Mentalism

With
Cards
Lecture Notes
by
Dace j{iEJ 'ord
•
• Mentalism With Cards
• Doee Hilford
lecture Notes for IBM Ring 55
• February 15,1994
Preface
• Over the last few years the lecture
game has exploded . Everyone who ever
wrote a magic book, invented a trick, or
recorded a tape is lecturing. Each
lecturer makes his wares available.
Among these items is inevitabl y his "set
of notes", Magicians have come to
expect a small magic book. hastil y
published, with the name "The Great 50-
and-So's Notes" on the cover. This
booklet is not that .
This is, in fact, a collection of
notes on the subj ect addressed at my
lecture. A spec ial lecture for IBM Ring
55. Mentalism Witb Cards will not
include the full patter for each effect,
even though my friends and frequent
readers know that I stress the importance
of story lines, especially in mentali sm.
The notes will help you recall and
perhaps understand that which I spoke of
on Tuesday. February 15. 1994.
I hope you enjoy them .
The Use of Playing Cards
For a long time mentalists were
instructed not to use playing cards when
they performed. The audience, it is said,
will associate the cards with magic
tricks. Many still adhere to this
philosophy. Others have rebutted with
the thought that people associate card
games with playing cards, not magic
trick s. Mentalists have alwa ys striven to
use common items in thei r
demonstrations . Playing cards were as
common as could be imagined in the
years past. So mentalists, for the most
part, used playin g cards. As long as the
mentali st didn't do split fans and other
flourishes with them .
Now most homes have VCRs and
Video games, but not playing cards. It
can be difficult to borrow a deck in
many situations. The deck has become
uncommon in today's American world.
But there are so many great mental
effects with cards one must find a
method of introducing the cards without
arising suspicion. There are adeq uate
substitutes for decks of cards, but let's

solve the card problem with a little
forethought.
I say forethought because the
introduction must be planned. The cards
must be average, not brand new Bicycles
right out of the factory sealed box. They
should be a cheap Bridge deck held
together with a rubber band. This is a
sight remembered by most people.
People think of gaming when they think
of cards. If the deck of cards is new, they
think of gambling at a casino. If the deck
is cheap and used, they think of a home
game.
With this fact in mind, the
mentalist can take a cheap Bridge deck
and introduce it into the program
without any undue attention being drawn
to it. If performing at the mentalist's
home, he can have the deck ready and
waiting for its appearance. If performing
at someone else's home, he can "load" a
deck into a drawer at someone's home.
Most times the resident doesn't
remember if it is his or not. The alien
deck can be stacked or gimmicked for
the upcoming effect. Thus a "borrowed"
deck can be prepared before hand.
Realize that using a cheap deck
leads the audience to believe that the
demonstration IS impromptu or
2
unprepared. The latter belief allows
the mentalist to switch prepared decks
under the most difficult situations
without detection. No one thinks a
mentalist would have more than one
cheap deck with a rubber band, or a
duplicate deck that is somehow
special. These thoughts do not enter
the minds of the audience when the
mentalist uses truly common objects.
Now the mentalist has a deck of
cards ready to be used in
demonstrations of psychic
phenomenon. It may have been
legitimately borrowed, loaded, or simply
taken from the mentalist's pocket. It is a
common object. It is an object the
audience will wish to forget after the
performance. This is what the mentalist
wants. The audience will remember the
mentalist's ability to read thoughts and
not the beautiful or unusual deck of
cards.
Deck Substitutes
Several things can be used instead
of decks of cards for the terrific tricks
the mentalist knows.
Baseball or Collector cards have
become popular lately. They are
common objects that can be handled the
same as playing cards. However, I feel
they are only common to collectors and
kids .
I feel a stack of business cards can
be substituted for a deck of playing cards
in almost every trick the mentalist uses.
They can be marked, they have a
congruent back design. they can be
written upon, and they are very common
objects. Business cards have the added
benefit of having your name and phone
number printed on them.
 may say, "Did I get them all?" and show
T-4-2 Card Test the pocket empty, ifhe wishes .
ElTect: Two people are on stage.
Here is what sells the trick . The
Allen is on stage left, and Bob is on
mentalist false cuts the deck leaving the
stage right. A deck of cards is shuflled
stack of five on top . Allen takes the top
by Allen . The mentalist shows how the
five cards (the indifferent cards) and
two are to take the top five cards off the
puts them in his pocket. Boh gets the
deck and put them in their pockets
next five cards (the stack) and puts them
without looking at them . The deck is cut
in his pocket.
and handed back to Allen who puts five
cards in his pocket. Allen bands the deck The men each select a card and
to Bob, who also puts five cards in his put them in the other's pocket. Now,
pocket. when the mentalist sees the stack, (Boh's
cards in this case) he sees which card is
Now both men select one card
not in the stack, and knows what card is
from the five and look at it. Then., they
missing from the stack. Thus, he knows
put their selected cards Into each other's
both cards hy looking at the stacked
pocket.
cards.
The mentalist notes that even if
The mentalist should act as ifhe is
the men looked at the cards in their
only looking for Allen's card when Boh
pockets, they couldnt know the other
hands the stack to him.
man's card.
(This is an adaptation of Menial
Allen is asked to think of his card.
Rescue by L. Vosburgh Lyons in The
Bob hands the mentalist his pocketed
Jinx.)
cards one at a time . Finally. the
mentalist takes one from the group.
Allen names his ca rd and the mentalist
shows the card he is holding. They are
the same!

•
Bob is asked to think of his card .
The mental ist correctly calls out Bob's
card without seeing any other cards!

•.. Method: Unknown to anyone, the

mentalist has a five card stack in his
pocket. (8C-KH-3S-IOD-ZC. or Eight
Kmgs threatened 10.. .)
The deck is shuffled. The
mentalist illustrates what is to be done ESPsion
by taking the top five cards from the

..
ElTect: A deck of ESP cards is
deck and putting them in his coat
displayed and shuffled. It is explained
pocket. He secretly adds the five . lop
that the five different shapes are
cards to the five in his pocket He bnngs
repeated five times throughout the deck.
out aJ I ten and puts them on the deck . He
One representative of each shape is set

3
 face-up on the table. The mental ist picks
them up and puts one card face-down on
the table. This is his target shape. The
rest of the cards are spread out from c
which the spectator is to choose one. He
does. It matches the shape the mentali st
put down earlier.
Method: The hacks of the cards
are marked. The mentalist puts a "Star"
face -down. He spreads the remainder of
the cards ribbon style, but he keeps the Hypnosight
four other cards in his hands. He toys
Effect: Someone is selected to be
with them as the spectator chooses a
hypnot ized by the mental ist. He expla ins
card If the chose n card is a star (there is
that under hypnosis a person can
a 20".10 chance ofthis) the trick is over. If
someti mes increase the ir telepathic
any other card is selected, the mentalist
powe rs.
sees which card the spectator chose. and
leaves II on top of the four in his hand. The subj ect is blindfolded to keep
These four are casually added to the out light and other distractions. She is
ribbon spread as all the cards are picked given a few bus iness cards and a pencil.
up. She is then hypnotized by the mentalist.
The spectator's card is left on the A deck of cards is mixed and two
table . It is never touched. The target cards drawn by two spectators. A third
shape is picked up and put on the top of spectator totals the values of the two
the deck. Two cards are turned over as cards and looks at the first word on that
one. This shows the matching card to the page of a book .
chosen card on the table . Now the
The first person concentrates on
chosen card is shown. The two cards his card . The hypnotized subject writes
match .

•
something on one of the business cards.
Note that all the audience's The mental ist picks up the card and
attention is on the card on the table , not reads it to the audience. It matches the

•
on the mentali st's card. The switch is selected card of the first spectator. This
made long before anyone looks for is repeated with the second spectator.
something to happen. And finally. the chosen word is written

•
on the business card by the hypnotized
If the mentali st were to attempt to
subject. She has been correct each time.
switch the chosen card to match the
And when questioned about it later, she
target card. he would surely be caught.

•
will not know how she did it.
The "Heat" is on the card that isn't
Method: The deck of cards is
touched, away from the mental ists.
stacked with Doc:c'. New 14115 Stack.

•
Another effect where the "Heat" is
The business cards are unprepared, bUI
directed away from the menta list is:
the penc il tip is coated with clear nail

•
polish so it can't write.

•
 The subject is given suggestions to
relax. When she is calm, the mentalist
whispers to always write the word
"SLEEP" each time. When she writes
"SLEEP" nothing is written. The
mentalist fills in the card with a nail
writer. What convinces the audience that
the subject is writing the information is
that the mentalist doesn't know the
information . All attention is on the
subject
Here is the stack used in the
preceding effect.
-
Docc's New 14/15 Stack
Tbe Sla ck:
AS-KC-2H-QS-3D-JC-4H-I05-SD-9C-
6H-SS-7D-7C-SH-6S-9D-SC-IOH-4S-
JD-3C-QH-2S-KD-AC-KS-2D-QC-3H-
JS-40-IOC-SH-9S-6D-SC-7H-75-SD-
6C-9H-SS- I00-4CJH-3S-QO-2C-KH...
Both red Aces are out of Slack
Two cards are drawn together
from the stack. C ut the deck at the point
where the cards are drawn. Look at the
botto m card and it will tell you what the
two card s are .
• When a red card shows the total is
always IS
• When a black card shows the total is
always 14
• When a King shows the total is
always 14
S
• When a red King shows the two
cards are an Ace and a King
• Whe n a black King shows the two
cards are a Duce and a Queen
• Whe n an Ace shows the total IS
always IS, a King and a Ouce
• All suites are in C-H-S-D order
• Except Kings and Aces who are the
same color and skip a red suite
• Red cards always count up
• Black cards always count down
• Next card in series is same colo r,
different suite
Look at the bottom card.
Determine what the chosen total is by
the color of the bottom card. Determine
what the next two suites are and they are
the suites of the chosen cards. De termine
what the next card in the series is (red
always goes up, black down). Subtract it
from the known total.
Examp le: 9H shows - Cards total IS, 9H
..H then S & 0 , 9H + 1 ~ 100, lS-
I (}:~ Selected cards are SS & 100
Exa mple: 6S shows - Cards total 14,
next suite is D & C. black co unt down
6S•. 2£, 14 -S~ SC & 90
Example: KD shows - Cards total 14, red
~ A&K, KD ...~ (H)~, AC & KS
This stack can be used in a number
of book tests, telepathy tests. or
clairvoyance tests. Please see Leslie
May's Crystal Clear in January, 1974
The Linking Ring.

1 Chance in 10
Effect: The mentalist wishes to
demonstrate how difficult it is for him to
find a card merely thought of. The
spectator think s of a card and writes its
name on a slip of paper. (For later
proof ) The mentalist puts it in the empty
card box. He writes the name of a card
he is thinking of on another slip of paper
and puts it in the card box along With the
first slip.
The cards are shuffled and spread
face up on the table. The spectator trie s
to find the mentalist's card . He IS given
ten tries, but fails each time. The cards
are shuffled and turned face down and
spread on the table again. The mentalist
finds the spectator's card in one try!
Method: The cards are marked.
The first slip of paper is blank . The
second slip has the words 'Ten of Clubs"
written on it. Both slips are folded once
each way and kept in the pocket. The
mentalist gives the first slip to the
spectator and asks him to write his card 's
6
name on it. The mentalist takes the
folded slip and acts as if he puts it in the
empty card box. but really keeps it
finger-palmed in his hand. He reaches
into his pocket and performs the
Annemann Open Switch. Here's how:
While hidden in the pocke t, the
mentalist moves the spectator's slip from
the finger-palm position to the tips of his
fingers. The prepared slip is put in the
finger-palm position. When the
mentalist's hand is brought out of the
pocket. it appears as if he holds a new
slip. He holds, in trutlt, the slip just
written upon . The mentalist opens this
slip, reads it, and acts as if he writes the
words "Ten of Clubs" on it. The paper is
refolded and added to the paper in the
finger-palm position, tben they are both
placed in the card box. It appears as if
the second slip is put with the first, when
in reality both are put in the box at the
same time .
The mentalist keeps the 10 of
Clubs on the top of the deck and covers
it when spreading the deck on the table.
The spectator is instructed to touch any
card he sees . The ten is hidden and is not
chosen. If the mentalist is adroit at the
art of palming, he can palm the ten away
and return it after the spectator's choices.
This is an excellent trick based on
an idea using an impression device by
Ted Annemann in Sh-b-b. It's a Secret.

BONUS
The Best Way to Use the
1089 Force
There are certain times when a
mentalist wishes to force a four digit
number and apparently not know what
the number is. He doesn't want to resort
to clever devices or special moves. Over
the telephone is one such situation. The
01' 1089 Force has been overlooked by
many new mentalists Thev have
mistakenly thought it too old, simple, or
mathematical. This is incorrect! The
1089 force can be as effective as having
four spectators each write down three
digit numbers and add them together.
For this is what apparent ly happens
when the force is dramatized thus.
There are four people who have
been selected to help and are seated near
the mentali st. Allen thinks of any three
digit number where all the digits are
different. He writes this on a pad. The
pad is handed to Bob . Bob is instructed
to reverse Allen 's number and this new
number is Bob's. Bob writes his number
on the pad. The pad is handed to
Charley. Charley is asked whose number
is greater, Allen's or Bob's. He is told
Bob's for example. He is to subtract
•
Allen 's number from Bob's number and
this new number will be his. Charley
writes his number on the pad The pad is
handed to Dave . Dave is told to reverse
Charlie's number and this new number
will be Dave's. Dave writes his number
on the pad. Dave is instructed to add
Charlie's number and his own number
together. Bob double checks the
addition. This final sum IS the force
number 1089!
What has happened is that the
mentalist has given each participant his
own number. It makes it much easier to
explain what the spectator is to do.
Instructions such as: "Subtract Allen 's
number from Bob's number," are much
easier to understand than , "Subtract the
lower of the two numbers from the
higher of the two numbers." This latter
instruction is much less personal. The
audience doesn't care how you arrive at a
selected number; as long as the process
is easy to perform. Later, if the audience
even thinks about the selection of the
number, they will remember four people
with different numbers. The numbers
were added at the conclusion of the
process.
This method doesn't requi re any
special pads or slates. The mentalist is
far from the pad of paper. It doesn't seem
mathematica l because the mentalist used
phrases such as: "Select any number.
Make each digit different," when he
instructed Allen . Later, he used
I nstructions with the phrases
" completely new number," or
" absolutely different number." And
continually he said .....your number," and
"your own number."
Thi s force can be used in an
infinite number of mental tricks. Use it
wisely.