THE

JOURNEY

BENJAMIN SLEIGHT
 THE
JOURNEY
BENJAMIN SLEIGHT

© Benjamin Sleight
Prologue

The Real Card Guess

Lucky Aces

Premonition Card in Wallet

The NOW Book test

Remote Billet peek

The Artist

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 PROLOGUE
“I traveled through the World and also through my mind.“

This is “the Journey“ and I would like to share the insights

and routines I worked out along the way.

This is a book for mentalists who want practical hard

hitting material, but it’s also for everyone who wants to start
out in mentalism and learn some „real“ stuff and some safe
things. Also, here we go over a few of the basics in fishing
information.

I would like to thank a lot of people for making this

project possible, First of all, all the people I met on my
journey like Jamal, Daniel, Jacob, Joseph, Bobbo and my
close friend that I have only met once, P.

All the routines I teach in here are things I do in the real

world and on all of my travels. I hope you enjoy the stories.
 THE REAL CARD GUESS

I always wanted to learn how to guess a playing card

someone was merely thinking of, with only two minds, no
real cards in action. (quite ironically considering the name)
I started this journey when the first lockdown hit and I
wanted to find a reliable way to do this over Zoom. Then
when the borders opened and everything was less crazy I
travelled to Budapest and then to Dubai where I got a crazy
first try with this method. Thanks to Jamal in Dubai I also
figured out how to know if they don’t go for the force.
(Thanks for letting me fail on you my brother)

Now, without any further ado, here is my Real Card Guess

Explanation:

The Mindreader walks up to a participant and asks them to

think of any random card. He then asks them to change their
mind so they don’t fall into statistics and in under a minute
the Astonisher successfully divines the merely thought of
card.

All this is accomplished without any long weird procedures or

memory taxing anagrams. When done correctly the spectator
doesn’t even have to say anything in the process.
This is my take on the playing card guess that has been in the
work for over 2 Years.

Explanation:

This uses multiple propless methods that I discovered on my

Journey of Mentalism.

Let’s start with the Introduction. You can follow it along in

your head as if you were the spectator.

“In a moment you will think of a playing card, but

statistically, I know people usually go for a Queen or an Ace
for example, so I want you to think of a completely random
card. Now the problem is maybe there is a statistic of cards
you could go for when I say that so just to make it even more
random, if you happen to be on a picture card switch to a
number card and if you happen to be on a number card
switch to a picture card, you can also change the suit if you
want to.“

This just seems like an Introduction to what we are going to

do, but actually this was the first core part to the method,
wich forces you to go for the Jack the Queen or the King. (I
will also teach a failsafe for the rare occasion this doesn’t
work, and how to detect if it didn’t work)

You can customise the script to fit your own style, this is just
the way it suits my style and works the best for me.

Let’s break it down:

By me stating the obvious cards and make them think of
“random“ card, they get forced to think of a number. Now I
make them switch to a picture card by saying “if you happen
to be on a number switch to a picture card“.

Boom that’s it. Easy peasy. Now without even having started
we have them down to only 12 cards (3 Values x 4 Suits) and
from here on it only gets easier.

I personally like the presentation using statistics as it makes

sense and the procedure is justified through that plot already.
But you can choose any way to perform this that you like.

The second step is to figure out the value. For this we use
very simple anagram.

You look at them

“Now I want you to think of the value alone and spell it in

your head, for example seven would be s e v e n.”

“Now scramble up the letters and cycle through them.

I can see there was an E.. or I something like that.“

If you get a positive response for that (nodding, saying yes, or

impressed face) you now know its either the Queen or the
King, if you get no response or a disappointed face you can
just disregard the letters completely and go on because it’s
the Jack.

“You know what, forget that; I think you are more of a visual
person so lets try something a bit different“
 “So obviously this is a red card….. or a black card”

The point of this line is so that we can tell by their reaction to

red card if its a red or a black card. Just make a pause (a
breath) between Red card,,,, or black card and you will see
the spectator react to its a red card. (Positive response means
its red, negative response means black)

Now for the suit.

Imagine the spectator reacted negative so it has to be a black

card. This is what I say

“Just focus on the suit and imagine it being projected right

between us. I can see a big club…. And a big spade so I think
its a black card.“

As you can probably already tell this line uses the same trick
to get the reaction. Big pause on „I can see a big club“ and
through the reaction you can tell the suit. Positive response to
club means club, negative response means Spade, simple as
that.

If its a red card, you simply change to „I see a big heart, and
a big diamond so I guess its a red card)
Positive response to big heart means it’s heart card, negative
response means it’s a diamond.

Now for the big finale

You know its a picture card (as for the force)

Now based on their reactions you can tell the card with
 ease.

E,I
-YES QUEEN OR KING
-NO JACK

RED OR BLACK
CLUBS/HEARTS OR SPADES/DIAMOND

Now for the last part. If its the Jack then its simple because
you already know the card. Should it be the Queen or King of
(whichever suit it is) then you can use one simple trick.

The Repeat it ploy

“just say the card all over again, like Queen of Clubs, Queen
of Clubs, Queen of Clubs,,,, or whatever it is.“

By saying this you again get a positive response, or a

negative. By repeating the card when you get a positive
response you know its the queen and you can just reveal that
that’s their thought, instead of saying whatever it is.

When you get a negative response you continue with „or

whatever it is“ and now you know its the King and you can
reveal it in any way you want.

Bonus tip
Sometimes the spectator will not go for the force of Pictures.
This happens rarely but it does occur. So my trick to detect
this is again by their reactions.

When I say „if you had a picture card then switch to a

number card“ I watch their reactions, when I can tell they are
imagining this (looking up, looking like they are thinking
etc.) I know they are doing what I told them, in this case
Imagining to switching from a picture to a number card, so
they started on the wrong card and therefore it doesn’t work
as they are now on numbers. A very easy fix for this is to look
out if they had changed to numbers and just tell them to
switch once more to make it even more random. Now they
should be back on the pictures.
 LUCKY ACES

When I started working on card gambling tricks I always

missed the meaning of why I was doing it.

Then when I was in Germany, I met Daniel who showed me a

crazy story with playing cards that really put some tears in
my eyes. I figured the meaning for gambling would be to
cheat luck, so why not change it to gift luck with your magic.

So now I share with you the German Journey of the Gift. The
Lucky Aces

Explanation:

You ask the spectator if they believe in Luck or Fate.

“Now let’s put this to the test. Say stop whenever you like.
Let’s put this card to the side without looking. Now again
name a lucky number that you have. 7 , Let’s deal down
seven Cards. Let’s put that aside as well.
Tell me any lucky charm or object you have. Keys, so we deal
down a card for each letter. Let’s put this card to the side as
well.

For the last one tell me the name of a person that brings you
luck.
 “Bobbo”, So we deal down cards for “Bobbo”, Let’s put
that aside.

Now the first card was you saying stop, you did something
that was work. The suit for luck in work would be the spade
(turn over ace of Spades)

The second card was dealt with a lucky number, the suit for
numbers and values is diamonds. (Turns over Ace of
Diamonds)
The third card was the lucky charm and the sign for luck is
the club (turn over ace of clubs)
Now the fourth card was found with a loved ones name and
the suit for Luck with people is the heart and I would say you
are pretty lucky indeed. Turns over Ace of Hearts)

With this routine I focus more on story than anything, so the

method based on your skill level.
I personally use a consecutive bottom deal, to force the
Cards, as it is a very smooth method for forcing multiple
cards.

If you can’t do this, I encourage you to learn the Hindu

shuffle (you can find this in every beginner Card magic book
and probably even on YouTube for free)

With this you force the cards with just sliding it down and
not show it. Do this four times in a row and you are golden.
Bonus tip.

You can ditch the Poker Cards and use Tarot cards instead.
With this you can create your own stories. Predict their future
or even tell them their past. So I tell you give it a shot.

To force you can also use my effect called Devil Caan (sold
separately), wich allows you to force a card while the
spectators deal on their own and by changing it up just a
little you can even force 4 cards in the spectators hand.
 PREMONITION CARD IN
WALLET

“Credit here also goes to Kenton Kneppers kolossal killer

as this uses the same premise and shares one of the core
methods”

This is probably the Journey that is closest to my Heart

I worked in a bar every Friday evening when I was still 18.
and over there I quickly made the change to Mentalism. One
of the magicians I looked up to, Tony Rei, told me that to
start a show you better have a trick that you can do in under
a minute and that blows their pants off.

So naturally I searched for a secure method to have a quick

miracle in Mind reading. After a time my Card guy mentality
came out and I wanted to go back to cards, then it hit me
why not do something with cards.

The best Memory I have with this trick is me, at the age of
20, doing some magic in London for these guys on a
basketball court. There I met my Buddy P. We agreed to not
share numbers, contacts or even our full Names. For him I
was B. And he was P. And that day we were best friends. This
trick got us laughing and talking all day.

Thanks P.
 Explanation:

You tell the spectator you have a card in your wallet and you
want them to guess it. Of course you will help them by
guiding them through the process.

“Just imagine you hold a card box, and really visualise it.
Now you get to choose if you want to put the pictures or
numbers in the box whatever you choose we go with that.

If they say numbers

“Now imagine putting all the numbers in, now you get to
choose again do you want to put the red cards or the black
cards in the box.“

Now it doesn’t matter what they say anymore. Because in the

end they will be left with a picture card (wich is our force
goal)

If they say picture cards.

“Ok then put all the picture cards inside of the card box, and
now imagine one card slowly rising outside of the deck, wich
one is it.“

And just like that you have again forced a picture card

Now for the reveal.

In my wallet I have 6 cards hidden
 (For this I use all the pockets I could put a card inside, or
you can use double envelopes.)

Now there are 12 possibilities for Picture cards and each and
everyone of them is covered in the Wallet by six double cards.

Each of these cards has a different card on the back (you can
just stick two cards together)

I stuck the Jack of Hearts with the Jack of Diamonds

The Queen of Hearts with the Queen of Diamonds.
The king of Hearts with the king of diamonds and then all the
Spades with all the Clubs

So depending on wich way I take out the card (I usually keep

them in envelopes in the wallet)
I can reveal that exact card.

You can also just write on the backs (I knew you would pick
the (paired suit) and then you get the card almost right, and
then save it with the reveal.

Bonus tip:
You can use the force from the real card guess to force the
card in the wallet
 THE NOW BOOK TEST

First of all thanks to my friend Bobbo from Sweden for

helping me improve the routine described in this effect and
also much thanks to Joseph Walker for helping me name the
Principle in use here (the NOW principle)

Explanation:

This is my take on the Mentalism classic, the Booktest. There

are tons of routines and methods out there on this routine.
The principle I will teach you in here is a way I developed to
enhance a majority of the Booktest routines out there. I will
teach you it’s simplest form the way I personally use it.
The participant will change their mind a few times and in the
end, you can still read their minds without having the fear of
failure. You could also use this technique for predicting their
thought (not something I would personally do in this
scenario but you can!)

Effect:
Performer: As a mind reader I obviously need a Mind to read
from. (Choose a random spectator) thanks, mister Participant
for your help. As you can see on top of this table is a book.
It’s my favorite book Sherlock Holmes. (Performer picks up
the book)
 “I will now flick through these pages and I want you to
call out stop at any point you like. Splendid so Now I want
you to look at the first word on the page and burn that into
your mind... or you know what change your mind too a
different word on the page. ANY WORD. Now change your
mind a few times. Great.(Performer throws book backstage) .

Now think of the word you have in mind please and like
Sherlock Holmes himself, I will try my best to ascertain this
thought or at least one of the thoughts going through your
head. Just think of your word. Yes. Think of the very first
letter of your word.... Is it an o? No, it’s not? Hmm, I got a
little confused as there are many random words and thoughts
floating through your head right now. You have changed your
mind a few times yes? (Participant says Yes) okay, that
explains a lot.

Just out of curiosity there is a word in your head starting

with the letter o correct? (Participants says Yess again) okay.
You know what I believe I can get a better reading on this
word can you focus on this one instead for me?
Amazing. Just think about how many letters are in the word,
okay great and now just think about what the letters are.
Splendid you are doing great. Just go through these letters in
your head one by one. Oh I think I saw something there, I
think I saw... your word is observe
(The Participant flips out in astonishment now)“
Method:
So basically this routine works on two easy principles. One is
a mechanical principle and the other one is a
Psychomehanical principle.
 The first principle is easy it’s a shortened page to force the
exact page when riffing through the book. Just like a Svengali
Deck. So you will time the stop to be around you shortened
page and then you just let go of the pages so you arrive at
your force page.

You could also put a coin in between the two pages or just
put your pinky in it. I have done all three of those methods to
force the page and all of them work. If you have time to
prepare the book before the show use the shortened page
though as it’s the cleanest of the three methods explained.
So to the second Method. It’s what I call the NOW Principal
(No other Way) or more precisely that’s what my friend
Joseph Walker called it after I explained it to him, shortly
after I thought about it.

It’s basically a Technique I use to make pre-show look better.

With this technique, you can make the participant change
their mind a few times and just by knowing what they started
on initially you can subtly force them back to that
information. This makes the whole performance seem cleaner
(they change their mind a lot) but this also makes it sure-fire
for you to read their mind.
Knowing this I will now fill you in on how exactly it works
and what you have to do to make it feel fair.
It works by knowing the starting point, for example, during
pre-show they wrote on a billet the name Sarah and you have
peeked that information. When you are on stage you let
every spectator think of a name, you then get your pre-
showed spectator on stage and he/she will now be thinking
of Sarah.
But to make it look and feel even fairer and more random for
them as well as the audience you tell them to change their
mind a few times. Now to get them back to the name you
simple call out the first letter of the initial name. They will
now say No, now you throw out a very clever line which also
makes this whole principle work as well. You say „yeah I am
getting confused right now as there are many random words
and thoughts floating around in your head. But out of
curiosity was there a name starting with an S?“ they will now
say yes and you just tell them you are getting better read on
this word and they should focus on this one instead. For the
audience as with the participant it still seems like they could
have thought of any random name which they in fact did.
This makes the whole pre show look more impossible.

Keep in mind that sometimes you will get a participant who

will be a little confused and who won’t change the name in
their head. So when you name the first letter it will be a hit.
That’s totally fine as well just keep getting hit after hit and in
the end you just have a very clean Mind reading effect.
So yes in the book test what you do is you tell them to say
stop (using the mechanical force by using one of the methods
described above). Now that they are on the page you tell
them to „burn“ the first word into their memory and give
them 2-3 seconds time to do so (this way you can be sure
they won’t forget it) then as an afterthought you tell them to
change their mind and look at any word on the page
changing their mind how may times they would like to.

Now using the NOW principle you get them back to thinking
about the first word on the page which the audience doesn’t
know and the participant also doesn’t know that you know
the first word on the page as in their mind they stopped
themselves at the page and it could have been any word of a
few thousands. And now you have presented a true Miracle
to everyone in the audience.

BONUS THOUGHTS ON BEN SLEIGHT’S

N.O.W. BOOK TEST PRINCIPLE

BY SAM COLEMAN

What I really love about this N.O.W. idea, and why I got
excited enough to write this moments after Ben shared it
with me, is that it does what book tests seldom do.

It invites a participant to CHANGE THEIR FREAKIN’ MIND.

Without Ben’s principle, this would be a full on ballsy and
down right reckless thing to do. But with this concept, it
becomes not only doable but also desirable.
And this can literally be done with most, if not all, book tests
from MOAB to Zandman to the long word principle... Any
book test where they land on a word you can force, peek or
discover, you can employ this because essentially you’re
creating a random selection journey for your audience (which
seems super fair) and a circular journey for the spectator
(which still feels fair) but in actual fact, you’re not going
anywhere. You’re utilising past actions whilst keeping your
audience and spectator very much in the ‘now’ (if you pardon
the pun).
That being said, I have some ideas based on this which I’ve
given needlessly magicky titles too and here they mother
freaking are...

FRAGMENT

One feature about N.O.W as Ben describes it is that it is

circular and relies on a subtle pseudo- mistake to get back to
the first selection. This is great, and in fact finding one word
hard and so going to a different one adds so much legitimacy
as a real mind reader would probably find it strenuous and
difficult to read the words and so might change to an easier
one. As has oft’ been sighted by mentalists and mind readers,
mistakes make a routine seem less setup and more... real...
That being said, false mistakes and backtracking doesn’t suit
every performer’s style and depending on the position of this
effect within a show, you might need it to be just a little bit
‘cleaner’ or seem more ‘perfect’ in which case, this might be a
solution.
Instead of pitching this as a ‘change your mind’ exercise,
which then necessitates them unchanging their mind for the
principle to work, perhaps one could pitch it as a word
collection exercise.
Picture the following script, immediately proceeding their
picking of the force word:
“OK, implant that word in your head and now pick
another word from that page, and another and another and
keep picking words at random, really try to fill your head
with as many random words as possible...”

In this instance, you no longer need to ‘go back’ to their first

word, instead you can seemingly ‘pluck’ one of the words
they’re thinking of ‘at random’ from their head.

They are no longer discarding the previous words but

building a tower of words, whilst all you are doing is just
‘plucking’ the first (force) word which they are near
guaranteed to have remembered the most, especially if
you’ve asked them to ‘implant’ it in their head.

To succinctly encapsulate it, instead of the spectator moving

in a single, linear circle, they are instead holding all the
fragments of that circle in their mind, one of which you
happen to pluck from their head like the devil you are.

MACRO FRAGMENT
So as the title suggests, this is the fragment procedure
(above) but on a larger scale. This could, I guess, also be
done with the original – and awesome – NOW effect as
written by Ben.

Picture this, you ask them to look at a (force) word and burn
it in their mind, then to start looking at other words on the
page and try to pick up as many words as they like (As
before) but then you say,

“INFACT! Turn the pages, find some other words. Don’t worry
about remembering them all, just let them pop into your
conscious and then move onto another word, let your eyes
dart through the pages...”

“INFACT! Here are the other books you didn’t choose earlier,
scroll through some of them, and really let your eyes dart
through the pages at random words!”
By this point you’ve done the exact same thing as before,
you’ve just widened the pool of meaningless words they can
memorise tenfold (which must look super duper fair to an
audience).

Now, there is some judgement and spectator management to

be made with this as giving them so many words to
remember carries the risk they’ll forget the original word, but
as before if you really get them to ‘burn’ the first word into
their mind and then, as in the text above, you stress that
they’re just to let the words ‘pop’ in and out of their head,
just mere glances (Rather than trying to remember them all)
then you should be ok.

Of course, with this MACRO version, you can play with the
fragment reveal even more so...

“You must have literally hundreds of words in your head right

now, but I imagine you’re only really
thinking about a few of them...”
And then, unbeknownst to the audience, you proceed to
divine the force word at the beginning. You could even push
your luck and say,

“You’re really only thinking of a few of them... infact, there’s

one word I can sense is particularly burnt into your psyche...”
Etc. if you’ve told them previously to ‘burn’ the force word
into their brain.

OUTSIDE IMPLICATIONS
This NOW principle, of asking the spectator to change
their mind (or add on extra thoughts) and then returning to
the first word could be used in so many other routines and
effects, either as a convincer or added subtlety.

Take for example, Svengali pads (of which, we all know

the best ones are Brett Barry’s SvenPads). Until now, routines
have been based on showing the non-force words prior to the
force... with NOW, you could show the non force words
AFTER as well...
The applications of this are huge.
Good work, Ben! And happy NOW-ing folks.
With regards, Sam Coleman

REMOTE BILLET PEEK

“Works in Real Life and over video chat”

I worked on this effect with my best friend Kilian from

Germany. He was the first I showed it to in combination with
my signature hand stick routine.
I intended this to be just a quick trick with a very simple
method, but his genuine astonishment proved again for me
that sometimes the easy method can be the best when
combined with a great presentation.

Thanks Kilian, this effect is just for you.

Explanation:
The performer shows the participant about 20 index sized
cards with names written on them. These names are
significant to the mentalist. To find a connection to the
participant, he or she will select a name from the cards to
which they also feel a connection.

The participant never says the name out loud or writes

anything down. But, instantly, the performer knows the name
of which the participant is thinking.
The method is simple and mostly self-working.

The selection of the Name:

The performer shows all the cards to the participant one by

one and instructs him or her to say “stop” when they find a
name with which they feel a connection; however, so the
performer can’t cheat, the performer is going to look away.

Basic Method:
The cards are marked on the back. I have written the names
on the back of the cards, after the first 3. Each card is marked
for the previous value, and they maintain a specific order. For
example, card number 5 is marked on the back for card
number 4.
When the spectator says stop, you separate the packs, while
looking away, and you casually drop the hand that is not
showing the selection into your line of sight. As it drops into
your line of sight, without looking towards the participant’s
selection, you can see the marking that tells you the card in
which the participant is looking.

The method is very old and definitely not groundbreaking;

but, in times of Covid-19, it‘s a good alternative to billets,
even in real life situations. Currently, I prefer this over any
billet peek because they don’t have to write anything down.
Bonus Ideas:
Obviously, you can do this routine with any kind of
information: names, cities, dreams, etc. You just need to find
the right presentation for it.

Also, you could use this method in the one ahead routine
(described in a later chapter) by using the information (or
whatever information you choose) as the one ahead
information.

My Friend Casey’s Notes:

One:
While this could be used with playing cards, I believe it’s
much more powerful when using names or pictures. When I
perform this routine, I have several setups: one, I use a
marked deck

with pictures which is stacked in alphabetical order; two, I

have a marked deck with people’s names and pictures which
is also stacked in alphabetical order +5. For example, if I see
the marking “A” on the back of the card, I know the
participant is looking at the name that starts with an “F,”
which is Frank in my stack.
Two: (not for remote performances):

Another idea using this same method is to use business cards.

I setup a svengali-type business card stack where each short
card is glued to the back of a long card at one end. The short
cards have a force image. Therefore, I can use this as a one
ahead with a two-prediction effect.

First. I make a prediction in which I write the force image. I

perform the effect as described by Ben above. Second, I make
the last prediction with the information that the participant
just looked at that I peeked from the back of the business
card.

Then, I gather the cards and hold them at the glued end and
ask the participant to lift up anywhere in the stack and look
at the image.

At this point, I can reveal the predictions.

One other subtlety I use is to write both predictions on one

business card. I divide the card in half by drawing a line
through the center of the card with a marker. Then, I openly
and obviously write my first prediction on the left side of the
card and my second prediction on the right side of the card.
When it’s revealed to the participant, it’s harder to reverse-
engineer. The method is to write the information upside
down, so when revealed, the left side matches the first
prediction and the right side matches the second prediction.
Using one business card as a prediction by dividing it in half
could be enhanced by using mis- colored markers or pens to
write the prediction. Using a regular black marker, in front of
the spectator, draw a black line dividing the business card in
half. Then switch the marker for a marker that is black on the
outside but writes red; make the first prediction. Now, say
something like, “I used the black marker for the first
prediction, and now I will use a red marker for the second
prediction.” Of course, the second marker is red on the
outside but writes black.
One tip for upside down writing: the images I use in my
business card stack are purposely easy to draw upside down.
My force image is a hash symbol, “#” (which is the same
upside down), and all the other images are simple shapes.

Thanks to you all for being part of this Journey and

for supporting me and the mystical arts.

I wish you all a wonderful Journey.

 THE ARTIST

Ben Sleight is a Austrian Mentalist and Hypnotist. He works

regularly in Local Theaters, corporate events and travels the
world with his special brand of mentalism.