Ihey had on their perspective genres. But I just don't
Icel the need to include them in my progressive
.1Ilagram.
Yes. I said it. Progressive anagram.
!lut before you write it off, consider this ... In everyone's
mind , they could be thinking of anyone. ANYONE. They
don't know that you've forced the criteria. They think it
was done at random to make it even harder on you. So
you now have the luxury of using a progressive
anagram on a limited field of options where no one is
aware that the field of options has been limited. What a
wonderfully fair and unfathomable position to be in.
Let me now share with you my hopefully direct, if not a
little morbid , progressive anagram .
Every time you receive a positive answer to one your
statements, you will move downwards to the next box
with writing in it.
If you sense you 're about to recei ve a negative
response (notice I don 't say, 'when you receive a
negative response') , immediately begin to correct
yourself by moving one box to the right and immediately
say what is written there.
I've taken time to work on , try out and refine each
section of this. Certain ploys are in play in certain places
for specific reasons. Before changing it too much,
please at least try using it the way it's been written.
45
 £piplulIlies Epipltnllies

Believe me, I've already written off a number of other Male Dead
superfluous lines in it. My aim was to make it as direct Ringer
as possible. So right away I No! Sorryl It's not an N It's a 'Y ' Really? I'm
(./111 tell there
is The last letter is a 'Y ' definitely getting
nr1 'N' in this an 'N' and a '1. '
I know I've laboured the point here. That is on purpose. j:)Crson's Oh wait! That's
But make sure you reinforce for your audience how l urname, their first name,
Their lirst name
impossible this demonstration is. has an 'N' in it
and it ends in a
'Y,' correct?
"This person could be a man or a woman. A singer or an Focus on the first
actor. Alive or dead. All I want you to do is focus on their letter of their last
name please,
last name for me please. Imagine spelling it letter by That's a 'C' right?
letter in your mind . And when you get to the end of it, go You're thinking of
Jo hnny Cash
back to the start and spell it again . Please continue
doing this and I'll what I can pick up on from you." There is also an "R' and an 'E' side .. , Sorry! It's 'A'
by side correct? And that's the then 'E' in their
order of them, 'R' then 'E', first name right?
You're now in a position to begin working your way Focus on the first
leiter of their
through the progressive anagram. surname, that's
an 'M' isn't it?
You're thinking of
freddie Mercyry,

You're thinking of ElVis Presley,

There is also an No! Sorry it's not an '0 ' it's an 'R', ,', no, it's the third
'0.' there is an 'R' towards the end of last letter,
their name. And now count the correct? Focus on
number of letters in their last name, the first letter of
That's seven letters, correct. The their surname.
'R' isn't the second last letter is it? That's an 'H' isn't
it? You're thinking
of Jjmj Hendrjx .

... yes, I thought so, Focus on the

firstleller of their surname please,
That's an'S '? You 're thinking of
frank Sinatra ,

46 47
 Epipllallies
And that's not a No. I didn 't think so, it's the 'N'
'C' is it? again . It's the last letter, isn't it?
There are also a few of the same
leiters in the name, isn't there? [If
they say, · Yes· immediately, you
know it's the repetition of the letter
'N. ' If they hesitate and then say
yes, they've just realised there is
repetition with the letter 'R' so you
now know the name . But you can
double check by asking .. .] can you
count the number of leiters in the
last name for me. ]I! they say, · Yes·
quickly, they counted six letters. I!
they hesitate then respond , it's
eight leiters. Again , you can confirm
by saying.] This is a medium sized
name, like six letters, correct?
[always state the number that you
believe they've just counted in their
mind].
... yes, good . Focus on the first
letter of the surname . That's an 'L,'
correct? You 're thinking of J2hn
.!..e.nno.n.
And then a 'K.' No that's not a 'K, ' it's a 'B,' the
middle leiter is a 'B. ' But you did
think 'K .' Ohl You just thought,
"That's the first letter of their first
name." Didn 't you? Think of the first
letter of their last name. That's a
'C .' You're thinking of Kyrt Cobajn .
Think of the first
letter of their
surname. That's
an 'M,' isn 't it?
You're thinking of
Michael.Jackson.
48
EpiplulIlies
. No, it's a little 1'111 a huge fan of Doug Dyment's approach to
longer, it's eight
Eight leiters. I'lOg ressive anagrams (which we'll look at more later,
Focus on the first 1111\ I'm going to mention it for the first time now. His
leiter of the
surname name. Ilook 'Sign Language .' It is quite stunning and really
That's an 'M.' Ilioks at how someone who is intuitive would present
You're thinking of
Jjm Morrison "IVealing someone's thought of star sign). Doug was the
Ili st one to get me on the line of thinking that when you
Ill e revealing any piece of information using this
lechnique, if you at any point receive a negative
losponse, you shou ld immediately find a way of
lallowing it up with two positive statements or facts
IIbout the piece of information being thought of. This
lea lly helps hide the fact you made an error.
fi nd like I said already, if you sense the participant is
" bout to respond negatively to a statement you've
made, immediately stop them and correct yourself first.
More often than not, this wi ll further help disguise the
lact that you ever said the incorrect statement.
Write the full name of the celebrity being thought of on
your pad and request..
"Into the microphone , please tell everyone the full name
of the celebri ty you are thinking of."
Reveal what you've written.
When you're starting out on this and bui ld ing up
confidence with it, perhaps begin by reveal ing the
thoug ht of person verbally. This wil l mean that when you
say who you think it is and it isn't right, you can
49
 Epiphallies
Epiphallies
immediately move into your favourite peek technique
Use The Force
and reveal the celebrity through those means.
I release a manuscript ten years ago by the name of
Luckily for you, I'll be teaching my favourite approach to 'I orce Be With You. '
peeking very, very soon.
In that routine, I revealed how I perform a real time
method for PK Touches. Quite literally, the spectator has
Final Thoughts
111e ability to count out loud with each tap they feel on
111e back of their hand even though the rest of the
This routine has served me well with its curren t
,1udience sees that you never touch them .
approach. But with Hugo's device you could easily have
the piece of information be decided on a literal coi n
I hat was a limited release manuscript, so I'm not at
toss.
liberty to reveal the full workings for close up or the
closing sequence I use.
After you get the read of which orientation the coin is,
continue by stating "if the coin is on heads, think of a
Ilowever, as I feel I have modified the body of the
man , if it's tails , think of a woman ."
loutine, I would like to share that new work with you
11ere.
Obviously continue in is this manner until you 've
labelled three coin tosses.
If you have the original manuscript, this piece will slot
light into the middle portion and you will immediately
This is probably the more common way for people to
realise how a few simple tweaks make that middle
make a random choice. I simply find holding it in one of
section more fooling and more relevant for the
two fists makes it easier and clearer for people to concluding phase.
understand.
For those of you who are not privy to that information ,
please Simply consider this to be an enjoyable lead into
performing Banachek 's wonderful creation 'Psycho
Kinetic Touches.'

50
51
 Epipllflllies
The Effect
After your procedure of choice to bring a spectator on
stage , you stand them side on to the audience and
explain that you are going to attempt to create an
invisible connection between them and a specific
random audience member involving some touches that
won't be seen.
You ask them to extend their right arm to act as the
antenna and a focal point for the rest of the audience
during the process. You now ask them to close their
eyes.
"I want you to become aware of any taps you feel on the
back of your hand here and remember the number.
Really try to feel each tap and send that sensation out
to everyone here.
"I want you [indicating to the rest of the audience] to
really try to imagine what he's feeling too as if it's
happening to you and we'll try to find a perfect match .
"Eyes closed? Yes! And obviously you know it's
impossible to see what's going on here. "
You will now mime tapping the onstage participant on
the back of the hand three times.
"Please keep your eyes closed and without moving a
muscle , please tell everyone how many taps you just
felt on the back of your hand? Three? Good .
52
Epiphallies
WI,O in the audience could almost imagine that
''' Jllsation on the back of their hand three times too?
(:Ilod t Then let's continue .
' lills time count out loud with each tap that you feel.
Alldience, if you get any sensation on the back of your
Itnnd as he is speaking , that counts as a connection."
You now mime tapping them once and immediately they
',il Y "One. " Then two taps in quick succession and again
lie immediately says "Two. Three." I then like to wait a
lew seconds and then mime tapping again to which they
wi ll immediately say, "Four."
.. rhis is going pretty perfectly and I really get a good
sense this next part will work well with you. Hold your
Iland out like this too please."
I indicate toward the positioning of the onstage
participant.
"Whenever you feel ready, I want you to tap your hand
three times for everyone to see . I would like you [insert
the onstage participant's name here] to count out loud
with each tap you feel exactly as you 've been doing
already. I'm not even going to look!"
I now completely turn away from the on stage
participant and yet they count perfectly in time with the
taps being acted out in the audience.
"Did he get it perfect? YESt Then I think you guys have
got a perfect connection. Would you join us up on stage
53
 Epiphol/ies
and we 'll attempt to take this a little further? Give her a
round of applause as she makes her way up to the
stage!"
Continue performing Banachek's 'Psycho Kinetic Touch'
sequence.
The Requirements
Nothing. Like, literally. Nothing. Nothing at all.
The performance
This routine was one of the first I developed around the
same time as my routine 'The Bookless Test. '
As a side note, it's funny how many people insist on
calling it 'The Bookless Book Test. ' It has never been
called that. I think that's actually a John Riggs routine
title? It's the same way that some people call me Colin
MacCKLEE-OWEd. Interesting how things change!
Anyway, you say potato , I say potato (you probably just
said them both the same way).
While I've shared the progression of 'The Bookless' Test
openly over the last few years and will be closing these
notes with the latest incarnation of that specific piece, I
have kept the development of 'Force Be With You ' fairly
under-wraps. There are a number of reasons for this.
The main one being that I've focused more on the
54
Epipllollies
" "velopment of my handling of the Banachek portion of
1110 routine.
I Ildve been told by mutual friends of mine and Michael
Wilber that a number of ploys, subtitles and additions
11,,, 1 I've come up with are already being implemented
Ily him. So for that very reason , I will never share them ,
II', they aren 't mine to share.
Il le part of the sequence I can share are my updates on
IIle middle portion - the 'real time touch' portion of the
loutine.
When you understand the 'handling ' part of the routine ,
IIluch of the above language wil l make complete sense
,,"d you 'll understand the double script nature of the
plOcess
10 begin, you will require the assistance of an on stage
participant. I recommend a gentleman as their body
shape tends to be slightly bigger and therefor helps to
lurther disguise the method.
You will want to position them as follows:
 Epipltflilies
Notice that from the front you cannot see their left hand.
There is a very good reason for this. That's because
their left hand will be getting tapped, not the extended
right hand .
This is of course, in a nutshell, is the entire method. You
could probably reread the above script and everything
else would now click into place. However, allow me to
elaborate on the exact thinking , timing and continued
blocking to allow you to achieve the maximum effect
from this set up.
Looking at the steps already mentioned , I begin by
positioning them with their right arm extended . As you'l l
see, I explain to them that this is to act as an antenna
56
£p ipJulIlies
,,, ,,1a focal point for the rest of the audience, so there is
II iustified reason for them to be standing in this way.
I IIOW ask them "to become aware of any taps you feel
I the back of your hand here and remember the
I II
lIumber. Really try to feel each tap and send that
r,lIllsation out to everyone here. "
As I am saying these words, I am touching the back of
IIleir hidden left hand so that they know exactly which
IIl ea I'm referring to .
I olso explain that their job is to try to send out what they
,li e feeling to everyone else and everyone else is to
IllIag ine feeling it too .
Ill is is one of the major improvements on the original
concept. I am really driving home the fact that the on-
·;tage participant is really trying to send these feelings
out to the rest of the audience .
I lle rest of the audience , of course, has two things
aoi ng on . First, they are amazed that the person on
stage is sensing these taps when you are not actually
louching the person.
Secondly, I am truly stressing that I wan t them all to
Imagine feeling these taps as well because I am looking
for someone who he is comparable with .
I now deliver the line, "Eyes closed? Yes! It's impossible
to see what's going on here. "
57
 EpiphaIJies
Again , this sentence has a double meaning. First, to the
audience it means that his eyes are closed, so it's
impossible for him to see what I'm doing to him.
To the on-stage participant , it is two separate
statements. To them, I am checking that their eyes are
actually closed . Then I say, "yes," because by now, they
will be closed. Secondly, I again touch the back of their
left hand as I say, "It's impossible to see what's going on
here." Which to them means, because it's hidden from
the rest of the audience , there is no way for them to see
what I'm doing.
Just to recap , the reason their arm is extended , from
their perspective , is to apparently give everyone else in
the audience a focal point to help them concentrate .
As I now mime tapping them three times , I also actually
tap the back of their left hand three times.
I continue by saying , "Please keep your eyes closed
and without moving a muscle , please tell everyone how
many taps you just felt on the back of your hand?
Three? Good ."
This command is important. I don 't want them to open
their eyes, as it would break the effect. I don 't want them
to move a muscle and point to where they felt the taps.
And when I ask the question , "what did you just feel?"
that wording is too open and would allow them to say, "I
felt three taps on the back of my LEFT hand." So by
saying , "please tell everyone how many taps you just
felt on the back of your hand ," I've already seemingly
58
EpipluJ/lies
,,"pplied the information for the exact location. All they
1,lIve to do now is fill in the blank piece of information -
II It' number of taps they felt.
II1Is lesson was learned the hard way over numerous
I"" fo rmances, so this other new refinement ensures
Illat the dual reality which is occurring , is maintained.
I now ask, "Who in the audience could almost imagine
Illat sensation on the back of their hand three times
too?"
lIelieve it or not, more people than you may initial ly
think are happy to admit that they imagined feeling the
taps. The wording of this is obviously the key. I'm not
asking , "Who ACTUALLY felt the taps?" I'm specifically
asking , "Who IMAGINED feeling the taps ?" This is a
very different concept and is more general in its actual
meaning. I look for reactions from people and point
them out ; whether it 's the raise of a hand , a smile, a nod
- it doesn't matter - I will call attention to it.
I always note someone , ideally a woman , who has
admitted to being able to imagine feeling the touches at
this point.
Continuing with the effect, I now say, "This time count
out loud with each tap that you feel. Audience , if you get
any sensation on the back of your hand as he is
speaking , that counts as a connection ."
Again , I want to maintain the illusion for the on-stage
spectator that this ful l demonstration is for the benefit of
59
 £pipllfl/lies
the people in the audience. So , I continue making the
pOint that I want everyone else in the room to be trying
to genuinely feel these sensations.
My mimed taps above their right hand are perfectl y
timed with the physical taps of their left hand . I find four
to be the perfect amount to make the point. The initial
one is quite stunning . Then doing two in quick
succession offers an unexpected and quick moment.
Then, I like to pause for a few seconds before delivering
the fourth . But by all means, play with the timing and
number of taps until you find the right amount that suits
your style.
I now ask one of the audience members who indicated
they imagined the original taps to stand as I say, "This is
going pretty perfectly and I really get a good sense this
next part will work well with you . Hold your hand out like
this too please.
"Whenever you feel ready, I want you to tap your hand
three times for everyone to see. I would like you [insert
the onstage participant's name here] to count out loud
with each tap you feel exactly as you 've been doing
already. I'm not even going to look!"
The line, "I'm not even going to look." Is yet another
phrase wi th an important double meaning. For the
participant on stage, they believe you mean that you 're
not even going to look at when the person in the
audience is tapping their hand . For the audience at
large, they think that you mean you 're not even going to
look at the person on stage.
60
Epiplw /li es
I completely turn my head away, but allow it to
111anoeuvre back around so that I can watch the
dudience member clearly tap their hand . I am again
",mply tapping the back of the hidden right hand ,
matching the sequence everyone else is watching .
You may be wondering how I still justify standing so
close to the on stage participant here. In all honesty,
depending on the audience, I do move around the stage
slig htly throughout the routine. However, since I'm trying
to enforce the mindset of focus and concentration , I'm
trying to convey the sense of, 'no one move a muscle or
It will disrupt the connection we're trying to create. ' So
tlY standing beside them , it feels like I'm just trying to
not hinder the proceedings. Furthermore, when I look
away from the onstage participant, I turn my body away
as well and even though my right hand is still beside
their hidden left hand , it feels like I'm further away from
them than I actually am .
I also limit the number of taps to three. I find that if I
don't limit the number, they want to just keep going . It
makes each tap feel more special and everyone else in
the room can appreciate it more as they know when it's
going to be over.
I end by saying , "Did he get it perfect? YES! Then I think
you guys have got a perfect connection . Would you join
us up on stage and we 'll attempt to take this a little
fu rther? Give her a round of applause as she makes her
way up to the stage!"
61
 EpiphaJlies
I ask everyone if he got it perfect for his benefit. I want
him to feel like I wasn 't looking at her tapping , so I
couldn 't be quite sure if he did get it spot on or not.
What also helps to sell this illusion is that while the
woman is making her way to the stage and everyone is
applauding , under the cover of the noise they are
creating , I say to the spectator, "Open up your eyes. I
wasn't even looking at her there! So you helped me nail
it!"
This obviously helps sell the effect to them that it really
was entirely about the audience trying to pick up on
what he was secretly feeling and then turning the tables
so that that he was able to feel what the spectator in the
audience was wanting him to feel.
For those who have the original manuscript, you will
immediatel y see where this tightens up the original
routine. I purposefully haven 't mentioned any of my
performance script or any of the other moments you can
utilise within the routine.
For those who don't have that manuscript, please
appreciate that I want to respect the complete limited
released routine. However, given that this portion has
had substantial work done to it, it feels more alive and is
worth sharing.
If you don 't have the complete routine and even if you
do , allow me to make a few suggestions that will
perfectly compliment this routine.
62
Ep ipllfwies
I " st of all , you must own Banachek 's original
I""nuscript. It is just such a beauty to perform on its
IIW Il , but also because without it, this entire process
would n't have made much sense to anyone. It's the
","fect conclusion to this entire sequence.
A:, far as an opening this piece , I would recommend you
, Ileck out Jerome Finley's routine 'Energy Touch .'
lie has sent me a number of variations of it over the
years and while I love where he 's taken it, I am still a
huge fan of the original four-stage routine. I've added it
li S another phase when I perform the whole 'Force Be
Wi th You' routine , inserting it between my introductory
pllase and the real time touch phase that I've just
"x plained.
I inal Thoughts
I hope you will agree that the combination of all of these
moments wil l supply you with a sensational break from
Ihe abundance of cerebral moments in your act which
simply rely on revealing information. Presented properly,
this piece can be used as the perfect working
de monstration to explain the exact process of
transm itting a thought, or a feeling , from one person 's
mind into an other. With that attitude and approach , you
will find that this entire sequence will serve as one of the
most talked about and remembered pieces from your
show.
63
 Epipltallies
This sequence came about from watching people
perform lior Manor 's 'Invisible Touch .' At the time I had
been working on a method for using the same device
that he employs to allow me to do the touches in real
time, however I found the hook-up to be somewhat
unreliable ; thus the genesis of this piece. Around six
months from the time of writing this, Derren Brown
taught his routine 'lift' on his Penguin live lecture. Both
our routines are designed to achieve a different effect
and one could argue, that the method, thinking and dual
reality purposes are quite different, but I do still thi nk
that it's worth giving a nod to his piece and suggest that
you check out that interview for the full run down of how
he achieved his outcome, as wel l as getting to learn
more about the fascinating gentleman.
64
Epiphallies
Ille Effect
lifter my shows, people always come up to me and say,
well , what am I thinking right now?!" So to avoid that
lIaving to happen , because it is utterly awkward when
IIle person is thinking , "Does he know ... ?" I want each
III you to decide right now on a question , a specific
'Iuestion about yourself that I would have to know the
II llswer to in order to convince you that I could read your
IIlind. So make it something that you yourself know the
IInswer to. Don 't make it the sort of question you'd ask a
psychic about your future. I want you to think about a
question that 's ideally quite unusual and that not too
Inany people would know the answer to."
l our people are invited to the stage and are given a
pencil and piece of card which asks that they write their
question on it.
 Epip/lullies
They each fill in their card as you look away and when
they're finished , they're requested to say the word
"done."
When they're finished writing , you ask that they turn
their card face down and pass them all to the person on
the far left of the line and to pass the pencils to the
person on the far right. You gather the pencils and place
them back in your pocket.
The cards on the other hand are mixed and placed on
the table beside the furthest spectator. You make a point
of never touching them.
You request that the first card is handed to you.
"I want to show you the difference between reading
body language and reading minds. I'm going to read out
the question that's written on this card . Obviously, it
belongs to one of our four new friends, but here 's where
it get's interesting. I'm going to ask each of them , 'Is this
your question?' Each of them is going to say the word
'yes .' This obviously means that three of them wil l be
outright lying , while one of them is telling the truth.
"The liars are going to give themselves away with small
unconscious clues which I'll be able to point out for you .
"I'll be asking each of you if you wrote this. Whether you
did or you didn't, you must say the word 'yes. '"
You now work your way along the line, identifying key
tells on how you know each person is lying. The
66
Epipfwll ies
dud ience is, more often than not, in hysterics that the
1I1ree liars are giving themselves away so easily.
I inally, the owner of the question is correctly identified
and allowed to return to their seat.
'What you 've just seen is based on the idea of reading
body language. What we 're going to do now is use mind
leading.
"00 you all remember the game 'Pairs' that you used to
playas a child where you had to match up the correct
shapes but you were only allowed to turn over two at a
lime? That's essentially what I'll be doing here." I
bel ieve the game is sometimes referred to as 'Memory'
In the states .
I now read the second question from the second card
and ask each of the three remaining players to focus on
Ihe question in their mind.
After some impressive looks of deep concentration , you
correctly single out the next person as you state ...
"WOUld I be right in saying that your question is ... ?"
I now correctly tell the person what their question is and
send them back to their seat.
"Now that I'm getting warmed up, with you two [The last
two remaining participants) I would like you to focus on
your question and the answer to that question please ."
67
 Epiplwllies
I read the third card , laugh at what's been written and
again study both participants quite intently.
"Okay, because of what's been written here , I don't
imagine you'd want too many people knowing this, but if
I'm right, the question you have in mind is ... "
I now whisper into the penultimate person's ear what
question is on their mind and they confirm I'm correct.
I immediately continue by saying out loud ..
"So, if that's the question you had in mind , the answer to
that question must be ... "
Again, I now correctly whisper the exact answer to thei r
question in their ear and send them back to their seat.
"Obviously, it doesn 't take a mind reader to know who
that last card belongs to , so instead , we'll do this a little
differently. I've now had time to study both your body
language and begin my 'mind reading ' process with you.
"Now, as you are the final person , I would like you to
just focus on what your question is , don't give me any
clues.
"Would I be right in saying that your question is ... 7"
Again , at this point, you wi ll correctly state what the
spectator 's question is.
68
Epiphallies
"I thought so. Now focus on the exact answer to your
question please. I believe the answer to your question
IS., ,"
rhis being the conclusion of the demonstration, you
now accurately reveal the specific answer to their
question.
The Background
There is so much I could talk about wi th this routine to
get you up to speed , but I'll stick to the points that I think
you'll be most interested in and the ideas that will have
you out performing this quickly.
You'll see in a moment that the three main components
of this routine are specially printed billets that are
marked and two sleight of hand moves with those cards.
You'll also be pleased to know that when you have all of
that down, it will be a very easy routine to perform since
the moves are done on the offbeat and the billets do the
rest of the work for you.
I LOVE the idea of Q&A. I know that there are some
exceptional performers out there who do it justice. I
however am not one of them . Not yet, anyway.
At the moment, I just don't have the desire , experience
or con fiden ce to perform a sequence where I am telling
people about their future and the choices they should
make. Right now, I'm just not that guy. Find me again in
69
 Epiphallies
six months or ten years and that may have changed , but
for now, I'm going to leave it to the professionals who do
it justice, both entertainingly and delicately.
The sort of question and answer routine that I wanted to
do was one in which the audience got to think about a
specific question regarding themselves and I would not
only know what that question was, but what the exact
answer to it would be too.
This is a wonderful double bind as you 're actively telling
everyone to think about the question about themselves
that IF you knew the answer to it, they would be blown
away. So when you tell them what they are thinking ,
they 've already agreed to be blown away by thinking
about that impossible piece of information.
The fact that they choose the piece of information is
wonderful in itself. No longer are we asking people to
merely think of their first kiss, pets name or date of birth
(all of which are astonishing when presented well). But
we are now opening up the gates to allow every
performance of this routine to be quite unique.
The history of this routine really dates back to Theodore
Annemann 's 'Pseudo-Psychometry ' routine. In this
piece, Annemann was able to correctly identify the
owners of roughly twenty different samples of
handwriting with perfect accuracy.
AI Mann had a similar concept that involved drawing
routine 'Doodles ' that involved drawings. Then , Larry
Becker released 'Sneak Thief ' which allowed you to not
70
EpiplulIlies
" nly identify the owners of the drawings , but also
duplicate the final drawing with perfect accuracy.
I he real breakthrough on all of this, though , in my
opinion, was Max Maven's routine 'Desire' from his Blue
Ilook of Mentalism, which can now be found in his
collective work called , Prism.
In that routine , Max had people think about something
liley desired in life , or somewhere they'd love to live. He
was then able to reveal who had written wh ich desire,
ilnd able to reveal the last one with perfect accuracy.
Ileally it is that routine which sparked the handling for
Ihis. Let me begin by saying that Max 's routine is so to
IIle point, that you must check it out. You may find that
you simply prefer it.
What I've tried to do with my handling is make it appear
like I never handle the billets and that it's always
someone else who hands them to me. Essentially, I
wa nted as much distance between myself and those
bits of card as possible.
'=urthermore , as you 'll see, I also wanted it to feel like I
was able to reveal way more than was actually asked
for during the writing process. So in this case, not only
do you reveal the question that was written , you also
reveal the apparently unwritten answer to that question
100.
I will explain an alternate handling at the end of this
which doesn't require you to have specially printed
71
 Epiphnllies Epiplla l/;es

billets, however I will be explaining the routine from the Ihe bi llets should be designed and printed as follows:
perspective of you having had them made up.

The Requirements
Clearly prlnt tbe question
tbat you would like me to
:ns'lter, on t.be Hoes below:
All you need for this routine is four golf pencils and fou r
preprinted cards. I suggest business card size, but
whichever size card you're comfortable palming will be
just fine.

The only other thing that you may like to use is a pad
and marker pen for the final reveal of the question and
its answer. AND print the e:ract anawer
to the above question, io
detail , 00 the 1100s beloll' :
Personally, when I perform this piece, it depends on
how much other information will be written on the pad
during the show. I do find that if you can write something
down and show it to the audience, then have the on
stage participant verbalise it, it doesn 't always feel more
amazing to the audience. However, if you're constantly
writing things onto a pad already, know that it isn't
essential.

You'll notice now that when you hold the cards and
place your thumb across the middle , it perfectly covers
the portion which requests that they also write the
answer to their question.

You'l l also notice that the cards are marked with a black
sharpie dot near the writing to disguise the fact that it's

72 73
 Epip'"l11ies
there. People will either never notice it, or assume it's
part of the design/a printing error.
Clearly prin~ tae lueation
tbat you would like ;:;e to
answer. on tbe lines belo!:
Clea rly print the queati.on
tba t you would liK8 _~8 to
answer, on tbe 11~e8 t)8low;
Clearly priot the question
tba. t you would like me to
anslI'er. ~Il the lillea beloll':
Clearly print tha question
that you would liKs me to
:os"e.r, on the 110es tlelo'll':
ANn print the exact aoswer
to tbe above question, 1n
detAil, on tbe liaG. below:
I always mark the cards on the face. Why? Well each
person on stage only ever sees one of them , whereas
the spectator mixing them gets to see all four. By having
them on the face , there is never a chance for
comparison.
74
Epiphallies
I also have them marked to correspond with the order of
how the people will be standing in line, for ease later.
I he Performance
rhe above script explains my exact opening to this
loutine. Let's now imagine we're in the position where
all the cards have been mixed and have been placed on
Ihe table. All the pencils have been gathered and placed
away.
The only thing worth reinforcing for clarity is that when I
hand each person their card , I first of all ensure I give
each marked card to the correct corresponding person ,
but I also ask them to , "Fill in your card ." I do not say,
"Write your question. " I purposefully say, "fill it in"
because when they read it, that's exactly what they will
do. They will fill in the question and the answer.
However, the rest of the audience will assume they are
only writing the question. Since no one knows what
question they are writing , the amount of time they take
10 write is irrelevant. I also don 't rush them here. I allow
Ihem to take all the time they need to write al l of the
information so that I can ensure what I'm about to do
next is as impressive as possible.
You now have the first card passed to you. All you are
doing at this point is reading the marking on the card.
However the presentation allows for some play here.
When you have each person say the word "yes,"
chances are they wi ll react or respond in some minor
interesting way - even the person who it belongs to. I
75
 Epipl/anies
simply capitalise on this and state that it's a sign they're
lying.
Real audiences love playing along at this point and so
the theatrics of embell ishing these cues really adds to a
strong presentation. As each performance will be
completely different, I cannot tell you exactly what to
look for, but I would recommend you keep an eye out for
their feet moving, fingers twitching , eyebrows raising,
smiling as they answer ... whatever visual discrepancy
you observe. Have fun with it and use it to your
advantage.
Eventually you identify the correct owner of the question
(thank you marked billet!) and send them back to their
seat.
You must now keep that billet in your left hand . You are
now going to approach the table that has the remaind er
of the bi llets and you wi ll pick up a double. You are
going to take two billets as one, leaving only one on the
table , and will immediately place them on top of the first
billet you've just read aloud .
Depending on the rigidity of the table , you may need to
slide the whole stack to the edge and let one drop off
your thumb. If there is a table cover or mat on the
tabletop, you'll find it much easier to get the break and
lift automatically.
76
Epipha nies
rhere are two main points I can share with you that wi ll
make this much easier to execute . First of all, I
recommend that the table the billets are placed on is
lust slightl y behind the forth person in the line. This
ensures that they are slightly hidden and hopefully more
psychologically invisible. At the very least, for the
sceptics in the room , they feel more guarded and out of
yo ur control. It also means that you have more cover as
you execute the double lift and the move which happens
later.
Secondly, I always pick up the double while I reveal the
previous person , as they are returning to their seat. The
participant walking off stage is the perfect misdirection
for you to go over and execute whatever moves you
have to.
I now walk back to the front of the stage and explain
how I'm going to find who the second question belongs
to.
You're in a wonderful position here. You made such a
big deal about the cards being mixed , you not touching
them and having the first one handed to you at the
beginning of the rou tine, everyo ne will now remember
you dOing in the same for the remainder of the routine.
As I've already mentioned , that was my issue with other
variations of this routine. You were executing a move, or
peeking information at a time when a lot of heat was on
the cards. Now you do the dirty work after establishing
you don 't want to touch them and when no one is
looking at them anymore.
77
£piplulIIies £pipllflllies

I he situation we 're now in is that there is only one card

left on the table, although everyone else thinks there are
Iwo and you are holding three in your hand when
everyone thinks you 're only holding two.

I read and remember both the question and the marking

on the card as I explain the game 'Pairs ' and the
concept of matching things up correctly.

78 79
 Epiplwllies Epipltnllies

As I am looking over the line to apparently deduce who

the question belongs to , I revolve the card and balance
it against my left thumb.

When I state who I believe the question belongs to and

they confirm it was theirs, I palm the card into my rig ht
hand.

As I ask everyone else to give them a round of applause

as they make their way back to their seat, I drop this
billet back on the table as I slide the card which has
been on the table the full time, off with my finger tip s.

81
Epipllflllies
m
Epiphallies

Since everyone believed there was always two still

there, this is the perfect illusion of simply sliding the next
card off the pile . In reality, you've just returned the
question you 've just read.

You continue by taking this card, turning it face up like

the others and sitting it on the pile.

t he positioning of the cards is as such ...

rhe second revealed question is back on the table. In
your hands, from the face down, you have the third
question , which you'll be whispering in a moment. Then ,
In the middle, you have the secretly stolen card , which
you'll be revealing at the end . Finally, at the bottom , you
have the question which you revealed first.

.~ .

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 Epipliallies Epiplinllies

By this point in the routine, I want to start ramping up
the impressiveness of the reveals. Regardless of what
the question and answer I'm looking at is, I always
laugh , suggesting it's something unexpected or
inappropriate.
question in their ear and have them respond in the
affirmative.
I send them back to their seat and as I do, I pass their
billet from the top of my stack to the bottom.

I look over both participants and state, "I'm sensing this

belongs to you. Because of what it is, I don't think you'd
want too many people knowing , so I'll whisper it to you.
Would I be right in saying your question is ... ?"

I now whisper their question in their ear. Obviously,

knew whose question it was based on the marking , but I
don 't stop there. I immediately say, "Well if that was your
question, the answer must be ... "

I also whisper the answer, but there is a little dual reali ty

occurring here. To the onstage participant, it feels like I
am simply checking my work. I'm whispering it quickly
and without it seeming li ke I'm feigning any mind
reading process to access that information. I sceptically
say, "Well if that was your question , the answer must be
... " By saying "the answer must be", it makes perfect
sense to them that the answer must be that because
I've just read it off the card and they know I've read it.
But this wording hides to them the fact that I'm trying to
take credit for it.

HOWEVER, the audience doesn't know that the answer

is also written on the card. Whether I'm whispering it
quickly after revealing what their question is or not, they
are still stunned that I'm able to correctly answer the

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 Epiphallies EpiplJauies

You are now staring directly at the final question and

answer that you 're going to reveal. Everyone in the
loom, including the onstage participant , will now
assume that the final remaining , facedown card is
theirs. Remember, we've conditioned the audience to
think that you haven 't gone near the final card, nor did
you want to.

I make a point of saying that obviously the last card is

theirs so it would be pretty disappointing to just hand it
back to them. Instead, I will try to reveal what their
question is without looking at the card.

t move them to the front of the stage so that neither I

nor they are near the card . I want to ensure they cannot
lust reach over at the conclusion of this piece and grab
It.

Their entire body acts as the perfect cover to hold the

stack slightly behind them and read what's written there.

It's not essential to execute a pass here. You simply just

move it to the back. I prefer to make everything seem as
regimented as possible.

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 Epip/wllies Epip/IflJlies

You'll find that it won 't take too long to read and
remember what they've written. I then immediately put
the three cards out of the way in my jacket pocket.

You're now set and ready to being divulging the details

of the question and answer they want you to reveal.
Enjoy and savour that moment as you've been buildi ng
up to blow everyone away with that informatio n.
Regardless of how it compares to the other pieces
you've had to deal wi th, remember that the person
you're working with is going to react strongly when you
start to reveal it. Their reaction is what will dictate how
the rest of the aud ience feels about that moment, so
allow the onstage participant space to feel amazed and
share that with everyone else.

Final Thoughts

If you do feel like you want to 'clean up' the billets here,
as unnecessary and counterproductive as that would
be, simply reach into your pocket, remove all three
billets and slide them under the one which has been left
on the table (the one which you apparently revealed at
the end) and flip them all face up as one. This will leave
the final revealed billet now on the face, where
everyone would assume it should be had you just
dropped the other three on top, which this move
simulates.

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 Epipllflllies
Also , what if you don 't want to perform this O&A
routine? Or you don't want to get the cards printed?
That's fine l You can still perform the 'Sneak Thief'
approach with drawings here and it will stil l feel more
hands off than any other version . Furthermore, it wil l feel
like a feat of mind reading , rather than just reading body
language over and over again.
What I would recommend instead is that you have
everyone in the room think about their happiest memory.
You then bring up four people and they write down a few
of the keywords for their memory, for example, where
they were, who they were with or what they were doing.
You can then reveal all of thi s later. Now because no
one else in the room will ever see those cards or know
how much they have written , you can enjoy taking your
time to reveal some key pieces of information , which
apparently haven 't been written , which you still seem
able to pick up on.
90
Epiplwl/ies
I or this happy memory sequence, simply mark four
I)illets in a similar way to the above routine and perform
111e exact same handling to gain access to the
Information at the relevant times in the sequence .
Again, I cannot recommend enough checking out the
history of this routine which I mentioned in the opening.
It wi ll offer lots more food for thought as far as
presentational plots go and you 'll also gain a greater
understanding of why I've chosen to execute this routine
in the manner that I have. You may also find that you
like this presentation but find some of the other
handlings more suited to your style and so you will end
up with a combination of them both.
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 Epiphallies
As promised , my completely impromptu 'Who's Got The
Money' meets 'Coin in Hand ' sequence. This wil l not
only prove to be a strong performance piece on its own,
you'll also find it useful in performing 'Prophecy' from
earlier in these notes, if you do not have access to an
electronic means for locating a coin.
Since first mentioning this concept in my book Divine,
I've really worked the method to ensure it's as direct and
easy to follow as possible.
What you're about to read is a combination of my
routine 'Serial Prevaricator' and my impromptu method
for performing the 'banknote in hand ' plot.
As you'll see, the sure-fire hit of the first phase not only
primes the audience for what to expect, it also offers the
adequate time-misdirection for you to then deceptively
pull off the second phase of knowing which hand the
note has been hidden in.
The Effect
Two participants join you. One of them removes a
banknote from their wallet, purse or bag. They ball it up
and while you stand at the other side of the room , it's
hidden in one of their outstretched hands.
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Epiplwllies
After asking them both to say "yes" when it's in each
hand, you're successfully able to establish when they
were lying and you find the note with perfect accuracy.
You now ask the person holding the note to look at and
remember the last three digits of the serial number. You
remind them that when they were learning to count,
they'd use the fingers of their left hand to count, "1, 2, 3,
4 and 5". Whereas the right hand fingers would help you
count "6, 7, 8, 9 and 10". Obviously there is no 10 on
the note, so we'll say if there is a zero, the right hand
co vers that digit since 10 has a 0 in it.
They are now asked to recall the last three digits of the
serial number. They are to focus on the first of those
three digits. "So based on the way you learned to count,
if they first digit is a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 please hide it in your
left hand. If it's 6, 7, 8, 9 or 0, please hide it in your right
hand. Make sense? Do that now. Hide it in that hand .
Make two fi sts and bring your hands out in front of you.
''This actually makes it even harder as the hands are
now being chosen at random. Most people just keep it
in their left hand the whole time. So I really do have to
re ad you here in order to work out what hand it's in. "
You con tin ue to successfully read the volunteer three
times in a row working out exactly which hand the note
has been hidden in.
As a 'kicker ', now that you 're warmed up, you can have
the other person look at the last three digits of the note
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 Epipllflllies Epipllf1l1ies

as well and you can reveal exactly what these last three
digits are.

The Requirements

Like a few effects in these notes, you really don't need

anything. Well. .. apart from a spectator with money on
them , which ideally is coming from a wallet, but that isn't
essential.
In this instance, you can see exactly what the serial
number is. Simply remember the last three digits of it.
The Performance
Of course, when you look in you might see this and due
In all honesty, once you learn what's happening in these to the orientation of the notes, get no information:
first two phases, you will realise that you are so ahead
of the game , you can really move right away and focus
on both providing clear instructions and sharing a
compelling presentation.

Begin by inviting your two participants to the stage after

confirming at least one of them has money on them.

Once they're on stage , request that one of them brings

out a note. You will find that most of the time , it comes
from a wallet. This is your first chance to peek the serial
number of the note.

Yes. You're basically just going to look at it.

As soon as their wallet is open, you can position
yourself so that you're looking directly into their wallet
and you will have this view :
94
Remember, at this point they have no idea you'll later be
using the information on the banknote. All that you've
done so far is request to borrow a note from them. Right
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 Epipllallies
now, their mind is occupied on supplying you with the
most suitable note for whatever you need it for.
If you can spot the number here and remember it,
immediately indicate , "That one is perfect."
Move away and ask them to fold it up.
If you don't see the number on it, ask them if they have
any others. There's always a chance that when they pull
that first banknote back, the next one will have its serial
number on display.
At this point, whether I've seen the serial number or not,
I tell them , "That one is perfect." They remove it from
their wallet and as they put their wallet away, there is
now another chance to get a peek of the number.
Epiplwllies
II'S important that you don't make it seem like you're
Ilying hard to look at it, otherwise this extraneous effort
wi ll be remembered later. So if you see it, perfect. If you
,'on't, relax.
lis soon as you know that you're not going to get the
peek as they begin to put their wallet away, simply take
1I1e note from them and fold it up as you ask them to,
"Fold this up into a small package for me because
you're about to hide it from me."
I don't make a big deal about this at all. There is no guilt
on my part and I don't seem tentative about doing it. But
It is in this moment I look at and remember the serial
number.
Notice I tell them to fold it up into a package even
though I'm doing it. This is because I only start it off for
them. As soon as it's been folded twice and their wallet
IS back in their pocket, I give the note back and request
they continue. I now begin to move away from them.
As I'm folding it, I do look away slightly. Not enough to
make it seem important, but enough that if I was ever
called on it, I could say, "I was looking away as I folded
it for a reason .11
So far, that's not been required. That's largely due to the
misdirection that's about to work in our favour.
Let's just recap . By this point, you know the serial
number and if you reread the above script, you could
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 Epip/ulIIies
comfortably perform 'Note in Hand' at this point with
perfect accuracy.
But we don't want to go straight there . We want to hit
them with a minor and more believable effect before we
start to allow them to buy into the process .
I now request that, as the participants stand side by
side , the fo lded note is placed in the right hand palm of
the spectator who is on the right of this image :
I then ask the participant on the left of this image to hold
their left hand above the note.
Epipllflllies
I lell them that they (the participant hovering their hand
liver the note) can either take the note or leave it where
II IS, "but you only have two seconds to decide!" I
IIllInediately look away and say, "Go! And now hold both
Ilimds out in fists in front of you."
Ille note can now only be in one of two places. It can
Dnly be in one of these two hands :
The reason it can only be in of these two hands is
because you have only given them a chance to take it,
or leave it. At no point have you given them a chance to
move it to another hand.
I explain that I will now ask them if it's in each hand.
They must keep saying the word 'yes'. This means there
will be three lies and one truth. My task will be to work
out when one of them is being honest and I will locate
the note.
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 Epiplw /li es Epipllnllies

After they have both said 'yes' to the note being in each
hand , I now perform a very similar procedure to Max
Maven's 'Kurotsuke ' reveal sequence.

I begin by asking the spectator on my right to open their

left hand as shown below:

These two hands are opened next, meaning you 've left
the final hand , the one containing the note, until the end
to be revealed .
If the note IS in this hand , the effect is over as I've
successfully located it.

If, on the other hand (No pun intended. Okay ... maybe
a little) it is empty, I immediately say, "That's one down,
two more empty hands to find."

I change the implied effect and now make it seem like

my task is to have all the empty hands opened first. As
there is only one more position the note cou ld be at the
moment, you immediately know which other two hands
are empty. The ones on the edges.
By this point in the routine, there has been plenty of
time misdirection between peeking the note and using
that information to your advantage. You 're now in the
situation where you can con formably reveal that serial
number OR , you can use the serial number to perform
the 'Note in Hand ' sequence previously described.

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 Epipllllll ies Epipllflllies

The 'Note in Hand ' will allow you to perform 'Prophecy'

without any electronics and practically every spectator
I've attempted to do it with has managed to keep track
of translating the serial number to a hand to hide the
note and then translate the hand the note is in to a part
of the famous person 's profile ( ... a dead , male singer) .
I recommend changing the script slightl y in order to
make it more streamlined for them to follow. If I'm
performing this seq uence with 'Prophecy,' my script
does changes thusly:
"We're going to use the serial number to create a
random celebrity. Look at the last three numbers on the
serial number. In fact, put your finger underneath them .
Look at the digit third from the end . If that digit is odd,
you 'll think of a man . If it's even , you 'll think of a woman.
Now look at the second last digit, if it's an odd number,
you 'll think of an actor and if it's even , you 'll think of a
singer. Finally, the final number, if it's odd , think of
someone dead and if it's even , think of someone who is
still alive."
Obviously this script will vary depending on what the
numbers are. HOWEVER, this sequence now makes
the whole sequence a lot more direct.
Ilopefully, it's quite a stunning piece of impromptu
lIlentalism for you to always perform at a moments
notice.
I inal Thoughts
rhere 's one more thing that I would like to share. When
you get comfortable with this process, if you get the last
Ihree digits of the serial number quickly as the
participant opens their wallet, you may have time to get
other information from them too.
What do I mean? Well , when their wallet is opened ,
Ihere are certain people who have their driving license
In a prime location to peek their date of birth or home
address.
When you know that you definitely have their serial
nu mber locked away in your mind , you now have the
luxury of peeking and retaining this other information
too, al lowing you to reveal it at a suitable point within
your presentation.

Furthermore, with one person now thinking of someone

famous, matching up with our 'Prophecy' anagram, the
other can simply look at the last three digits of the serial
number. You 're now able to perform a number reveal at
the same time as a name reveal just from peeking one
piece of information.
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 Epipllf11lies
The Zen Peek
I've said it before, but I LOVE working with billets. I look
forward to the day where I release my entire work on
how I utilise them , but for now I want to continue
pushing myself to continue achieving hands off
approaches for revealing the information contai ned
with in them.
What I'm going to share here is perhaps the technique,
sequence, rou tine that I have used more than any
other.
I am utterly proud of every moment of this sequence.
I am revealing it now, for the first time in full , so that
anyone else who is already using any sort of peek work
can apply as much of this thinking as they'd like.
It is , in essence , my handling of Millard Longman 's
'Acid us Novus' mixed with my rendition of Doug
Dyment's 'Sign Language ' sequence. I've already raved
about how good not only 'Sign Language' is, but how
good Doug 's entire approach to using a progressive
anagram is, elsewhere in these notes. So take a
moment to purchase them here:
http://www.deceptionary.com/signlanguage.html
I want to take a moment here to reference how good I
genuinely believe Millard 's billet peek to be . It is by far
the most direct and deceptive technique for peeking
information in existence . I believe it to be one of the
104
Epiphallies
weatest contributions to our art and highly recommend
you pick up his complete work on it here. Within this
Irai ning course (and it really is a complete training
course for how to peek every portion of the billet) you
will learn how to combine it with various types and sizes
of card and even explore other objects you can utilise
Ilis principle with :
Ilttp:/Iwww. mevproshop.com/acidus-novus.html
rhe Effect
A participant is req uested to think of someone they
know and focus on their name. As proof for later, they
are asked to commit this thought to paper for any of the
sceptics in the room. They fold up the paper.
You also ask them to write their star sign on the front of
the folded piece of card .
As they begin to write their star sign , you move to the
other side of the stage/room and look away so you can 't
see what they are writing.
While still standing at the other side of the room, you
ask them to fold the card twice more, if they can, and
then put it in a pocket.
You now turn back around and without needing to go
anywhere near them , you're able to reveal their star
sign with perfect accuracy AND con tinue to reveal the
name of their thought of friend .
105
 Epiphallies
At this point in close up environments, or when they
return to their seat, they wil l no doubt show their 'proof'
to their friends. They will unfold it and everyone will see
that they've written, "I'm thinking of Marion."
The Background
Over the years, I realised a few personal problems with
billet work that I wanted to overcome. In all honesty, I
felt I had to overcome them before I was able to perform
with them comfortably and convincingly.
Why are they writing it down?
How do we make them forget about the paper? (We
don 't, but we can justify it and play it down)
Why did they have to write in a specific portion of the
card?
Why did the performer have to touch the card?
What happens if they show it to people later in the
event?
These were the main concerns. These are also all
points that I feel I ha ve addressed within the
presentation and handling you're about to learn .
I have kept the presentation to the bear minimum as I
feel if I inject too much of my personality here, my goal
106
Epiphallies
of leaving you with a blank canvas isn't going to be
leali sed .
Once you understand why each step is important, what
II is you need to do and when you need to do it, you can
lest assured that you are using a process which has
IJe en fine-tuned over, potentially, th o usands of
performances.
Flendition of Doug Dyment's Sign Language
I've already stressed how good Doug 's thinking is. His
anagram relies on some work regarding the imagery
Involved with the star signs. This just was never
something I was comfortable utilising within my reveal
sequence. So , I've stripped all of that out and it now
works solely on the spelling of the words instead .
Let's forget about the writing of the star sign on the billet
for a minute. Let's just imagine we're having someone
Ihink of their star sign and we're looking to effectively
reveal what it is .
I always begin by saying to the participant, "I want you
10 imagine saying it in your mind over and over again .
Li ke, Capricorn, Capricorn , Capricorn .. ."
This is a ploy I first saw in print by Derren Brown with
his routine 'Smoke' in his book Pure Effect to help him
rule out one of the thought of cards.
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 EpiplulIIies EpiplttWies

Of course, should the person react at this point, the There is an ' R' In your , .. Oh no, sorry, iI's an , Really I'm seeing an
sta r sign, 'E.' The second letter is 'E.' Oh wait, I'm seeing
reveal sequence is over as you 've hit it right off the bat. an 'E.' this back to front. The
If on the other hand they don't react, I now move into 'E' isn't the second
leiter. It's the second to
the anagram ... last fetter, isn 't it? Good l
Now I understand how
you think . Focus on the
"I want you to imagine spelling your star sign in your first letter. ThaI's a 'P'
mind letter by letter ... " correct? You 're a
'Pieces,'

Now continue revealing the star sign by following the ... Count the number of ... No! It IS six letters,
letters in your star sign. Focus on the lirstlelter.
chart. Much like the anagram used in 'Prophecy,' each (If they say they've That's a 'G .' You're a
time you receive positive confirmation of a statement, counted immediately 'Gemini .'
you know it's 'Leo' as it
you move downwards to the next box with writing in it. only has three letters If
they take longer, it's
'Gemini' as it takes
If you sense you're about to receive a "no" response, longer to count. You
immediately move to the box on the right and continue can check by asking .. )
This is quite a short
with what's written in that box instead. word, right? Less than
six letters.

Begin with the text written in bold , in the top, left-hand . Focus on the first
box. leUer. ThaI's a 'L.'
you're a 'Leo.'

" And an 'I. ' ,., Oh no, sorry that's .. , But they're not 'C's.
not an 'I. ' II's an 'A.' the They're 'U's. Focus on
second letter is an A. the lirst letter, ThaI's a
And there are two 'T.' You're a 'Taurus .'
leUers which are the
same in your star sign
correct? (If they
hesitate, iI's usually
because they're a
Taurus and they forget
about that second U)
I'm seeing like two 'C'
shapes .

.. In fact, the first letter

is a 'C.' You're a
'Cancer.'

108 109

· .. There's also an 'A.'
... And that's not an'S'
is it?
. And I believe there is
a second 'A'?
... And a second 'S'?
.. In fact, the '5 ' IS the
first letter. You're a
'Sagittarius. '
EpipJu/llies
.. Oh no, sorry, that's
not an 'A,' it's an '0.'
The '0' is the last letter,
right? In your mind,
count the number 01
letters in your star sign.
(If they count quickly,
it's because it's Virgo,
which only has five
letters. If they take their
time, they're a Scorpio
as it takes a little longer
to count. But you can
check by saying ... ) This
is quite a shorl word,
right? Less than seven
letters?
... Yes, I thought so.
Focus on the first letter.
That's a 'V.' You're a
'Virgo.'
No, but illooks like an
'S.' It's a 8, The middle
leiter is a B. Focus on
the lirst letter, that's an
'L.' You're a 'Libra.'
... No l Sorry. The 'A' is
the first lener. Focus on
the word . You're an
'Aries'
. No! Sorry! The'S ' is
the last letter. You're an
'AquariUS .'
110
, .. Nol It IS seven
letters. Focus on the
first leUer. That's an '5.'
You're a 'Scorpio .'
Epipl/(lIIies
There you have it! It may look daunting , but the more
you practice this, the easier it gets.
t recommend remembering the word 'RIASAS .' That's
the first letter of each of the left most col umn. When you
have that memorised , you now just need to learn the
stem off of each of those letters.
Practice it over the phone wi th friends and the more you
do it, the more natural it wil l become.
A few points I would like to highlight.
After having them think of their star sign, I never refer to
It as their star sign again . I refer to it as their 'word .'
Again , to reiterate , if I sense they are going to say "no"
to any of my statements, I immediately begin to correct
myself.
You'll also notice that, as Doug has taught us, I've still
kept two positive hits after any wrong answer.
Before I reveal their sign , I also have them focus on the
first letter before saying what the sign is to make the
anagram sequence more deceptive .
Now that you have that down , we can continue with
applying it to my billet sequence which is aimed at
mak ing the bil let as 'psychologically invisible' as
possi ble.
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 Epiplwllies Epipllflllies

I've never had anyone question this. You're justifying

The Process why they're doing it. And when people know why they're
doing something , they accept it and comply.
A participant is chosen at random and they're asked to
think of someone they know. Ideally someone they "Say 'done ' when you've finished and fold it back up."
haven 't thought about in years.
The card I hand the participant actually already looks
I have them concentrate on this person and only when like this:
they have someone, do I then bring out the paper and
pen.

Why? Well, I don't want the paper and pen feeling like
an important part of this process. I want them to
remember being requested to think of someone , NOT
being requested to write down the name of someone.

Also , based on the 'primacy and recency effect' in

psychology, people will remember the beginning of their
encounter with you and the end. If you use the paper in
the beginning , it is going to be remembered . By only
introducing the paper AFTER they have joined you on
stage and after they've been asked to think of someone,
it comes later in their memory of events . The closer to
the middle it is, the higher it is to likely be forgotten .

Again , the most impo rt ant part here is that its
importance is massively played down.
Why are they writing it down? The line I use is, "In fact,
we'll need proof for any sceptics in the room , so if you
can just print it on here and I'll look away."
112
Why? Well , from a method point of view, they need to
write in that space. But from a logic point of view, it is
clearly there for their benefit so that they understand
where they are to write on the bi llet.
The larger and more important reason is because later,
when they show their friends (and they WILL show their
friends) , it looks like THEY are the ones who have
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Epipllflllies
drawn a scribble to test the pen , which is taking up
space. Also it looks to everyone else like they have
chosen to write, "I'm thinking of Marion. " As if ALL of
those words were written by them . This makes it more
deceptive because it seems like it wasn 't you who
dictated which portion of the card was to be written on .
This detail in itself I believe clean s up one of the tiny
problems wi th Acidus Novus's 'backtrack-ability. ' Anyone
looki ng for a method beyond the performer 's abilities will
feel like it was a matter of chance that the participant
wrote it in that manner, as it stands to reason they may
have chosen to write it li ke that.
We're now in the position where the participant has
written where we 've requested them to. They've now
folded the card up and they are holding on to it and the
pen.
When I'm performing this close up, I always now
request that they sit it like a little tent on a nearby table
or surface.
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Epipha nies
This means that I never have to ask for it to be handed
to me. All I've said is "sit it down. " Now when I pick it up
for the next part of the procedure , they never have the
memory of the words "hand that to me" in their mind .
Also , because it's now out of their physical possession,
there is no resistan ce as I pick it up. I'm also going to
be giving them a near impossible instruction as I do it.
It is a little different when I'm on stage. Again, I don 't
want the memory of me asking them to "hand that to
me ." Instead , I reach my hand out and say to them ,
"An d there's one more thing you need to do with this."
And I turn my head away.
This does a number of things. I learned from Andy
Nyman's approach for getting a spectator to come to the
stage that if yo u give an audience member an
instruction and then look away, they need to follow
through with it. Otherwise , they need to wait unti l you
look back to say they don 't want to come to the stage . II
becomes embarrassing and awkward for them, so they
comply.
The same is true here. I'm saying that there is one more
thing they need to do with the card. They need to know
what that is. I'm also putting my hand up suggesting I
want it back from them . This in itself means I never have
to ask for it to be handed to me because , as I've already
said , I don 't want those words to exist in their memory of
the sequence. However, I've heavily implied that I want
to show them what to do in order to help them complete
the process.
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If they were thinking at this point, "But I don 't want you
to see what I've written ," I've already begun to turn my
head away, so they know I can 't look at it. Also , linking
back to Andy's thinking , it now means that if they don 't
hand it too me, they're going to look like they don't
understand simple human suggestions and ultimately
will create an embarrassing or awkward situation for
themselves. So they are utterly inclined to act
accordingly.
Know that to this day, I've never had anyone not hand
the billet to me. But also know that if they didn't at this
point, I would simply say, "so just give that to me a
second. "
The word 'just' is designed to play down its importance
and the phrase 'a second ' suggests that I won't be
handling it for very long .
So now the folded billet is in your possession and your
head is turned away.
Epiphallies
I immediately continue to ask, "Do you know this
person 's star sign?"
Never, ever has anyone ever said yes here . I find
occasionally people don 't even know their own star sign ,
so why would they remember someone else's star sign
from years ago? Granted , on a rare occasion, there will
be someone who does and that's fine . But for the most
part, they are going to say, "no ."
This knocks them into a slightly weird psychological
frame of mind as they feel like them not knowing that
piece of information may in some way hinder what is
about to come .
This frame of mind is what misdirects them from
thinking about the fact that you are holding their written
on piece of card.
This is also the perfect time to reorient or adjust the
billet as required for the peek.
"That's okay. Do you know your star sign? That'll work'
Can you print it on front here please ."
As I tell them where they are to write , I point with my
other finger. First of all , this completely blocks the peek
from all angles. Secondly, it ensures they are looking at
the front of the card and not at your eyes.
By this point, the billet has now been cracked open and
is ready for you to look in to read the information.
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You need to learn to time the moment when you look.
It's the moment just after you tell them where to write
their sign and point. You 're inner-monologue reasoning
for looking around is that you want to look at the card at
where you 're pointing to ensure they're looking at the
right part. That is what you must believe as you look.
This way, it doesn 't telegraph as a guilty moment.
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Epip/ulJlies
As soon as you get the information , calmly turn your
head away again and immediately hand them the card
as they begin to write .
As I've already mentioned , due to the position of the left
hand index finger, this peek is incredibly well covered
from pretty much all angles.
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Now begin to walk away from them. Once they've stated
that they have written the star sign say, "Done? Good,
then fold it again twice and put it in your pocket. I don't
want to touch it or go anywhere near it. "
Make sure they do fold it as it will help make the peek
even harder to recreate.
The fact you're also able to say that you don't want to
touch it or go near it really helps create a false memory
of what has occurred. You 're also now standing far
away from them , so it makes it seem impossible.
You now continue to reveal their star sign using the
structure I have provided above. But what's the
relevance of their star sign? Well , this is where both
methods cancel each other out.
Ideally, I don't want people to remember anything was
written down or that I touched the card. But if they do, I
want it to feel justified. Revealing the star sign reduces
the importance of me touching the card.
As the y wrote their star sign, you were nowhere near
them. When they finished writing , they put the folded
billet away in their pocket. So if you can get their star
sign without touching the card , it would make sense that
you should be able to get the name without having to
touch the card.
Not only does writing the star sign benefit the process, it
also helps add to the impossibility of what you're
demonstrating.
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Epiplwllies
Continue by revealing the thought of name and
everyone gets to go home happy.
As I've already said , in close up situations, people
would often show that card at the end . I used to hate
that moment. But then I build in the fail-safes above and
all of a sudden, I didn 't mind it. They assumed they were
helping you out by proving it to everyone else . Often it
would get an even bigger reaction from everyone. Al l I
had to do at this point was say, "Let me see!" acting as if
I hadn 't seen it already. I'd then look relieved and would
sometimes say things like, "Phewwww, it was 'Dave'! I
nearly said 'David '." This is just a tiny convincer that
hel ped sell the illusion.
Here are a few other presentational ploys you can throw
in to your reveal sequence that may help too .
If you have the person stay seated in the audience,
when you are peeking it, only the people around them
ever see that you are touching the billet. Anyone more
than two rows behind them cannot see a thing . So this
really helps people not remember you touching the
piece of card as they never know that you did in the first
place. Again , this is why not actually asking for it is so
important.
Furthermore , this can be utilised when you 're required
to do any sort of centre tear. When I get handed the
billet I need to tear, I begin tearing it up as I say to the
spectator, "I want you to tear this up into little tiny pieces
please." What most people don 't see is that you started
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tearing it for them , but it means that later on you have
the luxury of saying , "You wrote it so you could picture it
written down , then you tore it up AND you still have all
the pieces. Right?"
EpiplulI/ies
This was inspired by Max Maven 's prediction on a ball
of paper. When it hits, it hits. When it doesn't, it's
forgotten about immediately.

What a wonderfully clean position to be in. There are a number of other ways and places you can
utilise this technique, but I just thought I'd start you off
Finally, let me share a little extra reveal moment that I've playing with it here.
had some really strong success with over the years. It's
a way of building in a potential hit, which, if it doesn 't
work, is never remembered.

The Invisible Statement

Before reveal the name , I say, "Imagine you 're at

home , you 're watching your favourite TV show
Family Guy and a friend 's face pops up on the
screen. "

I pause after I say 'Family Guy' and if that is the

person 's favourite TV show, they will react. Obviously I
tailor the show I name to what I think the person on
stage watches.

If they don 't react, I make it seem like I was merely

using it as an example and immediately continue
without flinching . I'm about to ask them to imagine it
becoming their friend 's face anyway, so it's a justified
process and makes it feel like I'm aiming to get them
into a specific frame of mind .
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The Real Baakless Tesl
So, I'm going 10 end where I began . This routine is
probably the one I'm most well known for. It's the first
routine you 'll see on my DVD set, 'Opening Minds' and
it's also the piece I chose to use on 'Penn and Teller:
Fool Us.'
I'm sure that anyone reading these notes will be familiar
with this piece and are aware that it uses dual reality, a
Sanada gimmick and some multiple outs. It was inspired
by Andy Nyman's belief in the strength of multiple out
sequences and also the desire to create an impossible
prediction of a word .
What I wanted to clean up was the method in which you
reveal the desired out AND get rid of the Sanada
gimmick so that you can start and end clean.
I hope you enjoy my most up to date solution .
The Effect:
An envelope is handed to someone in the front row and
a participant brought on stage is asked to imagine
walking into a bookshop, picking up any book and
opening it to any page. Then, they are to look down and
remember a few words they can see. They close their
eyes and change their mind a few times before settling
on one of the words.
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Epiphallies
The rest of the audience is now given an opportunity to
read the participant's mind . The only clue that the
participant gives them is how many letters are in their
word.
While the participant still has their eyes closed, I take
back the envelope and show the word I had previously
printed and put into the envelope.
I ask everyone in the room who is also thinking of that
word to shout the word "yes. " A surprising number 01
people have also thought of that word.
"So let's see if we're right. In a loud voice, please tell
everyone what word you're thinking of."
The word they say matches the prediction .
Deyelopments
I think you'll see that I've taken care to improve the
effect for the spectator on stage as well as for the
audience by adding in as many layers as possible to
ensure that it's impossible to back track .
There 's a greater emphasis on visualisation in each
phase of the routine . Also, you 'll realise you can show
your hands clean at the beginning and the end of the
effect now immediately after you have them imagine
shutting the book . Finally, I've cleaned the multiple out
sequence after performing this a lot at magic lectures
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and noticing details that came to light as I was
explaining.
The Requirements
You wi ll require a few things for this rou tine ..
Two A5 sized envelopes or equivalent
The word 'Cat' printed on a piece of printer paper
The word 'Love ' printed on a piece of printer paper
The word 'House' printed on a piece of printer paper
A reel which you can use to construct a device which
can be stolen in to your hand and then retract
immediately after it's use.
I've tried a few things for this. It started as a 'Raven ,' but
then I decided I didn't want the black elastic to be as
noticeable.
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Epipha/lies
I personally have changed this to a 'Ring Flight
Revolution' as it uses fishing line , however, any reel will
work .
I've still tied the fishing line into a loop to allow it to be
easi ly stolen with the tip of my left hand index finger.
You'll also see that it has a disk on it which has the
words, "cat,' 'love ' and 'house' written on to it.
The only other thing you need to make is the gimmicked
envelope. All three sheets of paper are in one side of
the envelope and you cut the back off the other
envelope.
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 £piplwllies
You then insert it into the envelope to hide the two
pieces of paper which will still remain inside the
envelope .
It's very easy to show the envelope open once you 've
remove your desired out. With the open flap facing you,
close it over and reopen it, squeezing the sides to
buckle the inner panel.
£pipJulI/ies
With both of these props constructed , you 're now ready
to perform the complete routine. I have the keys in my
left trouser pocket with the loop sticking out.
The envelope will be handed out to someone in the front
at the beginning and as someone is being chosen at
random , I get my loop ready to steal the gimmick later.
The Presentation
"Thanks for helping. I want you to imagine you're
walking into a book shop ... "
I hold up my two hands and mime opening the doors to
the book shop so that everyone can clearly see my
hands are empty and there is nothing written on them.
" .. . and you pick up any book. Look down and take a
moment to really imagine you can see the book there.
Tell me when you can. Good , you can actually see it?
Make up the name for this book please."
 Epiphallies
There are two important subtleties here. First of all, I
stress the importance of them looking down and really
imagining the book and I wait until they say they can
see it. Why? Because when they go back to their seat
later, they're going to tell people they actually saw the
words. Great' They also said they actually saw the book
they were imagining.
I also ask them to make up the title of the book. I want
everyone to remember that they've had a free choice at
every step of this routine. This type of language makes
it feel like they are in control.
I also stress that they must look down at my hands
during each phase of this process to make it seem like
it's all important for the visualisation. In fact, it's to
condition the participant to look at my hands so that
when they look there to see the words, it isn't an alien
concept for them.
"Now imagine you're turning the pages of the book.
What exact page number would you stop on? Oh
really'?"
As I say, "Oh , really?'" I step away from them as if to
subtly imply it's working better than I thought it would.
Actually, in this moment, I am stealing the loop and the
gimmick with the words on it.
"You 're doing amazing. Page 123. Look down and this
time I want you to remember two or three words that
you can see there. Don 't say them. Just look over a few
of them in your mind . Now close your eyes. Remember
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Epiplwllies
those words. But imagine closing your book and putting
it back on the shelf. "
With this wording, you are quite literally instructing them
to remember two or three of the different words you 've
just shown them.
Once they have those words , I ask them to close their
eyes immediately as I don't want them to see the
gimmick vanishing in a moment. When they shut their
eyes, I say, "Imagine closing the book. " I'm releasing the
gimmick and allowing it to retract. This means that I can
now immediately show my hands to the audience as
being completely clean for anyone thinking there was
maybe something written on my hands.
The rest of the routine relies in the linguistics. The
gimmick is now back in hiding and your on-stage
participant now has two or three of your force words in
their mind.
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"Right now I want you to change your mind a few times You will of course notice they are labeled on the edge
between the words that you just saw. And settle on one, too, so that I can ensure that I definitely remove the
now! Good ." correct one.

The beauty of this additional phase is that it seems like

they're still deciding on a random word. They now have
their eyes closed and you 're nowhere near them . This is
a beautifully impossible moment.

"So I'm not going to read your mind. The audience is.
The only clue I want you to give them is to tell them how
many letters are in your word?"

Here's the thing , it's either going to be three, four or five.

If it's three letters, the word must be 'Cat. ' If it's four, the
word must be 'Love.' And if it's five, the word must be
'House ,'

They are essentially cuing you as to which word it is

without saying the word and without the audience
realising that this is massively helping you .
"I want everyone else in the room to now think of a 3/4/5
letter word . The first random one that comes to mind ,
now!"
As I'm saying thi s, I walk over to the person I have given
the prediction envelope to and I gesture to take it from
them .
I remove the desired piece of paper and get the
envelope into the 'examinable' position , ready to show
the audience.
"I'm going to show you the word I was hoping they
would say. I gave you this envelope at the start and as
you can see, there is only one piece of paper in here. "
(Insert photo of showing the envelope empty with the
piece of paper in my other hand)

When I open it I am looking in and simply remove the "Don 't say it, but the word I was hoping they would say
correct 'out.' is this word here ... "
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 Epipllflilies Epipllflllies

I now unfold the piece of paper to reveal the word
printed on it.
"If that's the word you were also thinking of, please
shout the word 'YES ' ... NOW!"
Notice I don 't say raise you hand. I also don 't say, "Say
the word now." I say shout it. I want that room filled with
noise so that it feels like more people potentially thought
of that word than they actually did .
If you don 't feel like they are right, simply perform
something else with them that is more suited. Or you
can tell them that they are clearly quite sceptical , so you
would like them to choose someone at random to help
you with a demonstration. Furthermore , don 't be afraid
of switching people around. I'd rather be honest with the
audience and explain that you don 't think they're quite
right for what you wan t to attempt, but you 'll come back
to them later, rather than have an effect fail.

"But this wasn 't about me predicting your thought, or

you reading their mind really. It was really about seeing
if I could correctly influence them.

"For the first time, please tell everyone what word you
are thinking of."

It will obviously match your printed piece of paper.

Final Thoughts

This rou tine is heavily reliant on choosing a complian t

spectator and managing the audience. When you first
get the participant on stage , request that they take a few
steps further forward or backwards. If they comply with
your request without hesitation or, as it's commonly
referred to as 'not being an asshole,' you 'll know that
they'll be perfect for what you 're about to ask of them .

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In Closing ...
I do hate good byes. So we'lI consider this more of a, "I'll
see you soon. "
I have shared a number of my most useful ideas and
concepts in these notes and I really hope that they offer
you a lot of food for thought.
Please don 't share the material around and please don 't
upload any footage of any performances of this
material. By all means, video your unique reveal
sequences , but let's aim to keep the processes off the
internet. The less our audiences expect when they see
us live, the more deceptive our live work is ultimately
going to be .
Unfortunately YouTube and the rewind-ability of certain
pieces means that they can often be fathomed by the
merely curious minds .
Let's keep this type of material for real life performances
environments, where people can actually enjoy and truly
experience it at its best.
If you 're looking to perform any of this type of material
on any television appearance , please get in touch with
me first at ColinMcleod1@Me.com in order to discuss
the exact handling of it. I have a responsibility as the
creator of these routines to ensure that everyone's
investment is protected . In complete honesty, to have
someone performing this material on a videoed medium
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Epiphnllies
at a substandard quality of performance ruins the quality
of your purchase.
I always aim to work with people who have my material
to ensure that what they eventually want to do is at the
highest and most deceptive standard that it can be.
This is not the sort of material I would rely on for
television. This is however the exact material that I
perform in the real world, for real audiences at real
events. That is where it is intended and that is where it
will help you to excel.
What you have contained within these pages is the
complete workings for an entire stage act. Opening with
my take on magic square and then moving into the
warm up, revealing the thought of celebrity, before
moving on to a PK Touch sequence , before ending with
Q&A and closing with the prediction of a thought of
word .
Obviously most won 't actually ever take all of that and
do it in that order in that way. And why should you?
Even if you never do any of this material exactly as it is
written , I hope I've provided you wi th a plethora of
techniques, methods and food for thought to sprinkle
across everything that which you already do.
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shared wi th me and I'm only the creator I am because

Credits
The following people have all directly influenced the
material contained within these pages. Banachek ,
Doug Dyment, Max Maven, Larry Becker, Millard
Longman and Joseph Dunninger. Thank you for your
brilliance.
As always, a huge thank you to David Gerard for
taking time out of his always busy schedule, every
week , to critique my material and for always offeri ng
utterly valuable food for thought which rapidly improves
the quality of my performances.
of them . Thank you dearly:
Joseph Dunninger, Maurice Fogel , Ted Annemann ,
Tony Connda, Chan Canasta, Uri Geller and David
Berglas., Marc Salem , Jon Stetson, Michael Weber,
Docc Hllford, Ken Weber, Gil Eagles, Bob Cassidy,
Derren Brown and Andy Nyman, David Gerard,
Luke Jermay, Peter Turner, Michael Murray, Patrick
Redford, Mark Elsdon, Ken Dyne, Ben Earl, Derek
DelGaudio, Helder Guimaraes and Ryan Davidson.
... Class dismissed.

I'm utterly grateful to the wonderful Eric Dittelman for

editing these notes. Not only is he one of the busiest
and entertaining mentalists working today, it also turns
out he's incredibly literate. Thank you my friend for
taking the time to ensure these weren 't as much of a
mess as when I sent them to you .

Thanks to Snookie Mono and Miss Polly Hoops for

taking time to help me add the photos to this work and
hopefully make things a little easier to understand in
places. Snookie is a phenomenal sword swallower/
sideshow performer and Polly is a world class hula
hoop artist. Both of them are wi th checking out as
they're two of the most talented individuals I know.

Thank you to my continued influences. These guys are

constantly at the back of my mind as I write and
develop. I'm utterly grateful for everything they've ever

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