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Something Old By Aire Allegro

Introduction “Well hello there dears” is what I would say if I was Mrs. Doubtfire (my favourite film of all time). It's been five (maybe more) years since I last shared anything with the mentalism world. The reason I haven't shared anything in that time is I feel that up until now I have had nothing of value to offer – hey I'm an honest girl. I have worked hard over the last five years to ensure that I am a better performer and it wasn't until finally getting back around to visiting conventions that I realised my ideas had merit based on the reactions they were getting from the people watching the effects. I was young (I'm still pretty young at 32) when I released my first set of eBooks. A couple of the ideas I've revisited and I'm sharing here with added subtleties and extra juicy secrets! I really hope you love my take on some of the classic plots with modern twists. Every idea in here has been tried and tested in the real world and I've tried to keep the explanations as brief as possible so you are free to perform in a way that suits your character. My character is relaxed and I refer to myself as a 'Psychic psychologist'. This leaves me open to performing body language type mentalism and more psychic type routines that negate me having to explain what it is I have just performed. This means I get the best of both worlds. It also makes what I do marketable and that's what I care about. These effects are clean and commercial and the methods are devious – which should appease the 'method monkeys' amongst you. If you enjoy this book feel free to buy me a gin and tonic next time we meet. A. (2017)

Impromptu Dictionary Test / Book Test My mother always told me to put my best foot forward, so I thought it would be fitting to start with an effect that in my opinion completely justifies the price of this entire book. To this day I use it in close up ALL of the time. This idea is unique and I have NEVER seen another living soul come close to doing this with an ungimmicked book. This might sound egotistical but I assure you it isn’t, I am just super proud of this routine. There are two variations of this effect – first I will outline the impromptu version and then the dictionary test. Here are what both effects read like.

Impromptu book test Effect The performer borrows a book (you heard me correctly, yes!) She asks the participant to take out their mobile phone and access the calculator. After accessing the calculator the participant multiplies a string of random singular digit numbers (if you really wanted you could have everyone at the table do this to prove that all the totals are in fact different and then have one of the participants select one of the totals). In this way, one of the group has generated a random page number and turns to this page inside the book. They are asked to focus on a word on that page and the mentalist is able to instantly divine the exact word the participant is thinking of. This is not based on a bold method; it is self-working and doesn’t require access to the participant’s phone beforehand – AND THERE IS NO TOXIC FORCE.

The Dictionary test Effect The mentalist hands out a dictionary to be examined (it is ungimmicked in every way). A random page number is generated and the spectator turns to that page in the dictionary. They choose a word on that page (they really do have a free choice of ANY word on the page). The mentalist then tells the participant to repeat the word over and over again in their mind and after a short time is able to divine one hundred percent what the word is!

The How First let’s learn how to force a page and then tie up the finer details. Try this for yourself: I am talking to you the reader… take out your phone. Come on… you got it? Good! Access your calculator. We are going to generate a random number, so stay away from the number 0 and type in 3 multiplied by 9 multiplied by... in fact, type a single digit of your choosing from a different row on the calculator and multiply this by another random single digit, again from a different row... this is to ensure everything stays entirely random and then multiply one more digit from a different row on the calculator and then press equals. You arrived at a total, correct? It could be 2, 3 or more digits long. I don’t need to know. If you went to get a book from a shelf in your house right now, turn to this page. The book doesn’t have that many pages? I tell you what, take each single digit in the total and in your head just add them up and turn to this page. You are turning to page 18, right?

This is the force that you are going to use. It will total 18 as long as they multiply five to six random digits. If they times together more digits it will be page 27. You don’t want this to happen. Just ensure that the participant is following your instructions. It will be 18. All you have to do is know the longest words on page 18 you are going to use. If this is your own book I

would recommend trying to find a book where page 18 has two long words – one that can be visualised as an image and one that cannot – you will understand why this is important later (this is a subtlety I started using after reading one of Peter Turner’s Masterclass series and he has allowed me to include it here). I know what you are thinking... “You said we could borrow the book.” You can! When you take the book all you need to do is act interested in the book and look to see how many pages there are, stating it out loud. Turn to page 18 and then proclaim there are roughly umm… 3 to 400 hundred words per page. As you are saying this scan the page for the longest word! If you are caught off guard and mistime this or are panicking then simply remember the first and the last word on that page. You are simply pretending to estimate how many words there are on any page whilst secretly peeking the contents of that page. Remember the participant has not generated a page number yet and therefore nobody will suspect a thing. Now you know what page the participant will pick and what word or words. Back to Turner’s subtlety: if you are providing your own book and the book has one word that you can visualise and one word that you cannot, you simply say to your participant: “Look up and down the page and find a word that is solely unique to that page. If you go for the word 'and' or the word 'or' then this word will appear multiple times. So to ensure you don’t pick an uninteresting word and in order to make this challenging – choose the longest word that you can find on that page.” Whilst the participant is scanning the page simply turn to the rest of the group and recap what has happened. This will kill the dead time. Now when you want to know the word they are thinking of, in the heat of trying to guess

that word simply ask the participant: “Is this something that you can visualise as an image in your mind?” If they say 'yes' you know the word and likewise if they say 'no' you also know the word. If you are new to this type of stuff and worry about trying to find a long word in the participant's book you will notice that I said to look at the first and last words on the page. This is the line we will use if this is the road that you choose to go down: “Have you ever heard of speed reading?” (Let the participant respond.) “The idea is to look at the first word on the page, take note of what it is then let your eyes wander over the entire page, not taking anything in, until you reach the very last word. Focus on this word and remember it, then your brain fills in the blanks in between. Quickly do this for me and then close the book.” The participant follows your instruction. “Your brain now has several words inside it – there is no way I could know. Think of any of those words.” The participant is only thinking of two words at this point!!! But the audience assume they have many different words in their mind. Say to the participant: “I am seeing a word with a soft sound at the start like a . . . “ (Throw out a letter from one of these words.)

This will make the participant focus fully on the correct word which enables you to then move into revealing it, confidently. They also now have another word inside their head that is to the audience dismissed and forgotten about and this word can be brought back into play later to get an extra reveal OR can be used in whichever way you deem to use this hidden piece of information! If you borrowed the book and you have noticed a couple of long words on the page, use a similar method for the reveal to the first and last word outlined above. Now let's take a look at the dictionary test. We have talked about forcing the number already and for this effect the procedure is going to be no different – you know that the outcome is going to always be page 18. Before you perform take a business card and prepare it like so (with a list of numbers and blank lines, to be filled in): 1.

11.

2.

12.

3.

13.

4.

14.

5.

15.

6.

16.

7.

17.

8.

18.

9.

19.

10.

20.

Open the dictionary at page 18 and look at the first word on the page, write

this word next to number one on the business card and repeat for the next nineteen. You will now have what is known as an index card / crib / cheat sheet; it will contain 20 words from page 18. Place the index card onto a stack of blank business cards into your breast jacket pocket with a pencil, and you are now ready to perform. All you have to do is hand out the dictionary; use the page force and when the participant turns to that page say: “On every page there is an average of twenty entries. I would like you to name out loud any number from one to twenty.” For example, let’s assume they say 14. “I would like you to run your finger down to the 14th entry on that page, remember the word and close the book up.” As they are doing this, remove the business cards. Glance down at the card, look at the number 14 and see what the word is. Try to make it look like the business card is innocent; do not stare at the words for too long. Practise glancing for the number innocently. I don’t rush this moment. I wait and wait until I am about to write something and then I glance down as I go to write something. I peek the word as I pretend to write something down (whilst actually scraping my nail across the index card so that it sounds like this is what I am doing). Then I pretend to cross it out (again scraping my nail across the card). I then place this card on the bottom of the stack. I know what the word is and can now move into blowing the participant's mind. Simple, elegant, easy and the participant NEVER tells you the page number. Told you it was good… Oh and for that person thinking of laminating the cheat sheet, don’t do it. It’s a terrible idea!

Which Hand Here are two variants of the same effect – one takes preparation and the other can be done at a moment’s notice. I really hope you love my take on this wonderful plot.

Effect: A rubber ball is introduced. A participant is asked to place the ball behind their back and place it in any hand they desire. They then bring their hands around to the front and after a few seconds the mentalist can guess which hand the ball is in. This can be repeated as many times as you like and the object does not have to be a ball. You can use other objects, such as a coin, if you so desire.

The How? I sent this idea to Kenton Knepper in 2010 – 7 years ago!!! I cannot believe how time has flown. My skin will soon sag and I will start to look like a chicken at the deli counter of a cheap supermarket. Buy my products, buy all of them so I can have surgery and none of that happens. Kenton at the time said that he loved the idea and that is really as far as it went, as the joint project we were both going to work on dwindled out (because of my time restraints) – which meant this effect (in its simplest form) was left hidden in one of my earlier books listed on Lybrary – and has been for the past five years. This version of the effect uses a gimmick. You don’t have to buy any fancy

electronics or gizmos. In fact, the cost of this will be around 10gbp (maximum) and will last for years. I have made one in the past on the fly for around 3 pounds. You will certainly be able to make this for 10. You will need a rubber ball, a cheap watch (order this online or buy from a cheap dollar store – go for one that looks robust though), a magnet (the stronger the better and make it as small as possible – earth magnets are ideal) and a mini compass from an outdoor store or fishing store (eBay is your best friend for this – 99p!) If you place the magnet near the compass, you will notice that the needle on the compass spins. This is essentially the method. Take the rubber ball. With an Exacto knife, cut it in half and carefully gouge the centre of each half of the ball (to the size of the little magnet). Slot the little magnet inside the ball and glue the ball back together. It will look completely normal and the only thing you might see is the line around the ball where you have cut it which should look like the seal. (This is usually found in rubber balls, due to the manufacturing process!!) If you worry about that, simply take a piece of fine sandpaper (wet/dry paper), dunk the ball into the water and sand the line very gently. It will flatten out until it is almost unnoticeable. The ball is now prepared – let's look at the watch. Remove the back from the watch, take the innards of the watch out and insert the compass into the watch (it should fit snugly). Take some 'Blue Tac' and fit it around the compass and place the back of the watch back in place. Put on the watch and whenever you run the watch over the ball you will see the magnet make the compass spin. All you need to do is run the watch over the participant's hand and you will instantly know which hand contains the ball. I don’t think the which hand plot could be any simpler! If you want to use a coin, you will need to purchase a 'Super PK' coin from your local dealer. This is a great replacement for the ball although I actually

prefer to use a rubber ball due to the fact it indirectly implies no magnets are used! This is a method that I have used for such a long time when performing 'which hand' and the reason that this method is so great is that you can have an entire group of participants and have one of them hold the coin as they all hold their hands out. You not only locate who has the coin BUT which hand the coin (or different coloured rubber balls) are in also. One subtlety to add here is that it is sometimes important to make the coin seem like it is a borrowed coin. There are a few simple and elegant ways to do this but it really doesn’t require a tremendous thought. Simply have your gimmick palmed in your left hand. Ask the participant for a coin, take it from them with your right hand and false transfer (retaining the coin in the palm of your right hand), displaying the gimmick on your open left hand. Easy. If you prefer to use different coloured balls then you can use the card subtlety from Vernon – where he would name the card he sights as the spectator turns their card over on the table – as if he knew it all along. To apply this to the 'which hand' – as you guess the correct hand which holds the ball simply name the colour of the ball as part of your reveal: (Point to the correct hand) “Open this hand...” They will open it and as soon as you see the colour continue your script: “This should contain the . . .” (insert colour) “. . . ball.” Now we have taken a look at the version which requires a gimmick, let’s look at the impromptu version – which I have since revisited and added principles

and updates. I call this version: The Long Con.

The Long Con Effect: The performer proposes to play 3 games of chance with her subject to prove she is the master of 'the long con'. Before the game begins the performer places an open prediction down on the table and hands the subject a coin. The mentalist explains what a long con is: “It is the art of controlling a situation all the way until the end, whilst seeming to fail along the way in order to get the desired result – no matter what – on a much grander scale.” To prove this theory the mentalist asks the subject to place their hands behind their back and swap the coin between hands until they are satisfied that the mentalist could not possibly know where the coin is. The mentalist asks the subject to bring their hands to the front and explains the aim is to find the empty hand – sticking to the promise of this being a long con. The mentalist correctly exposes the subject's empty hand. She proposes that herself and her ‘victim’ play a second game. Again the mentalist successfully predicts the empty hand. The mentalist proposes one more game but to up the odds in this final round. The subject is asked to think of an image or random word. The mentalist once again predicts the empty hand! The mentalist, now smiling, asks the subject to shake the coin up to ensure either heads or tails is randomly chosen by which way up the coin lands in their closed hands. Without even flinching the mentalist says: “It's heads up! I knew it would be before we started. Do you believe me? I

was so sure it would be I even put a huge cross through the tails side to prove it.” After the participant calms down, the mentalist asks the participant to say out loud the word or image they are thinking of. “DOG” the subject proudly bellows, thinking there is no way anyone could have ever known this word. The mentalist turns over the prediction that has been there the entire time. A picture of a dog is drawn on the paper!

The How? Being a female mentalist, I always get a sense of power when performing an effect like this. Psychologically outsmarting the male counterpart that stands facing me (towering over me and outweighing me by at least 300 pounds), and effortlessly reducing them to a blubbering wreck, turns me on. It's not expected. There are four phases to this routine that each require subtleties to ensure they run seamlessly. First start by taking a coin and marking a large X through the Tails side. The way I remember this (as I'm forgetful as sin) is that in England it's illegal to deface the Queen's head – so I don't do so. I will never forget that, though on occasion I have revelled in the delight of giving the Queen a moustache. Come on, we've all done it! The only other preparation needed for this effect is a Cat / Dog ambigram (provided below) which you should draw up as a prediction. Store the coin somewhere that you can control the orientation of the coin. When you bring it out you need to keep the tails side (marked with a cross) hidden. Naturally I perform in a dress and have no pockets so the coin comes

out of my bra (which won't suit everyone but it gets a moment of laughter). I ask the subject to hold out their hand palm up – everyone in the history of ever (well at least as long as I've performed this effect) holds out their dominant hand. The only time they might not is if you come across an egg and spoon race champion. They love a challenge! Place the coin heads side up onto their hand. Ask them to place the coin behind their back and keep changing hands. This is where you explain that a long con is the art of seemingly losing, time and time again, but really controlling the situation in the end to prevail in an even bigger way. That is why you are going to predict the empty hand each time. Ask the participant to bring both of their hands out in front of their body (we've all seen this type of routine so I'm sparing you the details and trying to be as brief as possible). This is the exact script I use – feel free to play with it, change it or scrap it if it's not to your liking (it's the first round – a miss here is as powerful as a hit). “Most people after swapping the coin between their hands end up with the coin in their dominant hand... ” Watch the participant's face. They will smile if it is. If it is not then they will not move a muscle. I have a huge success rating with this. If they smile follow up with: “Yes or no – is your left hand empty?” (Naturally you have to know which hand is the dominant hand in this example, and most people are right handed.) If it is not in the dominant hand (they have indicated this by not moving a muscle) you need to move your ass and quickly follow up with:

“But you my friend are not most people and because of that – you are the best type of person to con. Yes or no – is your right hand empty?” Most of the time the subject will affirm that you are right and they will immediately open their hand and show it to be empty. If the participant says 'no' (to indicate you are wrong) simply state: “Remember this is a long con and you fell into the trap of telling me exactly how you think. I will with 100% accuracy now be able to tell you which hand is empty – thank you for giving me your tell.” Smile and act like that was the purpose of the first round. The next two rounds are solid and will prove your point anyway. This round employs an old classic technique that if utilised correctly will fool your audience without you even having to try. Ask the subject to swap the coin between their hands. Explain that you are going to look away and when you do that they are to lift the hand containing the coin up into the air so everyone in the room knows which hand the coin is in, and keep it there until instructed otherwise. Turn to the audience on the left and ask them to remember where it is – the right hand or left hand – based on which hand is raised. Then turn to the audience in the middle of the group and ask them to do the same and finally to the audience on the right. The participant should be behind you, to ensure you can’t see which hand they are holding up (this works great on stage too!) Fraser tells me that the idea of getting the spectator to hold up the coin to the audience to show which had it is in (in order to get the following ruse to work) is something Ross Tayler has also played with, although I came up with this on my own – great minds really do think alike!

Ask the participant to extend both of their hands out in front of them and clearly say the word 'yes' when they have done so. The participant does this, you turn back around and face the participant – it is important you are both positioned so neither of you have your backs to the audience. (Remember it is rude to do so! I always try to be a lady, so being rude simply won't do!) The hand that is the whitest contains the coin (which is the hand we avoid as we are finding the empty hand). Why does this work? You may ask – well my friends, if someone holds their hand up for, say, 15 seconds the blood runs from their hands! Their hand will look as white as my legs whilst wearing the dress I would usually perform this effect in. This is of course the classic method taught in children's magic books – I think you will like how I have made it less obvious with the staging already described! Oh, and you just lifted your hand above your head to test this out, right? I'm a mentalist. I know! If you didn't you were thinking about it. Go on, do it. I will wait... Awesome, right?! Again, remember to avoid the hand with the coin in. By this point you may be wondering why we are avoiding the coin. The last thing we want is the subject opening their hand with the coin in and revealing the X written upon it! This is the last and by far the simplest round. The subject swaps the coin between their hands once more. Ask the participant to keep their hands behind their back. This is the key line of scripting: “It's said that left handed people think more analytically whereas right handed people are more creative, so if the coin is in your right hand we will make up an image. As this is all about the image keep the name of this image simple, say 3 letters. A house, for example, would be 5. If the coin is in the left hand then think of an interesting word that is longer.”

All you have to do is use Michael Murray's 'CUP’s principle'. This will make it possible to instantly deduce which hand the coin is in. “Think of whatever it is you are thinking of as a word. Think of the exact number of letters in this word.” If the participant nods instantly you know that the coin is in the right hand. If however the subject thinks about the length of the word you know it's in the left. If the coin is in the right hand then great, we are done. If the coin is in the left hand add this script: “Let's shake things up again. Whichever hand the coin is in now, place it in the other hand. Let's also change what you are thinking of, so if it's now in your left hand then think of an interesting word. If it's in your right hand then simply repeat the 3 letter word (that's an image), in your mind. You've done that? There's no way I could know what you are thinking of, because even you didn't know you would be changing.” Of course that's a fabrication, you know exactly where it was and know which image they should be thinking of. Reveal the empty hand. This is where things get really devious. Ask the participant to shake the coin between their hands so there is no way we could know if it is going to land heads up or tails up when they open their hands. Ask them to extend the hand holding the coin but keep their hand closed. “Would you believe me if I told you that I have predicted the exact side that the coin would land face up?” Of course they will say no. Ask them to carefully open their hand and peek at which side of the coin is face up. If the participant starts to smile you know it's

tails side up. Quickly call it and say: “I even marked the side that was going to be face up. Check to make sure both sides of the coin are not the same.” If the participant doesn't smirk then call Heads and say: “I was so confident that it would be Heads, I even put a cross through the Tails side!” This will get you a second reaction when they turn over the coin. Now move into revealing your prediction, and for this there is one thing you need to pay attention to. I've been performing this for such a long time that I leave it on display. If you are less confident then you can hide the prediction in plain sight. If you wear a suit when you perform, fold the piece of paper like a handkerchief and place it in your top pocket. If not utilizing your top pocket (something I cannot do whilst wearing a dress!) then leave the prediction in your purse or wallet and leave that on display, or place the paper on its own on the table paying no mind to it and then reveal. There are a lot of ways to hide a prediction in plain sight so I won't bore you by listing 20 different possibilities! You will now be down to 2 outs, either cat or dog, and can simply ask the spectator what word they were thinking of and reveal the correct piece of paper from your wallet or two way envelope. This is standard mentalism fare, so again I won't bore you with the details!

I hope you enjoyed my take on the age old 'which hand' routine.

Staple Gun Roulette Effect: Five staple guns are shown to be laid on a table in front of the audience, and everyone watching is asked to think of a number from 1-5. A member of the audience (who can be selected randomly) is then asked to come onto the stage and the guns are numbered 1-5 by the participant. The participant is then told to imagine that the number they chose is the loaded gun and is to leave the gun with that number on the table at all times. He or she is then instructed to pick up one of the other guns (the number is noted on a large pad), hold it to the mentalist’s eye and to pull the trigger. Click... the gun is safe! The participant is then asked to repeat this with another gun (again the number is noted) Click... the gun is safe. This is repeated until two guns remain. It is now down to a 50/50 choice. The participant picks up another gun, holds it to the mentalist’s eye, and is asked to slowly count to three and pull the trigger. 1........... 2........... 3........... click... “Arghhhhhhhhhhh!” the performer screams! The audience panic and then the mentalist looks up and smiles. He waits until the audience calm down and then asks the subject to pick the last gun up, hold it to a balloon and pull the trigger. BANG! The balloon bursts and the audience go wild. The performer waits until the applause dies down and then points to the numbers on the board, producing an envelope. The participant opens the envelope and the mentalist has successfully predicted the exact order that the guns will be picked up and used.

The How? Let it be known that this is a dangerous routine in the hands of an inexperienced performer. I HOLD NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY ACCIDENTS AS A RESULT OF NOT PERFORMING THIS TO THE LETTER. This piece is all about the presentation – the method in itself is very simple, but it is a real crowd pleaser! The first part of the method relies on you addressing the entire audience. Ask the audience to think of a number from 1-5. You then choose a random member of the audience to join you on stage and use the 'Dunninger ploy' to get the information. This is how I use this wonderful ploy. Every time I have seen a performer use this technique there has always been a 'sticky' moment that just didn't seem to flow nicely. These moments range from the participant saying “You want me to tell you that?” or outright refusing to tell the performer and in some cases I saw a spectator (at a very famous mentalist's show) lie completely, thus ruining the outcome of the routine. We cannot afford to have that happen in this routine. The easiest way to remedy this is to simply say, upfront, to the audience: “In a moment I will pick one of you at random and I will openly ask you the number you are thinking of. You don't have to hide this from me when I ask.” When everyone has a number inside their mind have someone selected at random via whatever means you like. Play this part of the process up before

you bring the participant onto the stage. One technique I really love is to make the audience think that everything is about to fail. I say to the audience: “I am going to work with whichever person is selected at random, and there will be no going back.” I address the randomly selected participant: “Are you a Taurus?” Here I am throwing out a random guess. If it hits then it's a miracle. If not then it looks like I have failed (which is theatrically perfect for this routine!) For good measure I say: “Does your pin code start with a six?” I honestly hope for these two to miss. I continue in the same way until what I guess does eventually miss! The reason I want to miss is so that everyone doubts my ability to succeed and does not have complete confidence that I will always be able to know what they are thinking. Therefore, when I explain I will be putting the gun to my eye EVERYONE freaks the hell out. In a nutshell, it makes the next part of the routine more dramatic. I know that some people are uncomfortable at the idea of failing. If you don't like this idea then simply skip over it. Approach your participant and lead him or her towards the front of the stage. Whilst walking and the applause is at its highest, address the participant: “I forgot to ask you, what number did you go for?”

Now the participant will openly tell you. Remind the participant they are to stick with their choice. When you arrive on the stage, ask the participant their name then say to them: “Now you have a number in your mind – it is essential you do not change your mind as that number is going to come into play in a moment.” How to prepare the staple guns: Now we know how to get the number that the participant is thinking of we need to know what to do with that number. Preparing the staple guns before the show is essential and the MOST important factor in this routine. As there are five identical guns needed, load one of them and mark the loaded gun in a way only you can tell it apart from the rest. A marker dot somewhere will suffice or scratch it in a place that the participant won't look for but you will instantly see. Lay the guns down on the table and place the loaded gun in the 2nd position from the left as that is the most psychologically chosen number (if they choose this number then no switch will be necessary in a moment). It doesn't matter if the participant doesn't go for that number (you will see why in just a moment). We imagine the guns numbered (even though they are not yet). So the order when we are stood in front of the table, facing the guns (from the audience's perspective) is: Unloaded, LOADED, Unloaded, Unloaded and Unloaded. Here is what to do if the participant does not pick the correct number. (You are going to love this. It is very Berglas!)

You and the participant are stood facing the guns. Say to the participant: “You are going to be the eyes, ears and hands of everyone here. Can you tell the difference in these guns by their weight, feel, look?” Pick up the loaded gun, hand it to the participant to look at first, then casually pick up the gun that falls in the position they named and swap this gun with theirs (the loaded gun) by taking the loaded gun back from the participant and placing it back down in place of the number that they have selected – whilst handing them the other gun to inspect. Essentially all you have done is picked up the loaded gun and put it back in the position you know they are thinking of (switching it in the process), whilst letting them hold each of the guns to see if they can tell any difference between the two. There is none and they will verify this. Follow by saying: “Pick up the others and check those too, as it’s essential that this is as fair as fair gets.” They do this and verify that everything is above board. In a moment they will number the guns from left to right, and in doing so will inadvertently number the loaded gun at the position they are thinking of. Ask them to take a pen and number the guns 1-5 starting with the far left. The participant on stage is asked to leave their number on the table and pick any other numbered gun up. As long as you remind the participant to never pick up the number that they are thinking of you will be fine. ALWAYS watch the participant and check the marking BEFORE

firing any of the staple guns. Let’s imagine that the participant picks up gun number 4 first – wince as you place the gun to a chosen part of the body. I prefer to use the eyeball as everyone totally freaks out at eyes and teeth. I pause, then pull the trigger (click) and look relieved. I then either write the number of that gun on a pad or I ask everyone in the audience to remember the order that the guns were fired in. This is continued right until the last two guns and then there is a change of pace. The second to last gun is picked up and placed against your eyeball. Let the participant hold this one and pull the trigger. The look on their face is incredible. I have watched footage back and the byplay at this point is golden. Again the number of the gun is noted. The last number is picked up (the chosen gun). You address the audience: “You might be thinking that all of the guns are not really loaded and to be honest at this point that is probably what I would be thinking too...” The performer turns to look at the participant. “Pick up the last gun, put it against the balloon and pull the trigger.” She pops the balloon and this is your applause cue for the audience – trust me they will go crazy! As an added piece of theatre if you take a small amount of baby talc and put it inside the balloon the explosion will seem much bigger. After the applause has died down you will have a list of numbers on the pad. Let’s imagine it is 4-2-1-3-5 (This is the order that the participant picked the guns up in.)

The mentalist then displays an envelope, and the contents of the envelope are removed by the participant. Inside there is a piece of paper with the exact order she picked the guns up in! The mentalist not only influenced the participant to stay away from the loaded gun but predicted the order they would pick them up in. This method is frightfully simple. It is an 'oldie' and nothing new in terms of the method. Simply utilise an envelope with a square cut out of the address side of it, so there is a window in which you can see through into the envelope, and swami it in as you are talking. Sometimes there is no need to OVERDO things with fancy methods and a repeat / return to the classics is the best way.