TRICKSHOP.

COM
 INTRODUCTION AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This lecture deals exclusively with “Magic of the Human Mind.” Since there are so few
basic effects in mentalism, approach and adaptation are most important, in my opin-
ion, so I stress them. Most mentalists already have more tricks than they know what to
do with. In the mental tests included here, simplicity, as always, is my aim. Eddie Tull-
och, King of the Sales Convention Magicians (and deservedly so) told me, “I’ve quit do-
ing some difficult card tricks and am using your simplified versions from ‘Magic Digest.’
They’re improvements.” You can believe that anything I offer is practical, because it’s
all audience-tested, unless I label it a new, untried idea.

Anyone who does mental magic today owes a big debt to Ted Annemann and William
W. Larsen, Sr. They were far ahead of their time and their printed works stand up today,
where the once popular books of some other mentalists are now antiquated. Aside
from electronic equipment (which I don’t like), much of our current performance pro-
cedures are based on their thinking. Simplicity and effect were their hallmarks. Ob-
vious magic apparatus was out. When doing mental magic, they didn’t try to act like
magicians – quite the contrary.

Dr. Q was another pioneer. Some of the Late U. F. Grant’s creations had the same sim-
plicity and effectiveness. Over the years, Orville Meyer has produced the same kind of
material. Karrell Fox, most widely known as a comedy magician and convention show-
man, is a great thinker and doer in mental magic. Jay Marshall, who seldom does men-
tal magic, has an encyclopedic knowledge of it. He and Fran have been of tremendous
help to me. So has Neil Foster, who doesn’t do mental magic but knows it.

Bascom Jones, in his “Magick“ newsletter has helped me back into the swing of cur-
rent mental magic after my long absence from it and has aided my thinking. “Magick“
is an absolute must for anyone in the field, as are “Genii” and “Magigram”. “Tops”
magazine, with a mentalism column and contributions from readers, is, like “Genii”, an
ideal source for information on new effects and literature. Sid Lorraine’s reviews are
unbiased and “Genii” reviews rate books and tricks with a Star system, which gives
readers a good idea of their quality. “Magigram” contains some mental material that
is almost too good. All of the magazines have intriguing ads on mental effects. “Magi-
gram” carries some fine adaptations of Supreme equipment by its readers. Some of the

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magazines carry ads from one-time shot advertisers that misrepresent what they’re
offering and ask outrageous prices. I never buy anything from a dealer I don’t know. If
it looks good, I order it from a reputable dealer, knowing they won’t stock it if it’s junk.

“Magic Digest” has put me into communication with magicians of all kinds, all over the
world. Hopefully, future lectures will deal with other types of magic, all good and all of
which I love.

GBA

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 GET THE AUDIENCE INTO THE ACT

My first two sentences get the audience into the act immediately. They are, “How many
of you people have never – I repeat, have not ever – had a psychic experience? Hold up
your hands.”

Fifteen years ago, almost every right hand would have shot up. Today, it’s amazing how
few raised hands I see. I smile and say, “Well, we’ll try to remedy that situation for you
tonight.”

“Since everybody is born with a sixth sense, or ESP or instinct – whatever you choose
to call it – let’s see what degree of sensitivity you people have.”

Instead of using the flashy little color cards I once bought from the late Syd Bergson,
I get blue, green, yellow, red and black color cards from a paint store preferably with a
brand name on them. I remark that the law of mathematical probability would indicate
that one out of 240 people in the audience should get all five colors correct. I instruct
the audience that I’m going to try to project a color and want them to think of it. Then
I hold up the red card and ask how many thought of that one. I drop it onto the table
and ask the audience to try to get the mental projection of another card. This time it’s
blue. Then I repeat with green and yellow, leaving only the black. I say, “This time, the
percentage of right projections should be high – black!” I remark that a keen mentality
is needed to beat the law of mathematical law of probability and ask how many got all
five. Usually, I get ten or more hands. I compliment those people and remark that I’ll
ask their assistance in some of my most difficult tests.

In a small group, if I want a larger choice of aides I use the old, “Draw a simple geo-
metrical figure – a hexagon, parallelogram, trapezoid, triangle, star, circle, etc. Then
draw a second geometrical figure inside the first one, quickly, without any debate.”
Most people will draw a circle inside a triangle.

Then I pick up a little woven raffle sewing basket with a lid on it. The right size card-
board box and lid would do just as well. I say, “In this little basket, I’ve put either a
bottle of ink, a travel alarm clock, a flower pot, a billiard ball or a doorknob.” I toss the
little basket up into the air a few feet and catch it. “How many of you think it’s a bottle
of ink? Hold up your hands. A travel alarm clock? A billiard ball? One of the other two?”

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Far, far more than twenty percent think it’s a billiard ball, which is correct. “Being a
billiard ball, it’s either red or white. How many think it’s white?” I remove the white
billiard ball from the basket.

“I’m projecting a two-digit odd number between one and fifty-nine. How many think
it’s 53? I can see that we’re going to accomplish wonders this evening, thanks to a sen-
sitive audience.”

YOU START WITH AN APPROACH

My approach in this lecture is as a teacher, not a performer. It’s my duty to give you
valuable information. I must trust you not to let this information or the lecture note-
book get into the hands of the general public. To do so would hurt you as well as the
whole field of mental magic.

You need an opening approach for public performances, and mine works. To start with,
I never mention “Mental Magic” in a public performance, because the word Magic
means tricks to most people. Rather, I say, “The human mind is capable of far greater
and more mystifying magic than conjurors can do, and tonight we’re going to explore
that magic of the human mind.”

“I started out as a rabid non-believer, having used the exposure of fake mediums as
publicity for my blindfold automobile drive newspaper exploitation stunt. But as I per-
formed what were magic tricks in my theater act, things began happening to me and I
knew there was no trickery, because they were involving me. I don’t know of many ma-
gicians who have been active for long who aren’t convinced of the existence of psychic
forces.”

“I’ve witnessed performances of psychics that, with all my knowledge of trickery, I

couldn’t explain. And I’ve seen these same legitimate psychics use trickery. There’s a
perfectly logical reason for that. Psychic ability not being something you can as yet turn
on and off at will, a psychic who is appearing before a paying audience must be able
to deliver something or be accused of taking money under false pretenses. One of the
saddest things I ever saw was an internationally famous psychic’s appearance on the
Tonight show some years ago. Absolutely nothing happened. Every statement he made
was wrong. It became such painful viewing that he had to be cut off.”

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“So the smart psychic has a few tricks up his sleeve as insurance. Anyone who appears
in public for money has an obligation to entertain the audience. Hopefully, it will be
instructive and you are made to think seriously about psychic phenomena.”

“I have some of these ‘insurance’ tests, too. I try to do every test by using my senses
and knowledge, without resorting to trickery, because I think that’s the way to develop
ESP. However, when necessary, I will complete a test by any means possible. There is
still enough quackery in the world so that you should be skeptical. So that you’ll ques-
tion some of the things I do, I won’t tell you in most instances when I resort to conjur-
ing. In addition to calling on ESP or instinct, I will try to use my other five senses at all
times, since all six are inter-related.”

If there’s ever been a cleaner approach to mental magic, I haven’t seen or heard it.

APPROACH TO AUDIENCE BELIEF

Back when I was about 12 years old and first became interested in mental magic, my
mother told me, “There’s about as much chance of your establishing telepathic com-
munication with somebody else as there is for man to walk on the moon.”

Back in about 1973, an English scientific journal made a survey of 100 research scien-
tists in all fields – people of the highest repute. Eighty-three of the hundred said they
considered the existence of the occult as a definite possibility. Seven more said they
believed it to be a fact. Ten more said they hadn’t yet made up their minds.

In addition to scientists, the general public has changed its stance on parapsychology.
Many people have strong convictions, thanks to what’s happened to them or to their
friends.

Depending on the audience, I sometimes read a fully documented report from the
researchers for the Ripley “Believe It or Not” newspaper feature, published in Satur-
day Review of Literature, which they say is the most remarkable authenticated psychic
phenomenon in their files.

“Right now, I’d like to test someone in the audience who sincerely believes in mental
telepathy. Here are five end-opening envelopes in bulldog clips, numbered one through

6
five. Four of the five envelopes contain folded pieces of newsprint, but the fifth con-
tains a ten-dollar bill. I want you, sir, to try to establish telepathic communication with
me, since I know which envelope contains the money. Now, set fire to four of the five
envelopes, leaving only the one with the money intact. Thank you. Drop the contents of
the intact envelope into your hand. It’s the ten-dollar bill.”

This uses an idea given to me by Bob Fellows of Boston, who has had great success
working the college lecture circuit. A tightly folded ten-dollar bill is inserted into each
of the five envelopes at the top, just inside and under the flap. The envelopes are put
into the bulldog clips as far as they’ll go, so that the entire bill is inside each clip. Four
of the five envelopes are burnt to the lips of their clips, so that all five bills are undam-
aged. You remove the unburnt envelopes from its clip, tap the bottom sharply, and
hand it to the spectator, who lets the folded bill slide onto his palm.

A strip of wood with hooks or nails projecting from it holds the clips and envelopes
while they’re burning.

The clips should hang far enough apart so that one burning envelope doesn’t ignite
another.

It’s a flashy opening effect, thanks to the bright flames.

APPROACH TO CONTACT MINDREADING

Psychologists, pediatricians, and neurologists have now come up with the startling in-
formation (to them) that the mind, the body and the soul are inter-connected and that
a thought creates a physical response or reaction – a fact that contact mindreaders
have known and used for over a hundred years. It’s the basis of both the polygraph and
sound-tape lie detectors. That one person conveys thoughts to another without speak-
ing is obvious. Ask any husband who’s ever tried to lie to his wife if you don’t believe
me. You’ve all said, “It was evident he was nervous...I could tell he was lying...he was
so frightened his hands were trembling and his forehead was wet with sweat...he was
livid with anger.”

It’s now generally agreed that all mentally normal babies are born with a sixth sense.
They know things that can’t be obvious to them except through instinct or ESP. Some of

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them continue to use their ESP right up to their teens, but parents and teachers try to
discourage it. There’s enough pressure so that, until recently, children have quit exer-
cising their instinct and have let it atrophy.

Some people are naturally more psychic than others, just as some people have other
talent superior to the abilities of those around them. For most of us, that sixth sense or
instinct needs to be rescued and revived – and the process is sometimes discouraging-
ly slow.

THE PENDULUM

The best introduction to contact mindreading is, in my opinion, the pendulum. You
demonstrate with it that a thought creates an imperceptible physical response.
Demonstrate how it swings back and forth over a male and in a circle over a female.

Always let members of the audience demonstrate it. I first saw it as boy in Nebraska
and Iowa, where farmers paid a dollar for a piece of string with a lead fishing sinker
tied to one end. It was advertised in magazines as a Sex Detector.

A PENDULUM TEST

Toss some member of the audience five standard 3 x 5 file cards, blank on one side and
ruled on the other, with a red line at the top and 10 blue lines running across it.

One spectator is instructed to give four of the cards to any four people and keep one
for himself. The card recipients are instructed to scrawl their signatures boldly clear
across the blank side of their file cards. Then you show them how to fold their cards in
half, writing inside, and either tear them at the crease or cut them there with scissors
which you provide.

The audience assistant then gathers up either half of each card from the other four and
puts them with half of his card writing side down on your table. You tell one of the five
to examine the five face-down halves while your back is turned, to determine which
is his. When he’s done that you turn around. He will be holding his other half-card in
one of his hands. Instruct him to put it face-down on the table so that he can grasp
your wrist with that hand. With your other hand, you move the pendulum over the five

8
half-cards and it starts to swing over the spectator’s matching half. You repeat with a
second of the five spectators, but this time he doesn’t know where the other half of his
card is. Again, he puts the half he kept face-down and takes your wrist with that hand.
You find the card.

This much is accomplished simply. With a blue-ink Bic ballpoint and a straight-edge
ruler, you slightly shade a different blue line on each card: line 1 on one card, line 2 on
another, etc. I’ve never had a spectator catch the markings. There’s a logical reason for
the spectator to put the half he’s holding on the table face-down, to leave that hand
free to hold your wrist. If all five spectators have put their half-cards into a pocket,
you simply say, “All of you put your half-cards face down directly in front of you at the
edge of the table and concentrate intently on them. Thank you.” And then you proceed.
If any two of the five have their half-cards in hand, that’s all you need. Pick those two
for your part of the test. Simply look for the same shading on the same line. Then have
two of the remaining three spectators try it with each other. If they don’t get positive
results, try one of them with the third remaining spectator. Chances of hitting are excel-
lent.

At this point, mention the audiotape lie detector test. Have one of the participants put
an X over the name on any one of the five halves, put it back down and while your back
is turned, move the five cards around, remembering which has the X. You instruct this
person to either tell the truth or lie when you ask if each half-card has an X on it, with
the person standing behind your back. In each instance, you tell if the person is lying or
telling the truth. Strangely, I can quite often tell without looking at the card – listening
to the voice. I’ll bet you‘ll soon be able to do that, too.

THE DOCTOR Q FINGER TEST

While Dr. Q made a reputation doing this with a single member of the audience, it’s a
great mass participation stunt, fully explained in “The Mental Mysteries and Other Writ-
ings of William W. Larsen, Sr.,” published by Genii magazine. I instruct the audience to
pair off and one of each pair holds out an open palm, thinking of one of the five fingers.
The other person touches each of the five, one at a time, with the forefinger, and tries
to tell which one the other is thinking of. My only instructions are, “The physical reac-
tion will vary. The important thing is that the touch of one of the five fingers will feel
slightly different from that of the four others.”

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 A TEST TO DO AT HOME

Audiences like a simple test to do at home. A good one is to have some member of the
family put a coin and both hands behind his or her back and then bring the closed fists
straight forward with the coin concealed in one or the other. It’s easy to tell which fist
contains the coin if you watch the tip of the person’s nose as the hands come to the
front. The nose will invariably move quickly but slightly toward the hand holding the
coin. I tell my audience it obviously won’t work with people who know it, but to try it
when they get home. It’s gratifying how many will call and tell me how well it worked
for them. They really love it and get a lot of mileage from it. Do they expose it? Never!

DOWSING RODS

The Kenneth Roberts book on water-witches newer got much serious attention, but my
personal experience with dowsers or water-witches has impressed me. With instruc-
tions from one, I did it, myself. The Ripley “Believe It or Not” research on one wa-
ter-witch story was incredible but true. I have a volunteer from the audience hold the
rods (made from two wire coat hangers) and walk slowly across the platform to a point
where a glass of water is sitting on the floor. Nine times out of ten, the rods will come
together at that point. Whether they do or not, I have five empty tin cans which have
been neatly opened at one end with an electric can opener. Labels have been removed
from them. I use one can as a cover for the glass of water and the remaining four are
put over empty glasses or nothing at all. The can over the glass of water has a slight
outward nick on the top rim. While my back is turned, the order of the cans is changed
by a spectator. I turn around and get the rods to converge over the glass of water.

“WHODUNNIT?”

I had an inferior version of this in an early book. It’s now much improved. It utilizes
dowsing rods in the hands of a spectator. Five murder instruments are displayed – a
dagger, gun, knife, noose, and bottle with skull and crossbones POISON label on it.
While the performer’s back is turned, each of the five spectators participating takes
one of the items and conceals it on his person. The performer displays a large bull-
dog clip with a folded strip of cardboard in it. You have no idea which spectator has
which weapon. A sixth spectator is given the dowsing rods. You tell him that only Sher-
lock Holmes knows the murderer and that he says the murder weapon is still in the

10
assassin’s possession. He has put the name of the weapon on a folded strip of card-
board which is held in a bulldog clip. You hang the clip around the spectator’s neck
with enough cord to bring the clip slightly above the waist. The person with the dows-
ing rods is instructed to walk slowly back and forth in front of the five “suspects” until
the rods come together in front of one.

In this version, the Poison card is in the clip and the other four are in the right coat
pocket in alphabetical order – dagger, gun, knife, and noose. Jay Marshall showed
me how to rig the clip and folded cardboard years ago. It works well, pulling the card
quickly up into the clip, completely invisible when you reach for it with the correct card
concealed in the right hand. Last year, I bought Supreme Magic’s “Mental Clip,” a me-
chanical device which is easy to use and innocent looking. In either event, the perform-
er hands the folded card to the audience assistant – who verifies that he’s found the
murderer.

ANNEMANN’S PSEUDO-PSYCHOMETRY AGAIN

With the best-known psychics using psychometry in the solving of crimes and with
best-selling authors like Steven King using psychometry in their plots, a psychometry
test is almost a must. I originally added to the Annemann test by having a spectator
grab a pile of envelopes from an open envelope box. The whole box of envelopes with
my name imprinted in the return area at the top left corner of the envelope front, was
marked in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 order.

Wherever the spectator reached, I have him count five envelopes from the top of his
pile and hand them to me. The five had to include 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 markings and all I had
to do was cut the stack of five to get them into proper order before passing them out.
Someone else collected and shuffled them after objects had been put into them.

The markings were difficult to read under some conditions and the preparation re-
quired great care so as not to be obvious. For the last few years, I’ve used “Second
Spot,” sold by Ken Brooke of London, which gets the test accomplished much faster
and is a breeze.

My patter approach is quite different from the excellent humorous patter that comes
with the routine. (Brooke’s instructions, patter and routines are always excellent.) I

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say, “Let’s assume that one of you five has been kidnapped, and five objects that might
have been yours or the kidnappers’ have been found in your home. Nobody’s sure that
any of the five things were ever in your possession. To save you and punish the crimi-
nals, it’s up to me to locate the owners of all five items.”

You have the five volunteers stand about four or five feet apart and each is given a
heavy cloth bag with drawstring. Each person puts an item into his bag and closes it.
The five bags are gathered by a spectator and dropped into one much larger bag, which
is shaken vigorously to mix up the small bags.

I reach into the large bag and remove one of the small ones, taking the item from it.
“Holding this, I sense that one of the kidnappers is a tall, thin, smiling villain.” I give a
humorous description of the person and hand the item back to him, which he acknowl-
edges is his. I continue in similar vein with the second bag. On the third bag, “This
seems to belong to a person who is well enough off to make a kidnapping worthwhile
– really loaded. This, I’m sure belongs to the victim.” I hand the item to the proper
person. “But I have the feeling that there are three kidnappers, so one of the two re-
maining items must belong to an innocent bystander who shouldn’t be implicated.” I
remove the last two items and after much hesitation hand them to their owners, pick-
ing one as the innocent bystander, I sometimes ask one of the two his occupation. I
can usually get a laugh by basing my innocence deduction on it.

PLAYING CARDS IN MENTAL MAGIC

After the late Dr. Rhine popularized and publicized ESP cards, cards for the first time
became a must. I’d avoided them up to then, but there are some great mental effects
with playing cards and now all I needed was a logical way to include one or more.

My approach went like this:

“Most performers dealing with the magic of the human mind use ESP cards like these.
And no wonder! Since the deck is five different symbols repeated many times, the per-
former has one chance in five of being right.”

“Actually, it’s been my experience that while almost everyone is familiar with a deck
of playing cards, few are equally familiar with ESP cards. So, the playing cards – 52, all
different – are much easier for people to visualize and project.

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Is This Exposing?

“Besides, ESP cards are easy to rig for the simple reason that the circle is made with
one line, the cross with two, the wavy lines with three, the square with four and the star
with many more. One alleged clairvoyant who shall be nameless made a reputation by
letting a spectator draw any ESP symbol on a piece of slate with the slate hidden from
the performer’s view. In every instance, he identified the symbol correctly. I’m going
to duplicate his performance.” (I draw symbols, one after another, with hard chalk or a
slate pencil. The sound differentiation between each of the symbols is obvious.)

“Instead of ESP cards, I’m going to perform a test with a deck of 52 playing cards.”

I quite often do my version of Al Koran’s Think of a Card, not using the same thirteen
cards repeated four times but using a Si Stebbins set-up of a legitimate deck.

The deck is false shuffled and fanned faces toward audience. A good false riffle shuffle
is best, but I’ve seen a good many card men who thought they did a good riffle shuffle
and didn’t. The simplest for a lay audience is the overhand shuffle and injog. Following
the false shuffle, the spectator is told to count off anywhere from ten to a dozen cards
from the deck, after cutting it, shuffle the counted cards, look at their faces and con-
centrate on only one card. From the bottom card of the deck, you know what the count-
ed off cards are. From that point on, you use the Koran technique of fishing until you’re
sure of the thought-of card.

For close-up work, my favorite is T. Nelson Downs’ The Power of Gold. I try not to use
the Mexican Turnover and mentally force the coin to be put on the right card. At the
time of this writing, I’ve had to use the Turnover once in 59 times. For a strong men-
tal effect with cards, I highly recommend the revised Eddie Joseph Premonition. One
problem is that when the second spectator thinks of and names a card, it may be in his
pack. Then the Joseph routine becomes a straight magic routine – a good one, but not
mentalism. I’ve remedied that. The second spectator counts his deck face down and
finds there are only 51 cards. I instruct the first spectator to start dealing his deck face
down onto the table until the second spectator tells him to stop. The stopped at card
is turned face up. The second spectator deals his cards into a face-up pile and says the
card is missing from his deck. Don’t try to figure out how the effect works. You can’t,
without the clear, simple instructions. Premonition is a good buy, well worth the price.

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Supreme Magic’s Mental Bombshell is absolutely great. Edwin Hooper brought some
great magic minds together to produce a blockbuster.

Another great favorite is Dai Vernon’s prediction in which the spectator is finally left
with only one card, the predicted one.

Another favorite is my own, “A Trick for Eddie Clever,” with the entire proceeds going to
Eddie. “Genii” and “Linking Ring” published large ads for it. [Anderson’s original in-
structions for this effect are supplied at the end of these notes as a special bonus.]

A gag mental card trick I’ve used for years is another favorite. I point to a spectator
I’ve never met and say, “This gentleman and I have been trying to perfect a mindread-
ing routine in which he does all the work. We’ve practiced it for many hours and think
we’ve finally perfected it. We’ll need another spectator to shuffle the cards and remove
one from the deck. Thank you. When you’ve planted a picture of that card firmly in your
mind, return it to the deck.” I hold the deck for the return of the card and pass it to the
bottom. The cards get a clumsy, slow shuffle keeping the passed card on the bottom,
I continue, “In order to prove that no single card is exposed more than any other, I’ll
make as even a fan of the deck as possible.” At this point, I do a reverse fan, face down.
I go to my pseudo-confederate, hold the fan with cards facing him and say, “I want you
to think of any one card you see in this fan. You’ve done that? Thank you.” I do another
slop shuffle and hand the deck to him. “Now please remove the one card you’re think-
ing of and hold it face down until I tell you to turn it over.”

“Would the gentleman who mentally selected a card and then put it back into the deck
now, for the first time, tell the audience the name of his card? Thank you. And you, sir,
would you hold up your card for everyone to see. It’s the same one. Congratulations,
sir. You did that very well. Don’t the rest of you think he deserves a round of applause?”
In the many, many times, I’ve done this, only once has the fake assistant ever revealed
to others how the effect was accomplished. He told the others, “But I don’t understand
how he got the other fellow to take that particular card or how he got it to the place
where it was the only card I could see.”

With a good marked deck, not the kind sold in novelty stores, and a fake blindfold, you
can accomplish miracles.

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With a stripper deck, you can have five different people take cards and put them back
in the usual manner to reverse the taper. You then do a legitimate shuffle which doesn’t
change a thing and then do a Hindu shuffle to bring the five cards to the top of the
deck. You follow with an overhand shuffle and injog, after which you remove the five
stripped cards without showing them. You ask each of the five people, singly to name
his card. As each is named, you remove it from the fan and show it.

Incidentally, any mentalist who does fancy shuffles or fans with either playing or ESP
cards should receive ten lashes on the bare back. I’ve seen a few performers who sim-
ply couldn’t resist showing off their skill with cards.

Al Koran in private groups would often ask someone to think of a card and simply name
it. He didn’t always hit, but his percentage was extremely high. He told a group of Chi-
cago magicians, “Try it now and then. When you finally succeed, keep right on trying it
and you’ll find your percentage of correct calls rises steadily.”

ESP CARDS

I do one ESP routine with jumbo ESP cards. Most ESP card effects are basically sim-
ple card tricks. But this is something else. Most magicians are baffled by it the first
time they see it, as was Harry Blackstone, Jr. It’s John Shirley’s ESPerimental, not to
be confused with another effect of the same name, later put out by someone else and
selling for $75. The Shirley equipment is beautifully made and impressive. I use the red
lacquered folding easel, which is completely unprepared, throughout my performance.
When you do it yourself, it’s a real blockbuster and then when you have the audience
do it, it becomes even greater. [Based upon a Ned Rutledge effect. No longer on the
market.]

With roughing fluid and jumbo ESP cards, you can either force one particular symbol
or divine any one that’s taken. Rough the backs of a circle, cross, wavy line and square
card. Then carefully rough the points of five star cards on the face. You put a star card
behind all but the square, putting the remaining star in front of the face-up circle. Fan
and show the faces of the cards, cut them a couple of times face down, fan face down
and have the spectator touch the back of any one card, which you remove from the fan
and hand to him face down. A fan now will show four cards, all but the star.

15
Marking the backs of one set of five ESP cards with dots of white ink is simple, and
gives you the ammunition for any number of effects. While I’ve bought some ESP card
tricks, I’ve never used most of them. The plastic card box with the see-through bottom
works satisfactorily, but why bother with it when a peek at the bottom card achieves
the same effect. A peek shown in Hugard’s “Expert Card Manipulations” is fool proof,

BOOK TESTS

Long ago, I used a book test of Annemann’s in which a page number was arrived at by
cutting a stacked deck. Contrived methods of arriving at numbers are not logical and
therefore not convincing. In recent years, I’ve given a spectator a choice of three bor-
rowed books. I’ve made a note prior to performance of the top line on, say, Page 133 of
all three books. I pick up either of the two remaining books, turn back the hard covers
and do a riffle force to about the center page, telling the spectator to say “Stop” at any
time as I riffle. I look at the page number and say “Page 133.” If you do it with author-
ity, there’s no need to actually force Page 133. Another one I’ve liked is a telephone
book test, as part of a triple prediction. I do a riffle force to a page containing all the
same last names. My favorite is “Miller,” because it’s near the center of the book. I turn
to a spectator, making it obvious that I’m not looking at the open book, hand the book
to him with one side folded back, and say, “Close your eyes and let your right forefinger
land on any name on the page. Fine. Open your eyes and tell me, what’s the last name?
Miller!” I quickly grab the book, close it and return to the stage where I’ve previously
pointed out a glass jar with a roll of paper in it. I open the paper, a length of adding ma-
chine tape, on which is printed with showcard pen three predictions [one a forced card,
one the old psychological force where someone is asked to name any flower, and the
other the telephone book force just described] – “Seven of Hearts, Rose, and Miller.”
You may miss on the flower, so what? Nobody’s perfect.

If you’re not doing a blindfold demonstration, one of the best is with a trick blindfold.
You wave a spectator come on stage, pick up any book and open it to any page, decid-
ing on a word on that page. So that members of the audience may know the word, he’s
instructed to print it with chalk on a piece of slate, then put the slate writing side down
onto the table. You announce the word letter by letter. It’s just a variation of one of the
first effects in Annemann’s old “Jinx” publication.

16
 WHEN YOU WANT A LAUGH

Following a serious, somewhat somber test, you realize that you need to break the ten-
sion with a laugh. Here’s my never-fail favorite. I repeat, my never-fail favorite. I hold
up a strip of poster board, gray unprinted side toward the audience. I point to anyone
in the audience and ask, “Can you tell me the word that’s printed on the other side of
this card?” The prompt answer is “No.” You turn the card over, revealing the word “No”
lettered on it, and say, “Let me congratulate you on your psychic ability.”

ANOTHER INTERLUDE

At any time in a performance, peer out at the audience and say, “A man in that area is
thinking, I’ll bet he can’t read my mind.”

“No bet! Telepathy is a two-way operation, requiring both sender and a receiver.” It’s
good for shutting up potential hecklers.

SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA DIG

When I read that the Eastman Research Lab in Rochester was successfully photo-
graphing auras around people and finding them as distinctive as fingerprints, I imme-
diately thought of an old $1.00 trick I’d gotten from Thayer’s which was really nothing
more than a demonstration of static electricity. You tore off strips of newsprint, held
one end over your pants and rubbed the strip briskly, not with your fingertips but with
your fingernails. Most others who try it will rub with their fingertips and get nowhere.
You can have paper strips clinging to your face, your hair and all over your clothing. You
hold two of the strips together by thumb and forefinger, letting the balance hang down,
and the bottoms of the strips will spring widely apart, as if propelled by some invisible
force. Then if you bring your right open palm between them, the bottoms of the strips
will jump together.

I worked out some new patter. After informing the audience of the Eastman research,
I observed, “I have a theory that these auras may be electric currents surrounding a
body. I knew that I generate much more static electricity than most of my friends do.
I’ll show you.” I demonstrated and invited the audience to participate.

17
Then I wanted to say, “At times, I generate so much electricity that I can levitate small,
light objects with it.”

I did not want to use a black thread gimmick. I remembered having had a lot of fun
years ago with Caryl Fleming’s Levitator Fluid, which had been off the market for years.
I contacted every magic supply house I could think of and couldn’t find a trace of the
stuff. Finally, in a letter to Bill Larsen, I mentioned my hunt and he immediately told
me where to write – to a personal friend of Fleming’s to whom Fleming had willed the
formula. Due to his illness, it took me nearly a year to get it, but I persisted.

Now I can let people examine my right hand to see that there’s no glue on it and then
touch my fingers to a lightweight pen, a pencil, a celluloid ruler, a hairpin, etc. Getting
the liquid was worth all the time and effort.

AD-LIBBING

The mentalist who can’t ad-lib is in bad shape. And I’ve observed that most good
ad-libbers aren’t really coming up with a spur-of-the-moment remark. I’ve worked with
good comedians who had ad-lib files to cover every possible situation.

To ad-lib well, you have to be well-informed. You have to know what you’re talking
about. In a public performance, I believe the thing I like most is the question period
following the performance. It gives me a chance to practice and improve on my ad-lib-
bing.

Every mentalist should read and remember the pages on psychic phenomena and the
occult in David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace’s #2 People’s Almanac, phenomena
which the authors say is well documented.

Charles Fort was a weird but highly entertaining writer who had collected odd occur-
rences over a several hundred-year period. He was constantly at war with scientists. “If
they don’t understand an unusual occurrence,” he wrote, “they say it never happened,
although five thousand people saw it happen.” I’ve never forgotten one of his observa-
tions: “On the day that Ambrose Bierce disappeared in Mexico, never to be seen again
on earth, 33 other men whose first name was Ambrose disappeared from widely scat-
tered places, all over the globe. Can it be that someone in another world was collecting
Ambroses?”

18
Arthur Setterington’s book, “The Powers of Perception,” published by Supreme Magic
in England is a different approach to mentalism and, with the present exorbitant price
of gold, is worth its weight in at least silver.

The next time you fumble for an ad-lib and later say to yourself, “I shoulda said ------”,
write it down in an ad-lib notebook or in your mind.

When you think it over, there aren’t very many reasons for ad-libs. There’s the heckler,
the late-comer interrupting your performance, too hot or too cold a room, electrical
problems, skeptics, something noisily dropped by a spectator, a loud laugher, a test
that fails completely – you may think of a few more but not many.

I have a standard ad-lib for a question that stumped me. It’s this: “I have a definite,
precise answer for that question. It’s this: I don’t know. And if you ever find the answer,
I’d appreciate your letting me know.”

BE PERCEPTIVE

Observe, and you’ll see that in almost every performance, you get unexpected breaks.
Take advantage of them. People will often expose a playing card or ESP card to you
without realizing it. Their physical reactions will often betray them. I’ve overheard a
casual remark before a performance and later used the information I heard in it. I’ve
noticed people’s names on envelopes.

Remember, you’re the commander and you can set new rules as you go along.

My daughter, Polly, who got her advanced degree from an Institute of Mental Health
scholarship to Rutgers, now lives in Boulder, Colo., runs a lucrative counseling service
and has taken courses in biofeedback and hypnosis in the medical school at the state
university.

She was never interested in magic as a youngster, but is now getting deeper and deep-
er into parapsychology, as are many of her confreres, including some brilliant people at
The Henninger Clinic. She tells me that in her counseling service, she quite often tells a
client what that person is thinking about at the moment, and is correct. Her setting up
of new clients is at times almost clairvoyant, and her results are fantastically good. She

19
says, “It’s partly instinct – but not entirely. I’d say it’s instinct plus observation plus
knowledge gained from experience.”

Almost every mentalist has had times when instinct screamed to be allowed to oper-
ate. I receive numerous letters from mentalists who tell me of such instincts taking
over. When that happens to me, I let it. I wish it would happen more often.

In my youth, I knew American Indians on reservations whose ESP was phenomenal.

But they were medicine men who used it constantly. There was no trickery involved.
They had no equipment for trickery. The late John G. Neihardt, the poet laureate of Ne-
braska, had wonderful stories about the Indian medicine men and often went to them
for advice, which he said was never wrong. These men weren’t performing for money or
fame but to keep their psychic powers active.

Why do I teach contact mindreading to my audiences? Some people protest that this
detracts from the mystery, but remember, I’ve made it clear to them that there is no
mystery to it – that a thought creates a physical response or reaction.

Audiences talk more about learning contact mindreading than about anything else I do.
They enjoy trying it – and remember, it’s a performer’s duty to entertain an audience.

And it gives me a distinction, something different from other mentalists. The billing,
“The Man Who Teaches Mindreading” is original with me and is at least ethically my
property. Besides, contact mindreading requires no props or gimmicks. It’s always
ready – and it can take up as little or as much time as you think it should.

When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to get instruction in it from Max Adali and
from a carnival ten-in-one show magician. They gave me tips I’ve never seen in print
that helped a lot. Someday, I may put that information into print.

CONTACT MINDREADING AS THE KEY TO

MENTAL TELEPATHY

Nobody can dispute my approach, which is fact.

Years ago, when contact mindreading exhibitions were drawing down big money, ten or
eleven people were doing it publicly. Then Axel Hellstrom, the master of it, began doing

20
his routines without bodily contact. Dorny Dornfeld, who was managing him at the
time, asked him how come. Hellstrom replied, “I do the same thing as always, but I no
longer need the body contact. Dorny has incredible stories, with other witnesses who
vouch for them, about Hellstrom’s no-contact work under amazing conditions.

Following Hellstrom’s success, some of the others began trying it – and were equally
successful. The late C.A. George Newmann, a mentalist who had worked the Minne-
sota territory for years, knew every angle of mental magic. He quit using his gimmicks,
except as insurance. “Doing them by no-contact mindreading is easier,” he said. A Dr.
Newmann, demonstrating to a magic group in New York, did incredible tests, attested
by Jay Marshall, who was there. One was to pull the right book from a bookshelf, turn
to the right page and put his finger on the selected word. Jay swears there were no
stooges – rather, the spectators were trying to make him fail. Polgar and Dunninger
could do no-contact work on occasion. The late George Jason, a concert pianist, actor
and amateur magician, did an exhibition of no-contact work at the Sherman Hotel for
a group of magicians, and Jay Marshall wrote a brief on his performance, attested by
everyone present. The tests were incredible, but the result couldn’t be argued about.
Neither could there be any charges of collusion.

Now if five or six out of eleven or twelve contact mindreaders who worked regularly
were able to develop the ability to do no-contact mindreading, why didn’t more magi-
cians take it up? They didn’t understand it and were afraid to try it.

The simplest approach to true mindreading is contact mindreading. The late Ottokar
Fischer of Germany, an authority on the subject, wrote, “Anyone of normal mental ca-
pacity can be taught to do contact mindreading.”

Failure to learn is due to one or more of three causes:

1. A closed mind; refusal to believe it can be done.

2. Improper instruction.

3. Insufficient practice.

21
 APPROACH TO NO-CONTACT MINDREADING

When you get a good “sender” for your own demonstration of contact mindreading, it’s
good practice to try a no-contact test an that person. If it fails, you go right ahead to:

NO-CONTACT MINDREADING INSURANCE

You say to the sender, “You’re trying too hard to help me and your mind is going too far
ahead. Let’s try a test where there is only one thing at a time to think of.”

You set up a sign which reads:

S H D C

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

9 10 J

Q K

You show a pack of cards to be all different. You turn the cards face down, false shuffle,
and have the “sender” cut and then complete one or more additional cuts, quickly take
the top card, look at it and put in a pocket, all while your back is turned.

You walk up to the display card which is facing the audience and say, “Please stand
four or five feet behind me. As I run my forefinger along the top line, will me to stop at
the proper suit. Think of nothing but the suit of the card. Thank you. I get the impres-
sion that it’s a Diamond. Now concentrate on which card in the Diamond suit it is. As I
run my finger along the lines, I get the feeling that it’s a Jack – the Jack of Diamonds. Is
that correct? Thank you.”

The test uses nothing but a deck of cards in Si Stebbins or Eight Kings set-up. Instead
of having the deck cut, I usually prefer to have the spectator point to any card in a face
down fan and then remove it. I separate the halves of the deck for removal of the card
and put the upper section on the bottom as I put down the deck or put it back into the
case. Nothing could be simpler, and the impact on a lay audience is amazing.

22
 YOUR “OUT” ON CONTACT MINDREADING

Preface a test by telling the sender, “The success of this experiment depends far more
on you than on me. If you want to mislead me, it’s certainly easy enough to do. If the
test fails and you’ve really tried to follow my instructions, it’s certainly no reflection on
you. Either I’ve failed to make the process clear or you’ve tried too hard to help me,
which sometimes misleads me.”

If you conclude you’ve made a bad choice, ask diplomatically for another volunteer
“sender.” A failure on the first trial makes success on the second attempt even stron-
ger. That’s why circus performers sometimes deliberately miss on their first attempt at
a trick.

NUMBERS CONTACT MINDREADING

The late, great Al Baker did a number telepathy thing for years. I couldn’t believe it
would be effective until I tried it. I first used it in connection with Jack London’s “Al-
most Real Prediction” manuscript. I already knew the modus operandi before I got the
manuscript – but London’s analysis, variations and twists were beautiful. Incidentally, I
don’t use an off-stage assistant to write down the prediction, and I don’t switch predic-
tions. Before the performance, I write in heavy black crayon on a large sheet of paper,
“Three or four spectators will build numbers which total,” followed by a blank line and
beneath that, my signature. This is folded and on display.

As soon as the spectators have picked their digits, I say, “Before this test began, I
made a prediction as to the total these people would arrive at. Here it is. Maybe I
should put this prediction into the hands of a spectator before we really get started.
First, I’ll sign it and then ask the spectator who’s going to hold it to sign it, too, so there
can’t be any accusation of switching predictions. At that point, I open the prediction
facing myself and using a Lucite file board for backing, print the number total in crayon,
as large as possible. I fold it and toss it to the spectator with instructions for him, too,
to sign it. The reason for using the crayon is apparent. I once used a showcard lettering
pen, and the number smudged.

I start the spectators building their numbers and say to a volunteer, “You, too, are go-
ing to try to predict the total, but by contact mindreading.” I take the spectator’s wrist

23
in the fingers and thumb of my right hand, fingertips on the underside of his hand. I
say, “I’m going to call out the numbers from one through nine and zero to you in no set
order. You should receive a definite impulse on one of the digits.

Whenever you get the impulse, stop me and call out that number immediately.” I call
out the ten digits slowly. Let’s say the first digit is a 2. When I come to it, I simply press
a finger hard against the inside of the wrist. The reason for not calling the numbers in
numerical order is that I found from experience the spectator often had difficulty when
the digit was a 1 or 0.

I try to do this quickly enough so that the total hasn’t yet been completed by the peo-
ple forming the numbers.

The total is finally announced, and it agrees with the “contact mindreading” total. The
person in the audience holding the prediction is asked to bring it to the platform, read it
and then hold it facing the audience. Double climax!

OUTDOING GELLER

This illustrates how a simple scientific fact can be adapted to mentalism...

Uri Geller’s key and spoon bending is, he says, psychokinesis. He says he does it
through the power of the Almighty. That makes him different from hundreds of magi-
cians who do it by pure trickery.

Back around 1930, Joaquin Argamasilla, the alleged Spanish psychic, was demonstrat-
ing psychokinesis with a triple steel chain bracelet, each of the three loops of chain
linked to the other two. After showing conclusively that no single loop and certainly not
all three loops could possibly by forced over his hand onto his wrist, he proceeded to
openly slip it onto his wrist. He took it off and then demonstrated that he had done the
impossible.

Harry Houdini exposed his method and discredited his psychic claims.

This will be followed by a detailed explanation and demonstration for those present.

24
 MAKE PREDICTIONS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

Audiences have surprised me with their interest in a performer’s prediction forecast, if

the predictions are sensational. There are plenty of good sources for material.

Some sure-fire predictions are:

There will be a political scandal in...(name the city.)

There will be a major earthquake in the western part of the United States.

A national figure will die under mysterious circumstances.

A large city will defy court orders for immediate integrated school busing.

The bond market will start to make a comeback and stock market volume will increase.

A major theatrical figure will be involved in a messy divorce case.

The unemployment level may reach as high as nine percent by the end of the year.

Inflation will begin to decline.

The value of our dollar will rise, and the price of gold will descend.

Russia’s problems will be compounded by the Chinese.

Every day, I write in a pocket notebook the first prediction that comes to my mind.
Some that seem silly at the time turn out to be true. To date, my prediction notebook is
only slightly more than 50% accurate.

25
 A FINALE OR “CURTAIN”

Some performers like to use a rhymed “tag” or ending. Here’s one of mine you’re wel-
come to try. No credit is necessary.

Within yourself is the answer to the human mystery –

Your dormant telepathic sense, your latent ESP.
It’s a mental exploration of the most intriguing kind,
To probe the unknown areas of the complex human mind,
But once we know ourselves, we may begin to
know each other,
Establishing a bright new world where every man’s
a brother.

26
 MY FAVORITE MENTALISM EQUIPMENT

ESPerimental
Himber Wallet (I’ve had two stolen)
Otis Manning Ballot Box
Mental Bombshell
White Lucite File Boards
Cordless Microphone
Second Spot
Clear Cellophane Changing Bag
Pendulum
Mental Clip
Cast Iron Blindfold
Three loop Chain Bracelet
Stull Watch
Okito Coin Box
Table Levitation
Turnover Key
Dowsing Rods
Tinted Polaroid Lucite Sheet
Koran Talisman
Al Baker Notebook
Daytime Dark Room Seance

MORE GEORGE ANDERSON & RELATED TITLES

It Must Be Mindreading
[Link]

Let The Audience Do The Show

[Link]

Ultimate Al Koran Prediction Deck

[Link]

Almost Real Prediction (Jack London)

[Link]

Hellstromism/Contact Mindreading
[Link]

27
 BONUS EFFECT
A TRICK FOR EDDIE CLEVER
Geo. B. Anderson

This is a trick for Eddie Clever, and a trick for Eddie has to be good. This is a card trick, a
“Think of a card trick,” and there have been plenty of those, but not many of them have
been good.

“A Trick for Eddie Clever” is an effect. The effect is everything and it knocks audiences
for such loops that I’ve never done it when there was a professional magician around. I
wanted to keep it for myself until I found somebody who deserved it more.

This is a mental effect. Don’t think about method yet. If you’re like most card magi, the
simplicity of the method would spoil the trick for you. All I’ll say about method now is
– you can do it. If you must have a sleight, I’ll give you this much advance information,
there is a trick move and you’ll like it. But let’s get to the effect.

“Ladies and gentlemen, a friend of mine who doesn’t believe in mental telepathy says
he always distrusts telepathic demonstrations that involve playing cards. He’s in this
audience tonight and I’m going to make him change his mind. I’m about to present a
telepathic experiment with cards that should convince the most hardened skeptic.”

“Naturally, for this experiment, I’ll be happy to use someone else’s deck of cards. Don’t
give me the deck. Just let me know that you have it. Does anyone have a deck of cards
we can use? (If they do, I use it. If they don’t, I toss a deck of my own into the audi-
ence).

“You, sir...give the deck to anyone around you for examination and shuffling. Thank
you. I want everyone to be certain that I control neither the cards nor the participants
in this experiment.”

“Now, would the gentleman who just finished shuffling the cards select another person
to help him...and would that person choose two more? I want the man with the cards
and three telepathic subjects to come up here with me. The three subjects will stand to
my left, with their backs to me and to the audience. The gentleman with the cards may
stand immediately to my right.”

28
“Give the cards another shuffle and cut, sir. Thank you. We’ll start with a simple prob-
lem and work up to more complex ones. I’m going to show the first subject a poker
hand, five cards selected by chance. I’ll ask him to think of one of the five cards. Under
no circumstances is he to give me any indication of the card he holds in his mind.”

“You, sir, with the deck of cards, would you please count five of them off the deck?
Look them over if you like and then hand them to me. Show them to the audience first,
please. Thank you.”

At this point I take the five cards, show them to the audience to prove that there is no
switch (although I never suggest such a thing), and ask subject No. 1 to face front. I
turn the five cards toward him in a fan, ask him to think of one, close the fan and put it
face down on my left hand. The subject faces the rear again.

“For the second subject, we’ll do something a little more difficult. I’ll ask the man with
the cards to deal five more on top of those in my hand. Subject No. 2 will have a choice
of TEN cards.”

Five more cards are dealt onto the first five. I ask subject No. 2 to face the front as I fan
the ten cards toward the audience, slowly and deliberately, so that they can see every
card. I turn the fan toward subject No. 2 and ask him to make a quick mental choice,
taking less time than Subject No. 1 took. He makes his mental choice and faces rear
again.

“For the third subject, we’ll perform the most difficult experiment of all, now that we’re
getting in harmony. I’ll ask the man with the deck to shuffle his remaining cards and
put them on top of those in my left hand. Thank you. I’ll give them still another shuf-
fle without every looking at their faces. Now I’ll fan the entire deck in front of subject
No. 3 as he turns around. I’ll try to fan them as evenly as possible – like this. No. 3,
when I say “Now” turn around, take a quick look at the cards and turn your back again.
Don’t try to think about the cards. Turn forward just long enough to catch the face of
some one card in the deck, and then face the rear again, as rapidly as possible. Are you
ready? Now! Thank you.”

“Now that our three subjects have thought of cards, I’m going to inspect the deck for
the first time. Three cards have been thought of, so I’ll remove three cards from the

29
deck. I’ll give the balance to the man who’s been assisting me. I have one, two, three
cards, and three cards have been chosen. I’ll let the audience see what the three cards
are. See them? Now, I’m going to ask all three subjects to face forward. If the card you
thought of is one of the three I’m holding, will you please raise your right hand? Now.
Thank you.”

All three subjects raise their hands, I thank them and send them back to their seats,
along with the men who shuffled the deck.

If that isn’t an effect, I don’t know what is. And now for the method. You can do it with
a borrowed shuffled deck.

The first subject looks at a fan of five

cards. He has a free choice but only
rarely will he think of the top and bot-
tom card. You’re still safe, even if he
takes the top or bottom one, so don’t
worry. You turn the fan first toward
the audience, then toward the subject.
Finally, you close the fan and put the
cards face down on your left palm.
The shuffler deals five more cards face
down onto these. And here comes a
beautiful move. You fan the ten cards
toward the audience as in the sketch.
You hold the fan in your left hand,
facing yourself as you space the cards
evenly. Turn the fan toward the audi-
ence. Note the position of the left forefinger in figure, marked #1. Now, as you turn the
fan toward Subject Two, the left forefinger lifts naturally to completely mask the cor-
ner pips of all but the first four cards. This is shown by the dotted line sketch of raised
forefinger, marked #2. You don‘t need to hurry, because the cards cover the movement
of the forefinger. If you wave the cards slightly, subject Two won’t even notice that the
pips are covered. If you like, you can face the fan of ten frontwards again, pulling down
the left forefinger, of course.

30
Now these 10 cards are put face down on the left palm and the balance of the deck is
deposited on top of them by the shuffler. As you get ready to fan the cards, the bottom
card of the pack is passed to the top. If you need cover for the move, talk to subject No.
3 with the deck in your hands, bringing the deck in front of him, face down. Since he’s
facing the rear, the deck will be covered from the audience momentarily.

False shuffle if you like and make a REVERSE FAN, fanning the cards from right to left,
face down. Call attention to the evenness of the fan, bending the cards in both hands
as you do when making a card “rosette”. With the cards fanned in this manner, only the
bottom card will have its pips visible.

Subject No. 3 has a choice of ONE card. You’re sure to be right on his selection. You
take the bottom card of the deck and the next two above it, without making that appar-
ent. The only other possible choices are now on the top and bottom of the deck.

If you’re wrong on either one of the other two subjects, dismiss the two who held up
their hands, glimpse the bottom card and give a hint on it. If you get a negative answer,
put the top card on his palm face down, have him name his mental choice and turn
it over. With a positive answer on your hint, do likewise with the bottom card. If both
subjects 1 and 2 say you’ve missed (which has never happened to me) ask no ques-
tions. Simply toss the deck into the air, holding back the top and bottom cards. If you
press the deck tightly between thumb and forefinger as you make a tossing motion, the
top and bottom cards will automatically slide right off into your fingers, while the bal-
ance of the deck sort of squirts out from between the top and bottom cards. Lunge your
hand into the falling shower and fan the two cards you are holding, as if you just caught
them. Say: “If I grabbed your cards out of the air, hold up your hands” and both have to
do so.

Don’t think the trick has flopped if you miss on one of the three. If anything, it helps the
effect when you finally succeed.

Thanks to Magus Bill Hyer for the art work and to the Irelands, Frances and Laurie, for
the manuscript and envelopes. Thanks to you, too.

George B. Anderson

31