Letter

From the
Editor
Vol. 1, Issue 10 November 2017
Amateur Magic Monthly

PUBLISHER & EDITOR Andy

ASSISTANT EDITOR Michael Sullivan Dearest Mother,
PHOTOGRAPHER Andrew Costello
Well, it’s that time of year again...
JAMM Muse is Nikki Nevermore Thanksgiving.

“Thanksgiving” is an old Wampanoag

Indian word. “Thanks” meaning “to give,”

CONTENTS
and “giving” meaning “thanks.”

What am I thankful for this year? Well,

you, of course. And all my other family
and friends. And my magic friends who
help me keep my site going by purchasing
Millinta......................................................3 this magazine. And I guess I’m even
thankful for Mr. Mittens, even though
Asked and Answered............................7 I don’t like when he breaths in my face
with his tuna breath!
X-Communication................................ 11
Quirkology Mind Games Set...12 I really wish I could make it to Marmalade
Falls for Thanksgiving but its just not in
the cards this year. You’ll have to have
Word of Mouth.................................... 16 someone else make my traditional side-
dish celebrating our Italian and Irish
heritage (Lucky Charms Parmesan).

I promise I’ll be there for Christmas!

Thanks again, Mommy. And thanks

to Phill Smith, Simon Aronson, John
Bannon, and Eli Bosnick for inspiring
some of the ideas in this issue of The
Next issue available December 6th JAMM.

JERX AMATEUR MAGIC MONTHLY, November, 2017, Volume 1, Number 10.

Published monthly by thejerx.com. Single copies $15.00. Annual (12-issue) subscrip-
tion $120.00. Copyright © 2017 by thejerx.com. All rights reserved. No part of this
- Andy
electronic magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of thejerx.com.
Requests for permission should be directed to thejerx@gmail.com. Violators will be
kicked out of the GLOMM.
Giving Thanks: Thanks to
Phill Smith. This effect begins
MILLINTA Effect
with Phill’s Quinta process to
The magician asks, “Do you
select one envelope in five. But
believe in chance, free will,
then, when that envelope is opened,
random actions?” The spectator says
two predictions are revealed in regards
they do (to whatever degree they do) and
to how that envelope would be selected. (It
the magician scoffs like it’s the dumbest thing he’s
will make sense when you read it.)
ever heard. “You’re so naive,” he says. “It’s actually
kind of cute. Everything is predetermined.”
You’ll need to know how to do the Quinta procedure
to make this work. As I’ve written on my site, I
There are 5 small envelopes in a row on the table.
think it’s an excellent tool to have in your arsenal
The spectator thinks of any number between 1 and
and there are a number of relatively inexpensive
100. This is an example of a supposedly free choice.
places to learn how to do it (Phill’s Penguin Live
Then he flips a coin. This is an example of a random
lecture or his ebook on the subject).
event. The magician counts back and forth along
the row of envelopes until he reaches the spectator’s
I’m not going to walk you through a big presentation
freely chosen number. When he does, he turns the
for this trick because it’s something I’ve only
envelope over and written on that envelope there
performed a couple of time, and that was while
is a message that says something like, “I knew your
work-shopping it with a friend of mine who now
number would bring you to this envelope because
includes it in some of his professional gigs.
everything is predetermined.”

3

Before the spectator can suggest that maybe all the
envelopes have that on the back, the magician shows
that all the other envelopes have a big red NO on
the back.
The magician asks if this demonstration has proven
that everything is predetermined. The spectator
says no, because it could be a trick or just a 1 in 5
chance.
4
The magician opens the chosen envelope and
removes a smaller envelope and asks the spectator
to read what it says. It reads:
The magician opens up the smaller envelope and
says, “If things weren’t predetermined, how would
I have known this?”
He pulls out a little piece of card from the envelope
which says, “The coin will land HEADS side up,”
which is exactly what happened in the effect.
“Of course, maybe it says ‘TAILS side up’ on the
opposite side of this,” the magician suggests.
He turns it over and it says, “No. It doesn’t.”
The magician hand the little bit of paper to the
spectator. It’s actually folded over like a tiny
greeting card. “Go ahead. Open it up if you’re still
not convinced,” he says.
The spectator does and inside it says: I told you. It’s
all predetermined. Don’t fight it. How else would I
know you’d pick the number 68?
 You set the unchosen envelopes in a pocket or in
Method
your case and in the process you get your thumb-
writer.
First, we’ll use Quinta to get to the force envelope.
But there are actually two force envelopes. One that
Preparing the Inner Envelopes
has the message that the coin lands heads up. The
other that has the message that the coin lands tails
Here’s how you prepare the inner envelopes of the
up. You’ll place one of the force envelopes second
force envelopes. The only difference between the
in from the left, and the other second in from the
two is one says heads, the other says tails.
right. You’ll have to know which is which. Then
you’ll have to know on which side of the row to
Take the final folded over piece of card and write
stand in order to make Quinta procedure work. I
the messages on this card in pencil so it matches the
can’t get too much more into detail than that, but
thumb writer.
if you have Quinta you should be able to put this
together.

If the spectator names an odd number, then the coin

flip will be used as a “randomizer” to raise or lower
the number by one (as per Quinta procedure).

If the spectator names an even number, then the

coin flip is just another thing added on to the set-
up of the trick, but it doesn’t affect the number.
In other words, you’d say something like. “Pick a
number…. 42? Okay. That was an example of what
I’m sure felt like a free choice to you. Now we’re
going to do an something which will certainly seem
random. Take out a coin and flip it and let it land.”

The envelopes are all “face” down. On the front

(face) of the two force envelopes is the message
about predetermination. On the face of the other
On the front of the inner envelope, write the message
three envelopes is the word NO in big letters.
the spectator is going to read. (The one that says
that it was predetermined that the demonstration
Once their envelope is determined, slide it out of
would not convince them that everything was
the spread. Then pick up the other envelopes in
predetermined.)
order so that the other force envelope is second from
the top of the stack of envelopes. You turn the entire
On the back your are going to make a window and
stack over and do an Elmsley count to show the
a slit above that. You’ll cut along these line:
word NO on all the other envelopes.

5

This is a pretty clever configuration that will allow
you to thumb write on the inside of a folded piece
of paper that’s in an envelope.
As with most things that I think are clever, I’m sure
I must not be the first to have thought of this. But
if I am, I’ll take it.
So you’ll make two inner envelopes like this. One
6
for heads, the other for tails. The “NO” envelopes
won’t be opened during the effect but you should
still put something inside to give them some weight
So we’re back at the point where you’ve just put the
other envelopes away and stolen your thumb-writer
while you’re at it.
Rip open the top of the chosen envelope and pull
out the smaller envelope inside with the writing
towards the spectator. You hold it between both
hands, as if you’re just holding it steady for them to
read it, but really so you can do the writing through
the window on the back, as she reads it.
You might think it’s bold to nail-write on something
someone is staring at in the moment, but I’ve found
it to be great cover (in other contexts I’ve used it
in). Their focus is 100% on reading the message out
loud and getting that right that they don’t notice
anything else.
Once they’ve read the outside message out loud,
relax and reiterate what the message says and ditch
the thumb-writer in your pocket or your lap.
Now you just rip the top off that envelope and pull
out the card. Crumple up the envelope and pocket
it, and then finish as per the presentation.
I’m really happy with the construction of this effect.
I think it builds in a satisfying way and uses enough
varied methods that it would be quite difficult to
backtrack. It’s a little too “structured” for the type of
thing I like to present in a casual situation (the last
trick in this issue is more my speed) but I’ve seen it
play really well in a more traditional show structure.
And it certainly can play in a casual situation.
Especially if your type of casual performance isn’t
as ridiculously casual as mine. 
 ASKED AND

ANSWERED

Giving Thanks: This idea was submitted to me by Eli Bosnick. I’ve tweaked it a little after toying
around with it myself, but the essence of the idea is all Eli’s. This is one of my favorite things to do
with a peek wallet. The idea may seem fairly simple when you read it, but there are a couple of nice things
going for it that might not be immediately apparent.

I’ll start by sharing with you the email Eli sent me last New Year’s Eve…

So I came up with something very much inspired with the feverish amount I’ve been reading your
blog of late and if you were interested/wanted to publish it/wanted to play with it. Its for you and
your readers a la me

So here it is:

You’ve performed something for someone or perhaps they’ve asked you to perform and you mention
that you’d like to perform one last thing/would like to perform something JUST for them.
7
 You take out two business cards and ask them to write you a secret note just for you. They then fold
it up and you put it in your wallet. You promise not to look at it until you get home.

You then take a business card and write them a note which they put in their wallet and don’t open
until THEY get home.

When they do get home they find the note you’ve written them was the answer or response to what
they wrote

For example, if they wrote “Dear Eli, Thanks for the magic” they open their note to find “Dear
Margret. You’re welcome for the magic” etc. etc.

The method, if its not already obvious is a peek wallet. I use the blind man’s wallet from penguin
because I like that the card is folded and getting the second card is a great motivation for the peek.

It struck me as a lovely little mystery and it was very much inspired by you and your work so if you
like it, it’s yours. If not no worries.

Let’s start with the two things I really like about this and then I’ll tell you the things I’ve learned since
trying this out over the past year.

First thing I like: This is, perhaps, the only 100% motivated rationale for having someone write something
down and then putting it in your wallet. You’re putting it in your wallet because the trick is not happening
now. This is something that’s going to happen at a later point in time. So it makes complete sense that
you would toss it in your wallet until later that evening when you intend to look at it.

Second thing I like: This trick is very non-traditional in its structure. It doesn’t occur over 90 seconds
while you’re with your spectator. It’s set up at one point in time and then comes to its conclusion hours
later (or the next day as I perform it). One thing I’ve striven to make clear in my work is that the amateur
performer isn’t beholden to the structure that governs traditional magic performances. And this effect
extends itself in a way that would never be possible in a show or working restaurants.

After months of using this, here is how I now use this idea.

Wallet

Eli recommends the Blind Man’s Wallet by Menny Lindenfeld. This is a peek wallet that allows you to put
the billet in your wallet and have it be folded in half. I think that’s definitely a strong added convincer.
But from the reviews I’ve read online, the wallet—while a great idea in theory—in execution, is a piece
of shit. Again, I don’t own it, so that’s not my opinion, just what I read online.
8
Another option for a folded billet is something called the Elrond Wallet, which is something you make
from a non-gimmicked wallet. My friend has this and uses it and I think it’s pretty good.

I just use a standard Jaks Wallet and a non-folded billet. You can figure out a way to use any peek wallet
you have.

Routine

In Eli’s email to me, he suggests having them write any message they want on the card and then what you
write is some sort of response to that message. I liked the idea quite a bit, but when I tried it out for real
it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. There were a few problems.

The first is that people were unsure what type of thing I wanted them to write, and if I made a suggestion
and they then wrote something along those lines, it became much less impressive that my response matched
what they wrote.

The second problem is that peeking a sentence (or, possibly multiple sentences with the way my friends
write messages) is much more difficult than peeking a word. A word you can get in a flash, often just using
your peripheral vision. With a sentence or more it can be like, “Why is that guy staring at his wallet?”

And the third issue I faced a couple times is that people wanted to know why they had to wait. If it’s just
us swapping messages, what’s the rationale for waiting to open them?

So here’s how I do it now. I pull out two business cards from my wallet and set them on the table. I ask
them to think of something they want, a wish they have. It can be something physical like a boat or it can
just be something else, something they want out of life. What they might wish for if they could make a
wish.

I tell them to write it down on a business card and I say, “Make sure it’s something you don’t mind me
knowing, because I am going to read it later tonight.” I take the card back and, while looking away, slide
it in my wallet. My wallet remains on the table.

“I’m not going to look at that now. I won’t even look at it any time during this party. I promise not to take
it out of my wallet until I get home tonight. Sometime after midnight I’ll take that card out of my wallet
and read it. [Here I pick up the wallet and mime sliding something out. It’s in this moment that I get the
peek. I then set the wallet down or put it in my pocket.] And then I’ll light the fire and strip naked and...
actually, you don’t need to know all the details.”

“Here,” I say, “I’m going to write something down too.”

9
 I take the other card on the table and write something like you
see to the left. Of course, the message references whatever it
is they are wishing for.

I’ve taken to writing their actual wish in a shaky handwriting

(to perhaps subtly imply, when the spectator reads it later on,
that those words were written by some other entity).

I fold the card in half and give it to my spectator.

I tell her to put it in her wallet. “If you remember to, it’s a good
idea to put this under your pillow tonight. It’s not absolutely
necessary, but it helps. Either way you have to promise not to
read it until tomorrow.”

She agrees.

“So that’s the deal. I won’t look at what you wrote until later tonight. You don’t look at what’s on that
card until tomorrow. I’ll do my little ritual and, if it works, you’ll know by tomorrow if you’re going to
get the thing you desire.”

Obviously, this presentation is a bit more involved than just asking them to write down any message they
want to you, but it does limit them to really just writing down a few words. And it makes sense in regards
to why you’re both waiting to look at these things until later.

Audience

I can get my male friends on board for most things, but “don’t look at this secret message until tomorrow,”
is not one of those things. The temptation is too strong, and they’re too weak, and they look at what I’ve
written as soon as they can.

You still have a trick even if they open it early, but I prefer trying to identify someone who will go along
with the whole thing and wait it out. I think it’s much better that way.

Either way you end up going with Eli’s idea, I think it’s a great way to extend the effect and generate
anticipation for the magic moment. It’s also an example of something rare in magic that I’ve always liked:
an effect that concludes when you aren’t around. I’ve found spectators enjoy the opportunity to experience
the conclusion of the effect on their own, without any perceived pressure to react a certain way or say a
certain thing. 

10
With the holidays (Pearl Harbor Day and Oatmeal Muffin Day) coming up, I thought I’d do something
a little different in this edition of X-Communication.

With most any other hobby, the holidays are a good time to ask for the things you might want related to
that hobby. If you’re into bowling, then it’s perfectly normal to put a new bowling ball on your wishlist.
And because the people who love you want to get you something you’ll enjoy, they’re happy to get you
that bowling ball. Everyone’s happy all around.

But if magic is your primary hobby, it can be a little weird to be like, “Hey, for Christmas can you go
to Penguin Magic and buy me this peek wallet?” Especially if you end up performing for these people in
the future. “Oh, you want to put the word I wrote down in that special wallet I got you for Christmas?
Okay, sure.”

The thing is, people want to get you something related to

your interests and if magic is a big interest—and you don’t
let them know something particular—then they may go off
on their own and get you some weird magic shirt or a Criss
Angel biography or something.

So I think it’s good to have some magic things on your list

that a loved one can pick up for you that are magic related
but that aren’t specific effects you plan on performing for
them. All the better if they can be found on Amazon or
Ebay or something. That way they can get you something
you might actually want, but they’re not digging around
on Vanishing Inc’s site, and being all, “An Invisible Deck,
what’s that? Hey… I know this trick. I thought Doug said he invented this trick?” Let’s not make it too
clear how the sausage is made.

Here’s an example of such a thing that you can incorporate in your magic without the person knowing
exactly what they’re getting you. And it’s available on a few different sites without the need to send someone
to a magic retailer.
11
Quirkology Mind Games by Marvin’s Magic and Richard
Wiseman
Richard Wiseman is a kind of magic-adjacent figure who writes about pop psychology. In addition to the
psychology writing he does, he has a number of popular videos on youtube where he teaches you bets
you can’t lose and little magic tricks. He’s interested in the types of things that I think most people who
are into magic find interesting on some level.

This kit from Marvin’s Magic isn’t really a magic set. If I had to describe what it contains I’d probably say
that it has interactive tricks, stunts and experiments that will bamboozle your brain. Well, that’s what
it says on the box, at least.

Here’s what you get.

You probably recognize a lot of those

things and you might be thinking,
“Eh, that’s nothing new.” And for
the most part you’re right. But it’s
still kind of nice to have a lot of little
things in a kit that you can share with
someone. This stuff is more interesting
than magical, for the most part, but
they’re still the types of things that
I find the majority of people are at
least mildly intrigued by. And once
you’ve acclimated them to some of
these bets, optical illusions, mini-
tricks, and psychological oddities, it
is incredibly easy to transition into a
magic trick (if you so desire).

There’s a number of different things

in this box and I’m not going to go
through them all here, but I will
mention my top three favorite ones to show people. Whenever I’ve gone through the contents with people,
these are the items that consistently get the strongest reaction.

12
The Instant Zombie Spinning Disk

You spin the disk and have someone stare at it for 30 seconds, then when they look at the back of their
hand, it looks like their skin is writhing around. This isn’t a magic trick, but if you’ve never experienced it,
it’s a pretty funky thing to see. On the reverse of this disk is one you spin to make it look like someone’s
head grow.

Face to Face

The cards are oriented like this from your spectator’s perspective.

They choose one and the cards are turned towards them, and they discover they were drawn to the one
F’d up picture. (The second from the left. Turn your computer upside-down. Or if you’re on a desktop,
do a headstand.)

I sort-of present this like a magic trick. In the DVD instructions, Wiseman suggests you use that old hot
rod force to get them to pick the weird photo. But that force always seemed like what you would do if
you had suffocated your wife and you were trying to convince a judge you were insane. “You’re going to
select one of these six items. Choose a number from one to six. Two? Okay, T-W-O, you’ll get the third
item.” Instead I just do some equivoque or use Quinta or something like that.

This isn’t that well known of an illusion, and even if you’ve seen it before, it’s still kind of fun to look at
the people’s jacked up faces.
13
Optical Illusion Cards

This is just a series of a dozen or so cards with fairly standard optical illusions on them. A few of them are
pretty interesting, but I mention it here because one card has my personal favorite optical illusion.

Those blocks are the same color, as you can see in this picture when you block out the dividing area.

I find that people who haven’t seen this particular illusion before are really blown away by it. With most
other optical illusions, if you say, like, “Actually, those lines are the same length,” the other person will be
like, “Oh, that’s interesting.” But with this one, if you say, “Those blocks are the same color,” they’ll say,
“No. No they’re not.”

Finally, one of the other things in the kit is this balancing eagle thing, which is mildly interesting. But I
only mention it to point out that origami master, Jeremy Shafer, has a version of this that you can fold
with dollar bills. The eagle balances by its beak on the pyramid, and you can even spin it around. It’s pretty
great and makes for one of the more memorable tips you can leave your waitress.
14
Mini Review: The Charlie Frye Eccentricks Mystery Box by Marvin’s Magic

I received this, and the Quirkology set as a gift from a friend of mine. Charlie Frye is one of my favorite
people to watch perform due to his genuine skill. (Usually we’re demonstrating fake skills, Charlie has
actual skills to demonstrate mixed in with his magic.)

Here’s what you get in this set:

- A bunch of gimmicked cards, mainly for some monte routines
- Dice and a cup for dice stacking (also a die with no spots)
- A paddle to be used with a die for a magic effect. Maybe there’s something wrong with me, but the
paddle is too flat for me to do the paddle move with. Not being able to do the paddle move is a pretty
pathetic feeling.
- The world’s cheapest thumbtip and “silk’
- Some rolling paper to do the paper propeller trick (as taught in the True Astonishments bonus
material by John Bodine)
- A cardboard “Himber wallet”

Personally, I wish this set had been devoted to Charlie Frye’s stunts more than magic because, while I
enjoy his magic, these aren’t the types of tricks I perform. They’re not bad, by any means. In fact, some
of the magic is of a very high caliber. There’s just a lot of tricks with gimmicked cards and very structured
routines with a lot of magic moments. These are tricks that would be great in a formal show, but in an
informal situation, they’d be a little weird to do.

The set has inspired me to give dice stacking a try. But beyond that, I doubt I’ll use any of the effects in
here. But you still may want to put it on your wishlist if just to watch Charlie perform, which is alway
enjoyable.

15
M
y friend Tim comes over and asks if I
have any new tricks to show him. I kind
of sigh and then say, “Yeah… I don’t
know… I’m trying to do some more relevant type
of stuff, you know? Like all these stupid card tricks?
What’s the point, really?”
I perk up a little. “Actually, you might be able to
help me with something I’m working on. I’m trying
to transition this effect from just a card trick, to
something with a real world relevance. I’m in a bit
of an intermediary stage right now.”
I’ll pull out a deck of alphabet cards. “I’ve gone
from regular playing cards to these alphabet flash
cards, which I think is a good first step, because
the alphabet is the foundation of language whereas
playing cards are just meaningless symbols. But now
I’m trying to get away from cards altogether.”
I ask Tim to shuffle the cards, then I have him cut
off any amount he wants.
I tell him to mix those up while I go get something.
I come back with a bowl, some milk, and a box of
Alpha-Bits cereal. (A cereal in the shape of letters,
if you’re unfamiliar.)
I take the cards from him and ask him to “shuffle”
the cereal as well (i.e., shake up the box.)
While he’s doing that I mention that we’re not just
going to shuffle the cards regularly, but also face-up
and face-down, and I proceed to mix up the cards
that way as well.
I pour the cereal in a bowl and add some milk.
I go get a spoon from the kitchen.
17
I have Tim shuffle the cards more, breaking them up
into little packets and shuffling them and turning
them over in the process in a manner of his own
choosing.
While he does this, I stir the cereal in the bowl and
eye his shuffling. As if I’m trying to make some
correlation between my stirring and his shuffling.
When he’s done mixing he holds the cards between
his hands.
I continue stirring the cereal a little more as my
eyes dart around like I’m calculating something in
my head.
Then I say, “Okay… I think I got it.” And I bring
the bowl up and start shoveling cereal into my
fat mouth. Over and over. As I’m chewing and
swallowing cereal I’m also pontificating on why I
think it’s important to get away from cards of any
type in a magic trick.
“Cards are okay, but they’re used for games mainly.
The alphabet cards are better. But if I can find a way
to do it with food—a magic trick with life giving
sustenance—then it feels like something real and
meaningful, you know?”
Due to the fact my mouth is full of whole grains, it
comes out like this.
“Carber o-gay budair use fer game oastly. Da alfubed
carser bedder. Bu if Igan fine away duddoodit wiv
ood—a majutcrick with lipe gibben subenins—den
it fee lig sumptun rel n mebegul, yano?”
It’s a true mess. I get to the end and I pour the milk
down my throat and swallow.
“I tried to match your shuffling,” I say, then start
coughing. I cough for a couple seconds and then
slowly spit out four pieces of cereal from my mouth
into a wet mound on the table.
I exhale then say, “Can you spread those cards in a
row? I want to see what you ended up with.”
He spreads the cards which he has been shuffling
and mixing the whole time and there are four face-
up cards: P, I, B, and Y.
I poke through the letters I spat up. There’s a P, I,
B, and Y.
“Oh, hey, it worked! See? Isn’t it much more of an
artistic achievement of true significance when it’s not
just a dumb card trick?” I say, as milk dribbles off
my chin.
Method
Giving Thanks: Thanks to John Bannon and
Simon Aronson, whose work inspired the letter
18
forcing in this routine. And thanks to someone, I
can’t remember who, who wrote up an idea with
alphabet soup once. I can’t find who it was. Or any
reference to any tricks with alphabet soup. I may
have dreamed it. But it did help inspire the idea for
this effect.
This is pretty easy. We just need to force the cards
your spectator ends up with, and sneak those letters
into our mouth under a natural action. I’m pretty
happy with both of the methodological aspects of
this routine.
Forcing the Letters
Put the four letters you want to force on top of an
alphabet deck. The deck can be riffle shuffled once
by you or your spectator, those letters should remain
in the top half after that shuffle.
Have your spectator cut off some cards, “at least
half.” And have him shuffle those cards as much as
he likes while you go and get the cereal, bowl, and
milk.
You now hand him the cereal box while you take
the cards he has shuffled. Under the cover of a slop
shuffle, you will orient the four letter cards (in this
example, PIBY) opposite to the rest of the cards in
the pile. Here’s how it’s done.
You hold the letter packet face-up in your left hand
in essentially dealing position. Push over cards
from the face of the packet into your palm-up right
hand until you get to one of the target letters. Once
you spot a target letter, turn your right hand palm
down and push over that letter (and any other target
letters that are directly below it) into your right
hand, taking them below the cards that are already
there. Once you’ve pushed over the target card(s)
and you have a non- target card showing on the
face of the left-hand packet, turn your right hand
palm-up again. Spread off the non-target card or
cards, taking them below the cards in the right hand
packet, until you get to the next target card, where
you will again flip your right hand palm-down,
push over the target card or cards, beneath the
right-hand packet. You continue this back and forth
action until you’re out of cards in the left hand.
It will look like you’re mixing the cards face-up and
face-down, but at the end of this procedure what
you have is the letters that spell PIBY (or whatever
your letters are), face-to-face with the other letters
in the packet.
(If, when you get the letters back from the person,
a target letter is on the face, you will just do the
opposite of what’s written above.)
You can now genuinely riffle shuffle and/or overhand
shuffle these as much as you like. You should do so
to distribute the reversed cards throughout the pack.
The spectator will see a mix of face-up and face-
down cards. Set the packet aside.
It’s at this point you go and get the spoon. When
you get back, ask the spectator to cut about half the
packet and hand it to you. When you set it down,
turn it over. There is now a packet of cards in front
of you and your spectator. You don’t need to touch
the cards again.
Ask your spectator to cut his packet into two, and
then cut your packet into two. Have him turn
over one of his packets and one of your packets.
Have him swap the two packets he turned over.
Now have him shuffle the two packets in front
of himself together, and the two in front of you
together. There are now two packets on the table.
19
Have him turn over either one and then shuffle the
two packs together so there is just one mixed-up,
jumbled pack. Have him cover that with his hands.
(I say “shuffle” in this paragraph, but due to how
few cards we’re dealing with, it’s more likely he’ll
just push them together.)
At this point—despite all the cutting, flipping, and
mixing—the target cards are either all face-up or all
face-down in the pile (with all the other cards facing
the other way).
At the end of the effect you’ll have him spread
the pile. If they’re all face-up you don’t need to do
anything. If they’re all face-down, have him slide out
the face-down cards and push the rest aside.
Getting the Letters in Your Mouth
Before you begin, remove the four letters you’re
going to force from the cereal. Set them aside in
the bowl of a spoon somewhere in your kitchen.
At the point in the routine where you go to get the
spoon, you’ll put the letters into right hand finger-
palm (I guess) and hold the spoon in that hand.
There is no more natural reason to have your hand
curved and closed than to hold a spoon. You will
keep your hand like this for most of the routine.
As you get to the end of the effect and you’re
spooning the cereal into your mouth, you retain
the cereal in your right hand which is holding the
spoon. Once all the cereal is out of the bowl, you
do this: Your left hand holds the bowl from the
bottom while your right hand lifts the spoon to your
mouth, almost like a lollipop. You’re going to suck
the spoon clean before setting it aside.
The bowl is tilted slightly towards you and blocking
the bottom of your right hand. As you remove the
spoon from your mouth, you will drop the cereal
from your hand into the bowl at the same time (in
the milk).
Set the spoon aside. Drink most of the milk from
the bowl until it’s just a little milk and your four
letters. Your spectator shouldn’t be able to see in the
bowl at this point. Now just dump everything into
your mouth. Swallow the milk. And push the letters
to the side of your mouth.
This all sounds disgusting for some reason. But it’s
just cereal and milk, guys.
Now you cough up the letters and spit them out.
You don’t want the letters in the milk or in your
mouth too long or they’ll get soft and fall apart.
You also don’t want to pour too much cereal in the
first place, I mean, unless you’re really hungry, I
guess.
20
So, the revelation is like this. You spit out the cereal.
At that point it’s kind of meaningless. Then you
have him spread the packet and reveal the face-up
or face-down cards. And then, with your spoon, you
poke at the letters you spit out to show they match.
I think that’s the best order. (Rather than spitting
out the letters and saying, “Okay, I just spat out an
P, I, B, and Y. What cards are face-up in that pile?”)
The “climax” should be when they’re looking at the
cereal, not the cards.
You might be tempted to make the force letters
spell something like their name or something, but
I don’t think that’s a great idea. It will just make this
random procedure feel not-random.
Alpha-Bits is still in production, but I had to order
it through Amazon as it wasn’t at my local grocery
store.
I googled around and there are a few other alphabet
cereals. So if you don’t have Alpha-Bits, you may
have something else that works. You could re-jigger
this so it uses alphabet soup as well. But I just prefer
eating cereal. 