TABIE OF CONTENTSFoteword By Richard Osterlind

T-REX Basic Technique and YariationsMeet T-RIXT-REX Preparation

T-R-EX tupT-REX Variation 1

T-REX Variation 2

ISD T-REX A Double Card TechniqueLSD T-REX IntroductionHorizontal LSD T-REXVertical LSD T-R-EX

Final Notes on T-REX HandlingsLSD TIREX Notes

Tearorist Plots and Secrets

The Chill Factor

Presentations and ContributionsA Borrowed Thought - Ran PinkNumero-Logic - Ran PinkThe Bucket List - Paul Carnazzo

Thoughts and Ideas On Billet \flork- Michael MurrayEssays (part 1) - Colin McleodTwinkle - Michael lVeber

fupping And T-REX - Tom JorgensonThe Benefits Of Sharing - Rainer Mees and Thomas Heine

Feeling Tear-ific - Paul ShirleyEsays (pan 2) - Colin McleodInception Principle - H. ArcanaParameters OfThe Vast Universe - Andrew GerardTuning In To Thne Out - Mark ElsdonCenter Torn Influence - Jan Forsrer

Josdt Handling - Josd Prager

Killer Instinct - Paul Shirley

Last WordsAcknowledgementsLinl$

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FOPEWOPID BY RiCHAPD OSTEPI.iND

I am delighted that Ran Pink asked me to write the foreword for this new book, T-REX. I have

always found Rant worls exhilarating and stimulating. Not only is his thinking logical and straight-

forward, but his methods are practical and work in the real world. I recently had the pleasure ofmeeting Ran and he is a top notch gentlemen and his works are outstanding.

Ran asked me to include, in this foreword, a briefhistory, as I know it, ofthe tear and read Center

Tear This has caused me to delve deep into my memories ofevents that happened over 30 years ago.

Let me begin with a bit olbackground.

In 1933 Al Baker published a book called, NBakeis Boob Oza in which he explained the Umbrella

Move. It consisted ofinserting one! thumb into a twice folded billet in order to pop it open - like

an umbrella. This move was however used earlier by Chades Foster who taught it to his student,

Bert Reese. Reese, in turn, taught it to New York magician futhur Finley who later taught it to AlBaker.

In 1949 Mr. Baker wrote anothe r book called MentaL Magic. Chapter ovo is called, New Light on

the Center Tear and details his method of using the umbrella move to open the stolen piece from

the standard Center Tear. This was accomplished in the hands after the 6rst two tears when the

center is opened, the information sighted and the paper given another couple of tears to destroy

the evidence.

This brings me to my own participation in the history.

Al Mann and I were good friends and late in 1977 we were discussing A1 Bakers move' Al never

felt comfortable with it and developed his own handling which he called Ihe Improuisitor. He weda special tearing technique which allowed steps to be formed in the paper facilitating the A1 Baker

mJthod. I, in turn, had developed my own method ofdoing a tear and read that was totally different

in concept and execution. In myversio n, called The (Jltimate Center TeaL over three-quarters ofthecenter seition ofthe paper was opened before the second tear. The first person I showed this to was

DannyTong at a NEMCON convention in Connecticut. He still remembers it to this day.

Al published both our methods in his book, Tbe Apodosis, on March 20, 1978. According.to Alin his later book, Tbe Purloined Thought, he mentions that during a visit to the Magic Castle the

following year he was pleasantly surprised to find all the mentalists there doing my tear. Following

the publication of 7/re Apodosis, many different tear and read methods appeared.

2

Some ofthe creatorswere Bruce Bernstein, fuchard Srride.T. A. \X/aters, Ed Marlo, Barrie Richardson,

Lee Earle, Ted Lesley and, of course. rhe author of this tear. Ran Pink All these methods have

qualities to commend them and the serious student should srudr them all.

I myselfput out another merhod in 1986 called the Surroudded Slott'-\lorion Center 71ar and then

my final version called lhe ?ei ftctad Center Tiar in 20A5.Tr,is is the method I still use roday So there

you have it. \Xhat is peculiar here is rhe similar thinking of Ran's neri'T-REX and mi'first version,

Tlre tJltirnte C€ilt€i 77ai. Although totally different, ifyou compare both methods lou rvi11 see that

we are on the same rvave length. Perhaps that is why I like this new tear so muchl

Let me get back to Ran. I have endorsed many of his bools over the ye ars. Thinle Pink, of course,

has become a classic. Itt a wonderful method for doing the Center Gar

'The Zen System' relies on just a couple of cards to get a persont Zodiac sign and then their exact

birthday. this is the kind of mentalism I love.

Abnormal Behavior'shows howstrong mentalism usingplaying cards can be. Ald the whole routine

ls lmPromptu.

And now, T:REX allows you to do a tear and read with a business card that might be even better

than Thi h Pinht

The bottom line is you can tell, even from just a first read, that this stuffworks and was designed

for the professional performer It is apparent that Ran actually does this material for real audiences.

These days there are many mentalists writing, and selling, whatever pipe dreams they concoct,

regardless of the actual mileage these ideas have seen. You can usually spot these from the real deal

because those authors have to explain away their fabrications by talking about the criteria thev meet

or similar excuses. That is not the case with Ran.

So sit back and enjoy this book. .As you read, know that you should take the time to learn this

technique because it is worth it. TIREX alone would be worth the price, lvith its differenl'ariationssuch as the double card idea, the horizontal version and a ton ofpractical tips. But not only do you

get that, you also get 'Numero-Logic', A Borrowed Thought' and 'The Bucker List' and so many

more-

\7hat a bargain!

fuchard Osterlind

July 2012

7-REXBASiC TECHNiQUE AND VAPiATIONS

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MEET T-REX

\bu are about to learn the fastest way to rip and secredy rcad whatt written in the middle of a:olded business card. The basic technique is known as the Center Tear in the world of mentalism:,rd many wonderful techniques have been published throughout the years. The man I considerie most influential in the realm of the modern Center Tear is Richard Osterlind. It was watching:im perform his Prrfected Center Tear that brought the basic technique to life. I had read about thi:;ar in Corindat lj Steps to Mentalisz, but fuchard did not steal the center ofthe paper. Instead.fuchardt technique involved peeking the information while tearing it. It was a game-changer for meand so many other performers. Without Richard, I would have never been so obsessed wiih tearingjiferent types ofpaper to the point where I eventually developed my own taste for how I d like to::ar a folded piece ofpaper and gain the information written inside it. I shared my ideas with a ferv:otabie mentalists and I was encouraged to write a booklet describing my handling.

In 2004, I released Tltinh Pinh CenterTear to the magic communiry I designed the tear with index;ards in mind, though business cards work too, and with the idea that if iomeone was ro stare ar:nl hands the whole time, they would not see anything suspicious at all. In fact the pieces ofpaper;an be flashed on all sides during the tearing procedure and it is very clean. However, oyer the m;ny'.'ears of perlorming Thinb Pinh,l have rarely had anyone srare at my hands during the tearingrroces and I've realized that theret no need to run when I'm not being chased. If my panicipani:sni looking at my face while I'm tearing, I've done something wrong.

This led me to begin experimenting with an approach that could get me to the information faster-han Thinb Pinh.l wanted to rip the paper, like itt not needed anymore, and dispose ofit like it was:rrelevant. I was moving away from an origami-like, methodical tearing, and towards a bolder moveii hich would allow me to gain the information after the first tear ifI so pleased. Yet, it had to appear,ike a natural tearing of a quarter-folded card, with no apparent unfolding morions. $firh T-REX-.ou'll never look at your hands as you rip the paper as it is easy to navigate by touch aione and rhere:s no fumbling with too many bits ofpaper. I'm very pleased with the technique you are abour ro-:arn. It was a breakthrough for me that shifted the way I perform the Center Gar.

--REX was designed with thick business cards in mind and worls bestwith the 2 r 3. j size. \bu can:xilv print blank business cards ifyou feel uncomfortable about ripping vour actual business card:ut vou'll see that you'll be rearing the thickest cards with ease. It also rvork exrremelr. ri'ellx.irh half::dex cards. The paper shouldnt be much larger than those sizes.

lers start with learning the basic T:REX ripping technique and rhen u'e'il explore some afternarive:andlings, additional subtleties, presentational ideas and the iogic ofthe rvhole process. As a bonus. ou 11 learn something called LSD T:RIX which is a revolutionary nvo-card Center Tear.

I /:-_

T.REX PPEPAPATiON

Grab some business cards so you can follow along.

Ihe photographs on the opposite side ofthe page tell mosr oirhe srol'. I u'rote 'T-REX' to illustratemore or less where the thought will be written. \With the ahernarile handlings, vou'll have more

space to work with. For now lett keep the writing just abole the horizontai center line so you can

start learning th€ basic version ofT-REX.

Normally, I draw a line ri iih an S on its top left-hand side to signi$,thc proper placement and orienration for the writing. It is very clear

where they should write dori n rheir thought. This idea is from RichardOsterlind. It is a subtle. bur important breakthrough in the realm ofthe Center Tear. This handling makes certain that the writing will be inthe proper orientation for a quick peek. Alternatively, you can just use

your excellent audience management skills and direct them rvhere to rvrite in more subtle ways, butthe choice is yours.

Photographs 2 and 3 show the paper with designated space to rr rite should be folded from left toright but slighdy up-jogged.

Now fold up the paper fiom bottom to top but 1/8th of an inch shorr of the top of the uppermost

edge (photograph 4 and 5).

At this point you would hand someone the paper and rell rhem ro ri-rire something down, but forrhis teaching session we have T-REX already written inside.

Photographs 6 and 7 show the rotation of the folded card so rhat you end up with the open edges

ofthe paper on the top left and the center or folded edges on the bottom right, as in photograph 8.

This is how you will position the card when you ger it back from the participant.

8

T-REX RiP

Now the righr thumb cones into the openinsand goes as deep into the right corner as possibl..

The right rhumb thould applt a bir oi pr,..--.to the right index finger through the laier oicard, while the right middle finger supports rhe

index finger and covers the point of the tbldedcorner. Photograph l0 shows what it looks likefrom the performer's angle.

The next step happens as you askthe participanta simple question. For example, "ls yourthought locked in your mind?"

\bur leti umb slides into the first layer, closest

ro rou. phorograph 9). This should be easy tolind lirhoui looking due to the pre-foldingoi rhe c.rrd. Ir': inportant ro tilt your hands

dori nu ard a bit so nobodi cal see oi,er the top.

Photograph 1l shows the participant's viewof the same position. It appears that you are

5ripping rhe paper and preparing ro rip it inhalf. rvhich is in fact what you are going to do.

\{ake sure you tilt rhe card slightly towards

lourselfso your thumbs are mostly out ofview.

\ort allrhis nerr parL i. going ro happen in one

smooth motion: As soon as the right thumbiam. inro rhe corner. Lhe ripping begins.

Rio ir down rhe middle as you would do normallt I: ;ear torvards yourself. Use your right middle

,n'a ,ing nng." on rhe botto* rlght corner of rlrt 'a:d-ro suPp-art the tear' Your goal is to rip the

*hol. tf,ineiow, the middle. YoLiwill rip throue! ::r;e laters of card frrst and then through a single

frr.r. Or. i" the erain of the card, it's ofren difr;u': :o set the single layer to rip perfectly straight'

Thi, ir rro, rn isui. You will simply finish this i:':::ar- just behind the left fingers'

The left hand will cover you as you lift the right inder and middle fingers. This will release- the-flap as

,fr. ,-i.,-,U, ,irg, ""d

piikie fingers take holi oi rhe card (photograph l5). Immediately after the {lap

;';.i;d,'J. i;J., ,'nd -idd[ frng.r '-e-grip

rhe card. rvith the middle 6nger positioned directly on

the corner of the card (photograph 16).

1l

\otice again that this is all happening near the left palm, covered by the left 6ngers, but it should

.ot app.i, as ifyou "t .on.."ling rry1hing. This move happens so quickly that you can have casual,

:atural hands.

?horograph 16 shows rhe middle 6nger positioned directly on the middle, outside folded edge ofthe

.rrd aid ihe thu-b still near the inside corner The right hand rotates a little as you are aligning its

:ieces with the left hand pieces. Your right thumb and middle finger squecze together and this will

:op open the center ofthi card. In the sime motion, rhe pieces are aligned so they can be torn again.

-: photograph 18 you'll notice that you can already see the word, but.itt oriented sideways -- sill,.gible, biLt not ideal. Ifthe thought was written on a Yertically oriented card then the writing would

:e-right-side up. (This will be covired in the alternative handlings section later on.) For this version, I:onr-,ranr to look at the bits ofpaper yet. Since the rvriting was done above the middle line, we can

:::alie another tear as soon ",

the pGces are aligned. Ti:ar dorvn the middle ofthis packet as shown in

:lorograph 19. But before you do, hold rhe pieces in your left hand, so you can turn the Page'

13

\,rh* r." 6.t,h npp-g the pile in half, 1a1'the hot piece on top ofthe lilg and then 1ot5,1

;,;';;.:;;;;;.'-ii.t'i'i*. io* riglrt hani guide' rhe piecc' inio the porition vou see below in

nhn'rnrr"oh 2i. your leh finger., mainrair a lighr grip on it,' end and makes the adiusrments io that

onlr i.all chunl< of rhc pii-c i. visiblc "homercr i' in lronr olyorr (24)'

At this point you haven't yet looked at vour

hands. iouve made two fast rips, one right

after the next. You rvill catch your peek as you

e,esnrrc with your right hand. or as you mrke

ihe 6',al ,.at. and you place the piece' inro

your parti.ipant. hand. lle ncxt page thow' a

peeking g.'irt. rnd rhe 6nal destrucrion ofrhe

evidence.

:: - f-ire ihar thoughr is locked

- lrndi (\bur left thumb is

. r,ld and readl').

. --REX rip should take as long

-. : :-iles to sa1', "So, we don't needi -:n\ more) but you should keep

lle rip is complete.)

':, d our your hand, like this".l rne nt to peek, photo 25) "Like

. j'lp, Destroy the evidence

. orographs 26 to 29) Drop the: .:.! into rh€ir hand.

in the photographs I'm ripping the pieces in hail but often I'll rip them into thirds before Irand them oyer. I rip one third and then the right hand pieces go behind the left hand pieces.

Then I rip the last third offand llip it over as in photograph 28.

T.REY VAPiATiON I

ln Variarion l. the parricipanr will be wriring

on rhe busines. card in vertical orienration'

(phorograph 30). The pre-Fold ir the same From

,i,is po"sirion you *ould rotate the open card

counrer clockwi"e and then pre-fold a: in rhe

instructions before.

Notice the large peeking area. You ll peek at all

the informatioin aft.r thi first tear. They are the

same as steDs I to 1.8 from earlier and then it,kip, to s.i 3I. You will peek as you are aligning

the pieces together in order to tear it again'

This time vou will have to close the hot piece

belore you rip it again. You will tilr l our hand'

ro*rrd, you a, yo, clor. rhe paper and rip ir ar

the same time. You can rip it again if you u'ish

and rhen hand it over or dispose of ir'

Note: This is the fastest way to get to the

information after only one tear Richard

Osterlind's Ultimate Centet Tear was tie first,'ingle tear rechniquc and it appeared in his

Petfetted Center Tinr 6ook.

T-REX VAPiATiON 2

In Variation 2 the participant will be writing on

the business card horizontally iust as in the basic

T- REX rip. tr\ the same large peeking area at

in Variation 1 except it's in'widescreen mode'.

This is grear for drawing duplicarion and for a

Iare,.r a;oun, oF information. You'll peek all

rhe" informarion afrer rhe firsr rip a'' you align

rhe paper* to rip ''ome more. They are the same

as ,ieps I to 18 fto. earlier and then they

skio io step 34. The difference is the counter-

.lolk*ir. .rrtion of che righr hand. ' hich

rurn, the wriring right-.ide upward'.

Alternatively, a litde twist ofthe paper

between the thumb and the middle finger will

turn the paper with less movement, thcret a

knack ro ir. Trl ir. r ou might like it.

Just as in Yariation 1, you will have to close

ihe hot piece before you rip it again. You willneed to iilt vour hands towards yourselfas vou

close the paper and rip it at the same time. The

thumb. help l:old rhe card {phorograph 3-t'\ou.an rip ir again and th6n h.1ni i1 srer or

dispose of it.

T-nH bY n2tr Ptul

LSD T-REY* DOUBLE CAPD TECHNiQUE

19

tSD T.REX INTPODUCT,ON

This is called the LSD T-REX named after world-renowned Israeli mentalist, Lior Suchard. It wasduring a recent brainstorming session in Los Angeles that Lior mentioned thar he would like to doa Center Tear with nvo folded cards ar the same rime. He didnt have a complete method then, butI took this as a challenge and applied T-REX to mo folded business cards and rhe 'Lior SuchardDouble TIREX' (or LSD T-REX), was born. Thank you, Lior, for inspiring this move and forsuggesting that I share ir here.

Two willing participants will write their thoughts on separate pieces ofcard. The participants willexchange cards so each knows the other's thought as well - this being rhe reason for the writing.Both cards are collected and destroyed at the same time as they are no longer needed (which is thereason for tearing). The performer will know both thoughts by the time the tear is done.

Once again there are two options as far as the placement ofthe writing - horizontal or vertical. Thetears are the same but the peek moments are different, just as in the variations ofthe basic T:-REXmove,

The move is easier than it initially might be thought because you are tearing through fewer layers ofcard than you would do normally. Acting that it is more difficult than it is will give you a bit moretime to peek, especially for the vertical version where you are getting the peek as the hands re-alignlor the next tear You will need a second ofextra time, as you will see shortly.

The figures are self-explanatory for the most part, and the actions are pretry much identical to thebasic T-REX technique.

HORIZONTAL LSD T-REYThis is exactly like the standard T-REX, the placement ofthe wriring and pre-folding being thesame. (Photographs 39 and 40 show the new moyes that need to happen.) Both cards are orientatedthe same way with the folded edges on the bottom and right and the open edges on the top and left.

The left thumb gets the first layer ofthe card itt holding. This is facilitated by the special pre-folding that left an easy access point. The left card is shoved into the first layer ofthe card on theright, (photograph 40). It is pushed into the right-hand card as far as it will go so it appears that thecards are almost aligned. Then you tear just as in the basic T-REX, making sure to shove your rightthumb as deeply into the center as possible. Photograph 45 shows the position after the first tearwith the index and middle finger repositioning to make room for the 6rst umbrella move. This timethe left fingers will assist in opening the first folded center Photographs 46 to 48 show the openingofthe first center Your right thumb has a little package wrapped around it. In performance, youwont have looked at your hands at this stage.

20

Just to clarift in photograph 48 the thumb has a little package around it and it is positioned near

rhe bottom right quadrant ofthe first open center. This piece will open almost automatically. Yourright thumb rolls down and then back up toward the center ofthe package, and the package willopen up. Your right-hand index or middle fingers are on the other side ofthe paper allowing the

rhumb to press the paper open. Photos 48 to 50 show the opening ofthe second center section.(Ihe photos exaggerate how open the pieces actually are, for the sake ofclarity.) The pieces are keptat almost a 90 degree angle toward you so they dont peek out ofthe bottom ofyour hands.

The pieces are ripped in halfagain and then aligned on top ofthe left-hand pieces. The pile isthen rotated counter-clockwise as the pieces are shifted and spread a little so that vou can see bothrhoughts at the same time, (photograph 56).

\lrernatively, your right thumb can drag the top piece to the right behind the co'er ofvour fingers

and you will be able to see both thoughts side-by-side and the pile rvill look more orderly fromihe front, (photograph 57). Remember though it is natural rhar nlo cards torn up rvill end up as a

iarger disorganized pile.

\bu rvill get the peek as you look around for someri,here ro dispose of the papers. To complete therearing simply slide the right-jogged piece back on ro the pile as i'ou make the final tears. On stage

r ou can simply toss the papers behind vou like confeni olcard.

)3

Yr,'--

VEETiCAL Lg,D T-BEY

This is my preferred handling for the LSD T-REX technique. The orientadon ofthe writing is

.=r,i.rl, (ptotogr"ph 58). Tlie moves are the same as described in rhe prer-ious handling'

photos 5g and 60 show the opening ofthe 6rsr center. It is at rhis point thar the technique is^

different because it is at this momeit thar you get the peek Simply look dou'n and peek the frrst

."rd. Ar rou do ro, vou will open the second ce-nter ani peek this information as lell' You then

immediately turn your h..d and 6nlsh tearing. This should be done quickly and ii should appear, .

,hat vou were alisning rhe pieces in order to iake ,noth.r tear. The ffuth is, horvever, that it would

b. ni"rly i-posibl. Io ..L. rnorh., tear ifyou tore two cards in a normal fashion at the same

rime. This is;ot something to worry about, though. I often use this to my advantage as I acr as

rhough itt dificult to tear-r, my head is turned away and then I turn and peek'

The idea that you could somehow secretly open up and read what is written on one card is hard to

f"thom, "nd

to be able to do it for two ripaiat. cardr simultaneously seems unthinkable to most

,."rt.. lrir is why J like rhe bolder approach where I peek after rhe lir5r tear' I doni rhen have to

iuorry.bout rhe piece, after.vards - I iust toss them aside

Note: You will always see the information on the right-hand card first'

25

FINAT IIOTES ON T.REY HANDLIN@S

Once you understand the basic mechanics ofthe T-REX technique, you'll discover that there are

additional refinements that will make sure you get the Peek in a way which suits you best.

When I use blank card stock, I usually write the parricipantt initials on the outside ofthe folded

packet that will face them as I execute the tear This doesnt have to be their initials ofcourse, itian be any marking that relates to your presentation. \X/hen you ask for the card to be folded up

you simply ask them to ensure that their initials are on the outside of the card. This means that the

writing inside will be in the correct orientation for the Peek.

The simplest way to add the marking is during the pre-folding stage ofpreparing the card.

Reme-b.r, the card is folded to the right and then up, just a bit short ofthe edge. The quadrant

facing you at this point is where you should put the initials. Then you simply unfold the card and

draw the line with the 'X' at the Ieft ofthe central crease.

For the vertical variation, you should unfold the paper and turn it clockwise to orientate it vertically

and rhen mark rhe space For rhe parricipant to wrire.

I often use the horizontal orientation and then peek after the first tear. The writing will be sideways

but I can usually read it. IfI need another chance to read the information I continue with the

normal handling for the horizontal T-REX.

lWhatt nice about getting used to reading the writing sideways is that you have more fexibiliryin not having to direct the participant to write on a line with an 'X' on it. They can simply write

something in the middle ofthe card and fold it up. After the first tear, you will see their thought

written sideways no matter which way the card was folded, as long as itt folded in quarters in the

normal fashion.

I mentioned the vertical orientadon ofthe card earlier which will give you space for a really large

peek. k will be the top and bonom edges that will be ripped away. So, with this in mind, you .

iould write a heading such as 'Friends' at the top ofthe card. Draw a line underneath 'Friends' and

underneath that you could prepare for them writing a list by jotting down '1, 2, 3', making sure not

to use the bottom quarter ofthe vertical card.

The participant could write the names ofthree oftheir friends and then circle the name of the

frieni theyve known the longest. (Or they might write the names in the order ofwho theyve

known longest.) You will have access to all this information after the first tear I prefer to have them

circle theirihoice, so that I can focus on just that one name during the quick peek. Ifl happen to

catch the other items or names on the list then ] have bonus information I can reveal.

26

I\,e experimented rvith various sizes ofpaper and so tar rhe b;.r alrernarive to business card size is

halfan index card. Those with ihe lines on rhem are especialil nic;. In rhe renical position thei.areri'ider than a business card. And with the lines running horizonralh sh;n the card it r-errical theyare perfecdy suitable for the participant to rvrite their ansn ers. The roo and borrom porrions of rhe

card are avoided b. rrritins rhe heading on the cardand perhaps leaiing a space tirh an I and a lineon the bottom fbr their signarure.

You can also use Po5r-lt norcs io prnorm l-RF\.Just fold a square Post-It' in halfs'irh stich'portion on the inside so that it's seaied in hali. \olthe shape is perfect for T-REX. Of course. r'ourreason for folding it is to make the paper rhicker so

you cant see through itl

tSD T-REY IIOTES

To prepare two cards for the double card tear, stack two cards one on top ofthe other and then gorhrough the pre-folding sequence (as described on page3) rvhile holding the cards together. Unfold both thecards and you are ready. \7hat's nice about this simplepreparation is that you have also secretly marked thecardsl Because the cards were pre-folded together each;ard will have a differendy sized lip i.e. the single layerinro rvhich you will put your fingers, see photo 68.\bu can choose which lip you prefer to have in whichrand it doesn't really matter. Even ifyou dont use

:he double tear, this is a handy impromptu marking.r'stem. I cant imagine it is original to mc, it.just worls:;rfectly in the T-REX contexr. (ldea: Bob Casidys 'Name and Place' routine and this simple::arking system. . . need I say more?)

lll the variations ofT-RIX require that you ger borh thumbs inside the 6rst layer of the card.I'lake sure your right thumb goes in as deeply as possible towards the folded corner You only:::;d ro execute the final part ofthe umbrella move since your thumb is alreadv inside the lbld. By.:.ieezing the thumb and middle 6nger the hot piece will open almost automatically.

.l:e more thing: If you have any difficulry with the umbrella mor.e, '\'ou can open the hot piece by: -:.hing it againsr base ofthe left thumb as the left hand rerurns from making the first tear. Ifyou::r at photo 16 r'ou rvill see that ifthe right hand had been about a couple inches lurther over to::. -.:: ir s-ould touch the base ofthe left thumb. You can therefore use this positioning ofthe left- ::::., :" h.lp rriil- opening rhe hor piece.

)7

TEAPOPIST PLOTS& SECPETS

28

TEAPOPIST PTOTS & SECPETS

Much ofwhat I'll explain on the next few pages will be common knowledge for many professional

mind-readers who make use ofthese types ofcovert peeking techniques. But I need to make a pointto everyone else that before you start performing any Center tars and reading people's minds

you must have established the idea that you possess special mental abilities. In a formal setting,

this is usually defined by your opening remarks and your effects during the performance. Oftenan MC will help establish your persona by how they introduce you. Also, you might have laid the

groundwork during cocktail hour, mingling with the audience and creating anticipation.

In an impromptu or more casual setting, however, we dont usually have as much time to bring

the audience inro our world of fourth-dimensional thinking, especially in the middle of a social

gathering of new friends. Often, though, psychics, astrologl,, or some oth€r paranormal subject

become the topic of conversation without any prompting from you. I savor these moments lt's

more likely that you'll have to create and seize an opportunicy to display your'powers', though.

Here is an example of something that i use:

I start by saying something [ike, "I'm having diji az right now, wait, hold on . . ." I act as if Ihtrying to recall something, then I close my eyes and continue:

"Have yorhad diji. zz and tried to predict what happens next in realiry, based on it?" I let people

respond, listen and interact. Then I started laying out the 'fertilizer' . . .

"I've learned that through meditation, I ve been able to chase my feeling of dfi uu and mentally

pick up on things that may happen next. I feel especially intuitive when this happens. Let me show

you what I mean..."

You now begin your mind-reading demonstration, perhaps using the technique in this book.

I know many magicians and mentalists who get caught-up in the twisted logic ofhaving a thought

written and then ripping it. I find that my audiences arent as concerned, but you can make it more

logical with your own personal procedure. My general ploy is to say less and imply more. Ideally I d

like the participant to forget about the writing and the tearing.

My favorite part about using the CenterTear has always been the fun that comes with improvising

with the information I've gleaned. Itt much more about what you do with the information than

how you get it.

Occasionally I'll feel the need to 'let them in on something and I'll explain a procedure that they

can try with their friends when I'm long gone. Since there are no rules for how to send thoughts

telepathically, I really enjoy making them up and varying them from time ro time.

30

\li'basic oudine {br the procedure is:

- Choose a thought- Lock the chosen thought- Destroy the evidence

Choosing a thought is self-explanatory. The participant will be asked to think of something,

an1'thing, such "t "

family member, their best lover, a favorite teacher, someone who isnt in the

room, airavel destination, but ideally something personal. They may be asked to think ofa range ofrhings, but they are to narrow down their options and select just one Person or item. Thoughts that

have meaning are more powerful and are therefore easier to use for the demonstration.

Locking that chosen thought is the main part of the procedure and this is where your knowledge

ofethereal, spiritual, scieniific ideas and your own creativiry can come to play. I prefer to keep it as

simple as possible.

''Please settle on one choice, lock it in your mind and anchor your thought h€re."

I hand them the card, pre-folded and with an 'X' and a line, and gesture for them to write with the

pen that I m about to hand them. Notice in this version there is no mention of the word 'write' or'paper'. Remember I'm trying to avoid those words becoming part of their memory.

Sometimes, I'l[ make up pseudo-scientific terminology in order to avoid mentioning the writing:

''We'll use the Jorgenson Locking Theory and see if we can make something interesting hapPen"'

I ll explain that when someone imagines doing something and then actually, physically experiences

rhat action, it becomes a dream fulfilled. A dream that comes true is a very powerful thought and

srrong though$ are more likely to be streamed from mind to mind. lWe will create a quick yet

porverful 'dream that comes true',

They are to mentally see themselves writing down their thought. Then they are going to physically

* rite down their thought on the paper to 'lock their thought'. Once that's done the paper is no

-onger needed.

Destroying the evidence is the main reason for tearing, stated or not. I only want that thought to

:risr in th- participant's mind. There is no way anyone can know what they are thinking and there

:s no rvay anyone will know the thought unless the participant reveals it. In communicating this,', our body language and eye contact should give the impression of trust without having to say "l:rusr thatyouath;ught is locked in your mind and that you wont forget". Then perform the tear.

Thel should keep it secret until they ar€ ready to send it to you mentally! There are other reasons to

::ar as you'11 discover later on.

31

Now that I've covered the basic outline ofthe approach. there are variarions that are just as effective

and may be more suited to your sryle.

My friend christophe Ambre, the well-known swiss mentalist and pickpocket, shared the following

with me and has kindly let me share it with you;

christophe writes: "oK, I'm pretry sure thar this is nor ofiginal to me, brrt it has served me well the

past twelve years.

I ve perform the Jas Jakutsch '.ATA\7 Tliple Test' on a regular basis for many years in all my close-

up ,Lo*r. This is a litde tip about what to say to .justify the tearing of the paper.during the test .l

explain that the process oftearing the paper helps ro put the word into their subconscious mind.

I tell them that iuring the proceis of tearing, they'll mentally repeat th€ word they have.written

over and over again. i1is process is very logiial for the participant and they have never asked any

questions about why they have to tear the Paper.

Also I tear my paper at rhe same time as the participant does, so rhe peek is even easier as everybody

is focused on tle'participant. I watch them ind it looks like I'm saying "Yes, you tear it well"'

I would like to add that you must expand the revelarion to make the word that was written seem

unimportant. For exampie, ifI were ro ask them to write down a capital city and theywrote 'Rome',

I would ask them to think of something they can link ro this city - a famous building or other

landmark, something to eat, a color, etc.

Then I start to reveal by logical association lrom which building they are rhinking of(I iust think ofsome building, meal, etc., which can be linked to the ciry)"

The effect Christophe is referring to is in Jas Jakutsch conpletefi Mnttnl (vohme 1) where more

than one paper is involved and tie parricipant tears as the mentalist tears. Ir's an excellent example

of combining the Center Tear and layering it with other merhods in order ro achieve a killer multi-

phase routine.

Bob Cassidys 'Name and Place' routine is one of my favorite roltines of this nature where the

method, are layer.d to perfection and luckily the method can be adapted to utilize the center Tear

Layerins the ienter Tear rechnique with other mentalism gambits is the best way to blur the path'

T1',. ruii.rr.. can never backtraik to the method. Bruce Bernstein was the first to apply the one

ahead and misread wirh a Center Tear and in his genius book Unreal yoill find, some ffue gems.

Id also include suggestion, muscle-reading and appropriate positive touching of pressure^points or

taking ofthe pulsel"as rechniques that we ian layer with the^knowledge ofthe piece of information

th.y firu. *riit.n down. These can help in the ievelation of a thought and to create distance from

the 'dirty work .

32

THE CHiLL FACTOP

One idea I d like to share here I call 'The Chill Facror'. It combines a classic children's goose-bump

:rick rvith the revelation ofa thought to create a physical sensation of thought-ttansference.

\bu might remember the 'Crack an egg on your hcad, yolk coming dorvn' trick, or some version

of this game. You might remember reciting a version of this Poem to a friend and, at the climax,

touching a sensitive spot on their neck and giving them goose-bumps . . .

\\'ellwe won't need to speak in rhyme here, as there is a more 'clinical' way to give the goose-bumps

and it will simply appeir as ifyou are touching some pressure points on their back and neck.

To start with, you will need to have learned their thought. Now have the pardcipant take a few

complete breaths.

This is important to get the oxygen flowing.

Tell them to keep their thought in focus and that you will touch some pressure points on their

back that will assist in opening up a channel so the thought extraction can begin. Have them take

another deep breath and tell them to repeat their thought like a mantra, ovet and over.

Next, state that you'd like them to close their eyes and to focus their en€rgy and notice anysensations

in the places you touch, then proceed as follows.

Explain that when they feel that their head is being touched, they are to imagin€ that they can hear

vou, the mentalist, saying their thought. The idea is to anchor their thought with the "chills" they

are about to receive.

Using one hand, gendy tap the left shoulder blade mice with your knuckles. Then tap the rigltshoulder blade twice with the other hand, then immediately lighdy squeeze the side neck cable-

muscles, once with your thumb and fingers ofboth hands. Now, straighten your fingers and run the

blade-edge fingertips sofdy down their spine from the top of their head to their waist. (Generally,

ir is when touihing their neck or running your fingers down their spine that the goose-bumps

appear.) The whole process should take about four seconds.

Srep in fiont olthem and take a few steps back. Look them in the eyes for a few seconds and then

revial their thought. You can ask them if they felt a physical sensation as the thought was extracted

and most will have to agree that they felt something during the process since it won't be clear when

the extraction began. Have them describe the sensation in order to reinforce the effect and engage

any observers to the effect.

33

You can also take this in another direction. Because you ,ust gave them the chills, they are now very

sensitive in their neck and back muscles. Instead of revealing the thought straight away you can

stand back and make suggestions to the participant that you are touching them from a distance'

Often they will agr.e thai they feel so-ething around their neck area'

The audience at large will be amazed with your supernatural abilitiesl If they dont admit to feeling

anything, simply aik rhem to imagine thai your hind_ is running up their spine to the top oftheir

h.rd "ni

th"ii how you will take the thought from their mind

Now reveal the thought and ask if they felt any physical sensations during the thought extraction.

the ,,chill Factor" has its roots in Banachekt 'Remedies or the old \ritch Doctor' concept from

Psycbological Subtleties 1 andhis PKThuches.

Jerome Finley also has some amazing work on creadng physical sensations fiom a distance in his

Profesio nal C b oice serres.

This 'Chill Factor' idea came during a brainstorming session with my good friend Tom Jorgenson'

who also raughr me this clinical rechnique ofgiving the chill''

34

PPESENTATIONS& CONTPIBUTIONS

16

I'll admit that the presentation I use mosr is a'Think ofSomeone' effect.

The participant will think of a name of a person I couldnt posibly know. they will lo& that

thought olthe paper and then the evidence is destroyed. Then I will use my cold+eading skills and

,ry ,iing, th"t come to mind when I think of this particular name. I'll eventually name the friend

or family member they had in their mind.

This is very strong and the siruation can ger €motional ifyou are doing things righr I learned this

presentation idea from Richard Osrerlind. The most important aspect ofthe cold-reading is to give

ih. impression, both belore and after the tear, that you know a lot more than you have revealed (or

than they wrote down).

In the next section I've included contributions from some of the greatest minds in mentalism (and

modesdy included a few ofmy orvn).

You'll learn that each contributor has a unique perspective to their performance and that although

many here are passionate in their viervs about tearing, peeking, revealing and performing, there are

in truth, no abiolutes. That would be too easy. It's up to you to discover what will motivate your

actions.

37

t-RlX bv l{an l'nrir

f, BOPPOWED THOUGHTBY RAN PiM

A BOPPOWED THOUGHT

A participant is invited to rvrite dorvn an insignificant rvord that they won't remember "Just write it,never say it and dont think about ir."

''l d like to see ifyou can remember to forget. Do 1,ou know rvhere lorgotten thoughts go to? Maybevou had a brilliant idea for an invention that you thought ofwhen you were shopping for groceries ora piece of information you were supposed to pass along to someone, but you forgot it. \Well, I believethose thoughts end up entering other people's minds in some altered shape or form. And ifyou donthold on to your thoughts, they can be stolen.

''IU like to try an experiment where I make you forget a thought, so let's begin by destroying yourthought from existence.

'As I destroy this piece of paper, you will forget to remember. (T-REX is unleashed.) Think aboutthe time when you woke up from a dream and the more you srarted thinking about the dream, thefurther away the memory of it seemed to drift away to the point where you either gave up or startedmaking up or creating parts ofthe dream until you decide to get out ofbed.

''Or perhaps you are trying to think ofthe name ofthat actor, you know the one, he was in that movie. . . whats it called . . . you know, he's married ro rhe acrress who was in that movie abour the twosisterswho...ittonthetipofmytongue...lcantrememberDoyourememberforgettingstufflike that?"

I lighdy touch the temples on their forehead with my index fingers ofboth hands and then continue

. . . "Just like that, your thought is gone. It has drifted away hasnt ir? Yes or No? Can you still thinkofthe word you wrote down just a few moments ago?

Option 1: If they say "Yes."

''OK, but dont say itl You must admit there was a moment when you weren't sure you would forgetro remember,"

''Yes. There was a moment that I wasn't sure if I remembered it right, but then it came to me."

'Exactly, and that was the moment I borowed your thought. You are thinking ofthe word'Camera',is that right?"

39

Option 2: If they say "No."

"lsn't that strange, that a thought could just vanish? But it hasn't vanished. I've got it. The word youwere thinking ofwas 'Camera', does that sound familiar to you?

Option A: They say "Yes." "'Ilatt right it was 'Camera'. That was weirdl I couldnt remember it tillyou said itl How did you know?"

Option B: They say "I dont know." I can't lor the life of me remember rvhat I wrote.

"lt's a strange feeling, having a thought removed. (This is a good place to rry other hypnosis orsuggestion experiments, as rhis is a good sub.ject and is highly suggestible.) Dont rvorry in a moment,I will put the pieces of this paper back together like a puzzle and when you see your lvord, yourmemory will be restored back to normal and you will feel a warm leeiing ofhappiness and satisfactionwash over you as your mind feels restored."

Explanation:

This presentation has built-in reasons for writing and tearing. The typical CenterTear logic for u,ritinga thought doesnt apply here. Normally you have a thought rvritten to lock the thought into theirmind. This effect is not your rypical direct telepathy rvith a Cenrer Tear tvpe of ellect. Mv goal here

was to 6nd places wherc I could practice mv suggestii,e languirge and ease myself into interestinghypnosis-style experiments. Either l ar.. \'ou get an jnrire\ring ou rcomc. If lou manage to make themcompletely forget their thought then that is an incrediblr strong el1icr on irs orvn. If rhat scenario

doesnt apply then I have their thought to reveal as a backup. In rhis case rhe outcome is that I have

demonstrated thoughts can be stolen, yet I only borrori,ed rheir rhoughr for a moment.

If you are familiar with Luke Jermays 'RGM' from 7 Decepriou;, you'll see that I borrowed theconfusing line "remember to forgct". Go and buy everything Luke Jermay's ever put outl Also JamesBrown has some great work on Luket'RGM'that one can applv ro this presentation. Kenton Knepperis a master ofwords. Kenton's work on suggestion is worth careful study, as well.

Ifyouwant to know more about these types ofsuggestion/hypnosis-style techniques, I also recommendstudyingAnthonyJacquin! materials on the subject. Patrick Re dford'sbook Glenmr is also an excellent

resource for memory loss effects.

40

NOTES:

41

I'IUMEPO.LOG1CBY RAl,l PiNf

ITIUMEPO-IOGiC

Effect

The participant calculates their 'Mystic Number' by adding the digits oftheir birthday to their'luckynumber' and then adding the digits of some memorable year The numbers are then added again tocreate a single digit.

They are then asked to focus on this final number - their 'Mystic Number' - and they will nowsee that number popping up everywhere they gol And every time they see it they can focus on themeaning ofthe number and it will bring them good luck.

They are asked if they know the meaning of the number They would like to know so they tell youthat they were thinking ofthe number 7.

"The number 7 is a very spiritual number and can be especially lucky if you can stop being so

analytical and just let things forv more in your life. You swim in the deep currents like a fish. Youiea Pisces arent you? I had a strong feeling about that. Also you'll see that this number will come upoften when you least expect it, and in different forms. It may be a sign or address that reads 43 or 34,or 124,214, any number where the digits add up to 7 and sometimes you'll just see the 7 on its own.

"lfyou see this number by chance on your birthday, this is extrem€ly lucky so keep an eye out thisyear on March 18th . . . That is your birthday, right?"

Explanation

I love numbers and numerology! Focusing on the meaning ofthe final digit makes the fact that theywrote their birthday digits feel irrelevant. The random inlormation has, in fact, no bearing on whatyou are about to do, which is to amaze them that you can know their birthdayl

The random information is only there to generate the final single digit (from which you give a general

reading) and then hit them with fact that you know their birthday.

Naturally, during all of this I never m€ntion wdting anything down and tearing it up, but youknew that since you are reading a book about the sub.ject! Since they were asked to compute several

numbers, I find it only right that I oller th€m a writing utensil and a place ro write.

43

OK, let's break this example down even further, just to make it absolutely clear

They were asked to write the digits oftheir birthday in the peek area as a four digit number. Let's saytheir birthday was January Sth. The four digit number would rherefore appear as 0l 08.

Undernearh that line they will put the total ofthose numbers, that is, 9. Then they draw a plus sign(+) and rvrite their'lucky' number belorv it. (ltt a strange thing but we all seem to hau.

"iucky"orfavorite number for som€ reason. Otherwise they can just use a randomly thought-ofnumber.)

Now they are asked to add some other (random) information, such as a memorable year They cannow justremember the final digit or they may wrire it down somewhere on the card, too. They mustalways_ add the_digits oftheir sum until they are left with a single digit. Once thev confirm that theyhave the one digit sum in mind you can ger rhe paper back from them and tear it up as it is notneeded anymore (getting your peek ofthe binhday date).

You then ask them ifthey know the meaning ofthat final single number. liflhen they say they thatthey dont you can ask them what the number is and then giye rhem a reading about that numberSo far, so good.

You then finish off by revealing their birthday however you please. For example, you might saysomething abour their Zodiac sign followed by the revelation ofthe exact date.

From their perspective there is no way you could know their birthday as it has been added to othernumbers and then added again to reveal a single digit. The fact thar thev are focusing on rhe mathis what hides the method from rhem.

Vriting and tearing is completely justified in this presenration. If you do a Google search onhumerology', 'the meanings of numbers' and 'signs of the Zodiac' you will be able to ger all theinformation you need to learn in order to fesh out this effect.

44

T-REX by Rarr Pink

otoS

+42 ,-\:;f s+2G \

45

T-REX by Ran Pink

THE BUCTET IISTBY PAI,fr. CAPNIZZO

46

THE BUCKET LIST

The Center Tear certainly is a porverful tool for the mentalist, but at the end of the day it is our

presentation that m"tters, not the tools we have. This would be analogous to a carpenter who would

rarher show offhis hammer than show rvhat he can build rvith it!

1X4ren Ran first shared T-REX with me in 2010 I Ioved it because ofits simplicity, but also because

ofits speed - one or nvo tears and youre done. I ve always felt that ifyou are tearing something up

it is obviously not important. It therefore seems odd to me to place so much emphasis on tearing itinto small pieces.

I'm going to share one olmy favorite routines using the Center Tear, and T-REX is-the perfect tear

ro ui. foi it (and for all ofyour Center Tear needsl) I will oudine the presentation first and then the

subtleties that make this routine so porverful - particularly the iustification lor tearing up the paper

The term'Bucket List' has become well-known following the film ofthe same name. The contents

of one's Bucket List are often a topic ofdiscussion amongst friends and family (perhaps more so

rvith men than women). Indeed strangers talk about it too on some ofthe online discussion groups

rhat I've seen.

Sample Presentation

"I'm sure you are familiar with the term 'Bucket List'. Basically it is a'to-do'list ofthings we'd like

to accomplish before we die. Some ofthe things might be pretty straightforward, like opening a

business, building a family, or owning a home, while others can be a litde difficult like starring in amovie or walking on th€ moon.

"Even some ofthe more attainable Bucket List items are often once in a lifetime events for the

average p€rson. Most ofthe items people wish to attain involve an adventure ofsome sort. I would

like to know ifyou have a particular item like that on your Bucket List that you really feel thatyou'd like to achieve during your lifetime?"

The participant says there is something they have in mind.

''Great! Is this something you feel strongly about, and that you will really make an effort to achieve?

Good! In that case we can try something using your emotional connection to what is right now .iust

an idea and hopefully get you even more excited about it in order to help motivate you to take the

steps needed to make this idea come to fruition. Now dont tell me what it is, but I d like you to jotit dorvn on this card, then lold up the card and place it on the table, we may need it later."

47

They write on the card, as requested.

"Perfectl Now I d like you to focus on the item and imagine that you are experiencing it now.Tiy to imagine that you can see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the aromas. I'm going to try toexperience this with you and tell you a little bit about this endeavor

"Excellent! I feel like I can tap into your visualization. This is something you've thought of manytimes but never actually taken any real steps to make happen. Look around at all ofthe sights. Itwas quite a journey to get to where you are now. I feel as though this is something outdoors . . .

there are other people around but you arent concerned with them . . . you're intendy locused onthe task at hand.

"Let all your senses take in this experience. \7ow! fhe view is amazinglYouie very excited aboutthis event; your heart is racing but in a good way. Youre a little tense but youie so glad you decidedto go through with this. I feel a light breeze, but itt getting stronger. There is a smell that I cantquite place, youie not near water are you? No, it's more ofa crisp air that I'm sensing. As you lookaround you can see so many amazing things. Itt becoming much clearer now . . . wJwont needthis card after all."

You tear up the card.

"The view seems to be gening bigger . . . like youie travelling higher. I can hear the wind howlingnow. Your heart is pumping so fast now. I sense some hesitation on your part, but not for long. Thewind is very strong now . . . the view is even better than it was a moment ago!

"That was amazing! Itt over now and you can't wair to do it again. Youie going to be so glad thatyou decided to go skydiving!"

Ifyou have any experience with mentalism you'll know exacdy whar's going on. There is a bir ofcold-reading here, but the statements are so broad that they will fit a wide iange ofdiferent events.Using a similar patter ro rhe example above you will ensure that rhe participant selects a BucketList item that involves an adyenture of some sort, basically because that's what you're telling themto think ofin an indirect way.

The nice thing here is rhat you are actually revealing a lot of information about the participant'sitem before you even touch the paper There may be times when you are getting a strong read fiomthe participant and you may wish to just go for it and try to name the correct item without evertouching the card. Even ifyou are wrong on your guess you'll have the perfect morivation to rear

48

the paper and reveal the thought with 100% accuracy.

The statement about water is used to further fish for information, if they agree with the water

srarement you can assume rheyve chosen one of the items fiom the following list relating to water,

and you can develop your cold-reading fiom thar standpoint if vou rvish. Of course the script may

reer offin a different direction in actual performance based on the particiPantt reactions.

Remember that ifyou miss our anv ofthe information during the script it rvill not be an issue as you

rvill still be able to reveal the actual item the participant chose.

Ifyou seem to be getting good hits during the script the tearing ofthe paper is perfectly justified as itruill be clear th"t you dorrt n..d it - remimber th"t earlier you told them that you only may need it'

In this case, during some point in your script (after youve clearly had several hits in your revelation),

you can nod knowingly and say something along the following lines:

"It's becoming much clearer now. . . we wont need this card after all." Then pick up the card and

rear it up, peeking the information as you do.

Now lett suppose theyve thought of something extremely obscure and the script is not rendering

many hits. 'Iirere is anoth€r subile line you may need to employ, and will be perfecdy justifiable. IfIget a negadve feeling about the level ofhits, heret what I say:

"I feel like you may be focusing too much on what you wrote down and not focusing on the

actual experience. I d Iike you to itop focusing on the words you've written and really visualize this

experience." As you say this, pick up the card and tear it while you get the peek.

Some ofthe more common adventurous Bucket List items include;

. Slydiving

. Climbing a mountain (often Everest or Kilimanjaro)

. Swimming with, or feeding, sharks or dolphins, or both

. Piloting a planei helicopter/hot air balloon

. Scuba-diving

. Tiavel to every continent (or some sort of extravagant travel plan)

. African Safari

The above list contains fairly common items and as you can see the sample scriPt would make sense

ior most of these, particularly as you'll be gauging the participant's reactions and accentuaring and

building up the hiti you receive. Ifyou get a positive response for the 'water' statem€nt, for examPle,

tou .ouldilrbor"te more on the visualization. Usually though, I don't bother and simply tear the

:aper using the appropriate reasoning based on their answer, as outlin€d above.

49

'l'-lUlX by l{an Pink

THOUEHTS AND IDEAS ON BItlET WOPI(- BY llilCHAEt I,IUPPAY

50

THOUGHTS AND IDEAS ON BITLET WOPI(

{Ihough there are some notable exceptions such as Bob Casidf i 'Name Place' routine I find that

nost billet work is quite linear in that a word/name/drarving is made and then it is simply revealed.

lirve liken these routines to a dot-to-dot puzzle then most form a straight line or path. The parricipant

.r rote something, handed it to the mentalist who ripped it up before revealing rvhat rvas rvritten.

Problems may aiise, howeyer, when a participant walks this parh in r€verse unril satislied that they

k-now how the effect was done. It doesnt matter one iota that they didn't see you do it, they only care

rhat their thoughts are congruent enough to follow the path that was taken.

-\n effective roudne is one which would force the Participant to abandon such thoughts as they

simply could not be congruent to the path fiom A to B. My efforts to achieve this haYe giYen rise to

a couple ofthoughts:

Circle Of Thuth

If most routines using the Center Tear are linea! travelling in a straight line from A to B then we

might consider joining the ends to form a complete circle. The path will remain obvious enough^

for1he panicipant to follow, ofcourse. But should they contemplate any method other than that ofmind-riading (or whatever skill youie implying) they will be forced into a circular line ofreasoning

and miss the truth. If they walk this journey with any possible method in mind we must ensure

that their thoughts will not be congruent with the outcome. Luckily this is easily achieved by using

multiple methods.

An Example Routine

The mentalist places their wallet on the table. They mention that there are a couple ofbusiness cards

inside it and asks if the participants know what is written on them.

The participants state that they have no idea.

The mentalist opens the wallet and removes two cards. These cards are seen to be blank. They request

rhar the first participant writes the name ofa close friend on one ofthe cards, someone that no one

else in the room would know.

Once this has been done they request that this is shown to another participant so that two minds are

now concenffating on the same thought.

51

The card is then torn up and discarded.

The mentalist concentfares for a moment before writing something on the card. The card is folded

and then placed on rhe participant's hand, committing the mentalistt thoughts and safeguarding

them. Bot'h particip.nt, ,r. th.n asked to verify the name that they were thinking ol

The mentalist smiles and claims that the particiPants will find whatwas written down very interesting.

The card containing the mentalist's thoughts ii then opened by the participant who is then asked to

read it aloud.

The participant reads out the card saying 'Look in my walle^t'. The mentalist picks up the--w_allet and

,.qu'.rt, th'rt th. ,.cond participant ieriore the contents of the zippered compartment. Iflhen they

do'so they discover another folded card. This is opened and is found to have the name that the 6rst

participant thought of.

The method:

I use the Sight Unseen case by Mark Strivings, however a card_to wallet or even a small Pay envelope

with a winiow section cut out would work ji-ust as rvell. John Kennedy's Prediction Mysterybox also

works beautifully for this, too. Let's assume that you're using a card-to-wallet approach:

Place two pre-folded business cards into one of the credit card slots of your wallet. Thke another

business card and write on it 'Look in my waller. Fold this into quarters and place it into your pants

pocket along with a pen.

Remove the wallet and take out one of the cards. Hand the card to the particiPant tog€thef with

rhc oen so thar rhey can wrire rheir rhoughr-of name on ir. After rhey have *hown rhis ro rhe orher

p.r,i.iprn, requert thar rhey re-lold rhe c-ard and rhen hand ir back ro 1ou'

The impression you give here is that rwo minds concentrating on a single thought make it easier m

pi.k ,p th. thought.'Te", up rh" card, getting your peek. Dispose ofthe pieces and show your hands

Io b. Jo-pl.r.ly".rpty "nd

rh"n ,.,,,Ju. th". ,..orrd .ard. Now you can place the wallet back into

your pocket.

On this second card you will write the name that you have glimpsed a moment ago Re-fold your

*rd in,o q,.rrr,.rr rni place th, pen back into your pocket,.As you do this, steal out the additional

billet, thaiis, the pre-folded one that reads 'Look in my walleC'

Perform a simple in-the-hands switch, handing your (apparendy) freshly written billet to the

na rricioant. (You are secret lv retain ine r he lolded -biil.t th" b"at' rht p'rticipanis rhoughr ol name )

Ii,., i.ri"bl. build-up haue rhem iereal rheir thoughr-of name before opening up rhe biller you

handed them.

52

-\s soon as they begin reading, reach back into your pocket and load the billet in your hand inside

rhe wallet. Now take out the wallet and drop it onto the participant's hand. Slowly and deliberately

open the wallet with clearly empty hands and undo the zipper compartment. Allow them to take out

the folded card and then to read aloud rvhat is l'ritten on ir.

I wish to highlight the switch that takes place in rhis rourine. It happens exacdy rvhen the participants

dont expeci it. After all, rvhy rvould you svirch anything in? You would Iogically just write on the

card *h"terer you rvanred them to read. This I feel is a huge benefit in the construction of this

routine.

Let's break that circle of Iogic down: If you had just peeked the information, then that is the

information that you would have written down. However, you quickly dispel this idea when they see

rhar rhe card did not haue this information on it.

On the other hand, logic also dictates that all your actions made sense because you knew what they

would be thinking ahead of time when you made your prediction lfyou did have the inlormation

already written on the second card in your wallet then you would have had no need to look at their

card (which in fact you did not seem to do).

Neither stage can be back-tracked using a single method and this binds the participanr inro accepmnce

ofthe only possible explanation - it must be reall

53

'I-RFX by Ran Pink

ESSAYS tPAVt tlBY COHN t qLEoD

54

ESSAYS (PAPT II

Essay 1: lfhy Center Tear - A menralist's point ofvieiv

There are so many information garhering techniques ar.ailable to us as performers: peeks, switches,

impression pads, electronic clipboards ,nd. of.ortt., Center Tears. Each of these also has a

phino-.n"ily ,ttong range of r ariations and adaprations. There are too manv to list here, but itgoes without saving-that ihose taught in this book add to that list (l'm arvare that I said it goes

without saying, r'et said it antrvay).

I believe that every one ofthe techniques has its own pros and cons:

. lmpression pads can collect more information, but the impression might be weak'

. Electronic pads allow you to be nowhere near the sender but the signal may suffer fiom

interference.

. Switches allowyou lots oftime to look at the original source ofinformation but th€y

require time to get the peek rvithout arousing suspicion.

In my opinion, peeks allorv the best method ofacquiring information (allow me to include tears

in thl c"t.gory,-for the time being). You get to see the actual information written down instantly

and in real-time, so there is no risk of not getting a good impression. And because you see itimmediately you can therefore hand ir srraight back, ifdesired.

Itt for this reason rhat I find them the most reliable in the realworld. So what's the difference

between peeks and instant access teaLs? 'Well with a peek you hand the billet back immediately,

with a tear you need to hold it for longer

Surely then this means that a peek is more desirable as you touch it for a shorter time? 1well, in the

shortterm, yes. However, let's consider the longer term. Ifyou execute a peek and then return the

billet to the participant you will indeed seem able to read their mind.

However in a weekt time, when they reach into their pocket and frnd the billet, they are going

to immediately be reminded ofthe process. In my opinion, there are ways of making this process

psychologically invisible and therefore not an issue. But it is with this long term issue that beauty

ofa tear becomes apparent.

A tear allows you not only to peek the information real-time, but also to destroy the evidence there

and then. Ifyou tear up the billet it becomes garbage. No one wants to hold on to garbage.

55

By tearing it up and giuing th.- th. pt.l'.ftlL1#;lrl',ltr, *".antee that after the effect theywill discard them. Days later, when they re-live the effect they now have no billet left as a piece oftheir memory of the routine .

The billet is therefore made inconsequential and whatt remembered is, quite simply, an experience

ofreal mind-reading.

So now we need to consider the one weakness ofthe rear Youte in contact with it for slightlylonger than is ideal - so what do we do about that? I7ell for that, you're going to need to read mysecondessay...

56

NOTES:

57

T-RFX bw Ran Pin[

TWtt{KtEBY IT,IICHAET WEBEP

58

TWINKtE

The reason for the title ofthis effect will quickly become apparent. This is a way to add some fairy-tale or even mystical feeling into your Center Tear presentation.

Having found a willing participant you ask them to help 1,ou to show the power of dreams . . .

"Think ofa childhood wish or dream. Norv think ofa dream you still have. Please print it here onthis paper"

They write down their dream, which rve ll sar- js 'To visit Paris', and then they hand the paper back

to you.

"I will begin to tear the paper and hand it all to you. Your task will be to sift through the pieces

and find a long, thin strip ofpaper rhat has no writing on it. Once you've done that, hand that tome and you keep the rest."

You quickly tie a simple, single knot in the center ofthe strip and then continue, "lfI told youthere was a star hidden in here. g ould r.ou believe me?"

The participant may make a r-arien' of respons€s to the question and you should handle themaccording to the persona 1'ou are portraying, the mood ofthe presentation and the empathy andinteraction you have alreadv esrablished during your performance.

If they look skeptical about the exisrence ofthe hidden star, for example, you can continue, "Just

because you dont believe somerhing it does not mean it might not still be true!"

Now hold the knotted strip up to rhe light, the sun or in fiont ofa candle-flame and the light willilluminate a perfectly formed 5-poinr srar formed from the folds inside the knot in the paper.

'And that's just like your dream. That can become a fact, too. Indeed, I share your wish thatsomeday soon you will see the Eiffel tower with your own eyes."

If, when you ask them if they believe there is a star hidden in the paper they either agree with youor just want to play along, you could continue, "Greatl As long as you keep wishing on this star

[demonstrate it by holding it up to the light] then your dream ofseeing the Eiffel tower with yourown eyes can come true. That was your dream, wasn't it?"

59

You can return the star to them as a lucky kecpsake and rcmind them to rvish on a star to make

their dreams come true.

Naturally, rvhat the1, dont know is that 1'ou obtained the inlormation about the visit to Paris while

you rvere tearing up the paper'.

60

Ran's additional comments:

Another way to get the proper strip rvithout additional cards is to rip a long piece offthehorizontal edge ofthe card before itt Iblded and handed out for ri'riting. The card is still shaped

perfectly for T:REX and you'll definirelv hale a long strip to plav rvith. Thin index cards and

thinner paper in general s,ork better for the star to shine through, Michael's idea opens uP many

mystical presentational possibilities.

Sunlight

F .q

s

Candlelight

61

T-RFX hw Ran Pinlt

R'PPiN@ AND T-REXBY TOM JOP@€NSON

62

RiPP'NG AND T-REX

One ofthe magic principles I often fbrger ro use is the one that states that bigger memories blow

out smaller memories. Bigger things to remember blou out smaller things to remember So the

action oftearing or looking can be tossed aside bv the brain ii'hen it is next to a bigger thought to

6le away in the memorl banks.

This could be something as simple as looking at the audience rvith a nerv thoughi in mind, or

a verbal emphasis in an on-going statement. Make that bigger than the tearing and the tearing

disappears, (or is muted, at least), in the memory banks.

fhe audience relates the mentalist's moyements to the ones with which they are familiar. This

means rhat ifa movement is familiar to an audience, will be recognized for what it is. That

recognition can be prevented by breaking up the actiol.l into several parts. A pause or separation ofactions during a whole move obliterates the whole move. Break a move into two or three smaller

parts and the big thing becomes invisible and the smaller moves are forgotten. This can apply to

almost any given Center Tear Itt especially handy to work with iftheret a 'sweaty part ofthemove that bothers you. Slow it down, break it up.

-While we're at it, slower is pretry much always a

better choice than faster. Ifyou tear slower than you talk, the tear will automatically appear casual.

Itt an instant fix ifyou are tense at that point.

For some people a hard part ofthe Center Tear peek is in making the tear look natural. They

sweat too much over the concept ofa natural-looking tear. Once you understand that there is no

standardized way oftearing a piece ofpaper, you can relax and tear any way you darn well wish...

Nobody watching is going to care one way or another about the way you're tearing. 'Ihe lact that

1,ou are tearing in a very specific way will not be noticed by the audience.

Also, dont forget the adage that ifyou want to hide something, paint it red or'shove it in theirface'. Most mentalists do the tear in an off-beat casual throw-away manner. In contrast I get

everyone's eyes on it, and make the tear a focus ofattentionl For me, it is the best time to cheat,

simply because all the other moments in the process are so clean. And if they cant see it whiletheyie staring at it, there will be nothing else to catch.

Speaking ofwhich, rvith the T-REX, and rvriting vertically, note that it is very easy to tear beneath

rhe writing on the second tear and immediately slip the hot piece under the pile. This leaves youclean to fip the stack ovet ifyou r.vish, for rhe third tear. This is easy to do ifyou change hands

u'irh the stack. fhis can be used rvhen you want to emphasize the actions and show both sides

clean before a third tear. I find this tear perfect rvhen using a business card. The action pops open

rhe card with a squeeze ofthe thumb after the first tear. \With the second tear the writing is gone.

\lany other tears leave you open too long or have poor angles. T-REX is done almost before youstarr. Sweet!

63

T-REX bv Ran Pink

THE BENEFITS OF SHAP,N@RAiiIEP MEES & THOM'IS HEIM (PAPAIABSI

64

THE BENEFITS OF SHAPIN@

There is an endless discussion ofseveral important aspects ofs-orking rvirh billets:

. \ ilry is it necessary for a participant to write somerhing dog-n (u'e are nind-teaders aftet all,

arent we)?

. Why do we have to get or keep the billet?

. Wouldnt it be'safel in the hands ofthe participant themselves?

. \(hy do we have to 'save it' in our wallet - wouldnt it be safer in theirs?

. \(hy do we have to tear the billet (in a Center Tear) after we had found it necessary that

they write something down? etc., etc.

Youve heard those questions a thousand times before, ofcourse, and we all klow thousands ofmore or less logical or believable justifications for our actions. For that reason we wont rehearse

them again here - challenging sacred cows is always pretty uncomfortable.

But we would like to share some thoughts and techniques we have used for several years in order

to bypass some ofthose questions. The following is oza ofthe ideas we came up with. Its_ not a

reinvintion ofthe wheel and it's not the end ofthe discussion, but it's azl oPtion with which we

feel quite comfortable.

The first key point is that we never namr a billet or even the aspect ofwriting something down.

The reason for this is that naming means creating, and the moment we mention one ofthese

aspects, it becomes 'created' or real for our audience. It doesnt matter whether we say "Lettuse this ABC!" or "We dont need to use an ABC!" The moment we name the ABC we create

a neurological imprint in the audience's collective brain which makes the ABC real and able to

be remembered. Ii exists even if we say it is not there, for non-existence requires the option ofexisting!

So we should always avoid naming anything we dont want to be remembered. This means that all

the preparations we need for a routine (that is, that we dont want to be remembered) should be

made without mentioning them and without giving them any importance or attenrion

The following sequence has served us very well regarding its emotional imPact in several situations.

\X,4rile the baiic idea is quite simple it is also a very versatile approach. W'e usually perform this

sequence for groups ofapproximately 10 people.

65

We ask a participanr to close rheir eyes and ro re-experience an emotional situation from their Past.

lve tell them that they should try to l,o' giye away any related emotion by facial expression or

gestures.

After giYins rhem an aopropriare time to recall the situation and its emotion we ask them to think

nF, *"nr,l # ru-bol thai .ould b.rr describe this emotion and to focus their mind on it. The only

real requirement is that they should find a symbol which denotes rhe.emotion reasonably well.^ . .

Note, 'il"y are arke d to oniy thinl, of ,rhis word or symbol - and while they do so we casually fold

up a business card.

But weve done this, and without asking them to wrire, print or draw anything, rve push the (now)

ore-folded business card and a pen towards them while we turn awayl Tiusr us rvhen we say that

you.r, b.rrr. that they knowrvhat rve exp€ct them to do. And they will also know uhere to d'o

rt and ln what uayl

This is rhe reason we gave them a pr€-folded card. The creases can be seen easily and they will

nti,maticnlb fold rhJcard in the iorrect way when they are finished. 1We ve actually given them

several clues, cues and features that lead them to the correct actions.

First ofall, they knorv we are psychics, mentalists or mind-readers. So apart from the.actual . ^context olthe p"nicular perfor-rnce they are already primed as to who we are and what we do (c[

John Riggss PsTri;lr Agenda and Tbe Messiah Ptousl.

Added to this is the fact rhat rve turn away rhe moment before they are expected to rvrite or draw.

1Me don t sa1 that their writing or drarving should be kept 'secfet', but the meaning of u urrting

away reinforces this clearly. Tilrning arvay says:

" l don't want to hnou nhat yui'e uriting ot draruing, Keep it ta 1'zunslf"

So at this point they write or draw the symbol of their emotion.on the business card - and now

they can 'iare' the emotion rvith the otirer participants simply by showing it to them' This- is

*h.t *e rrk the parricipanr ro do. But rhis -'sharing'

is meant even more literally, as you will see in

a moment.

Anpvay, still looking in the opposite direcrion we now challenge them to fold the billet - again

.u* ,riihou, ..n,iJning it! Rimember thar we are posirioned so that we are sitting with our back

towards the participant, -our

right hand half-open above our shoulder like this:

66

T-REX by Ran Pink

-We are effectively gesturing over our shoulder' . .

67

This is a gestural cue, too - we move our fingers as if we're folding something - an invisible billet.

Using an abstract demand such as,

will do the restl

The participant is e ncovaged to fnish'something'. They wili ask themselves what they have tofinish - because we didnt ask them explicitly to statt anything! So in this situarion a cooperativeparticipant will search for a solution: They want to seem sensible even though they dont knowexacdy what we are asking them to do.

In this situation they will automatically do the first thing that seems romatch our demand . They will, therefore, fold the b rllet, and, rhey willhand it to us - and all without having to be told explicitly to do so.

Next we give them an unambiguous cue to hand us the billet. All youhave to do is to vaguely gesture (with your back turned) towards the billetwith your hand. This gesture has an obvious meaning for our participant.It says: Giue me the billet! Nothing more, nothing less.

Having got the card we take our peek while we are tearing it up. \What

we are going to do now is to give the tearing a sense and a meaning;) andat the same time we induce the false memory that we neyer touched thebillet. The following sequence ofmoves makes it seem that we never ask toget the folded business card (although we do get it anpvay).

Thus, we can react as ifwe had burned our fingers, saying something like:

". . . No, you should heep this! . . ."

. . . while we are rearing rhe biller inro pieces. . .

". . . I'd rather yu sbared the bits and pieces ofyour meruor1 with the audience!'

. . . and hand them back the pieces ofthe torn card.

"Just let me haue ml pen ltack please . . ."

68

So several things have happened here:

. \7e Bet the card without asking for it and never use phrases like "Ha xd me tbe carrt' '

. We dont eve n sal, " Yol shr''uld h€e?the ctud. rve onlr'sar". . 1'ou sl:otld keep tbis!'

There is no card - just some disembodied and undefined 'this

. \7e create a false memory by impressing on their mind rhe fact that "You kept 'this' dll the

time".

. \7e refer to the "bits and pieces of\our memorlt" rathet than to the torn business card'

'We justify the tearing by the request to share the pieces oftheir memory with the audience'

. Ve justily our gesture to get the billet with the remark about our pen' lwe make it seem

tharthe iard isit ofinterist to ,s and that we only want our pen back.

So the situation is that each member ofthe audience receives a small piece ofthe card (handed out

by the participant) and keeps it andin doingso, keeps a piece.of the participantt.emotion .Thisway th; card is destroyed, we know rhe secrec lnformation and the audience not only knows the

symbol but they keep a part ofit too. They are definitely involvedl

At this point we usualiy add a sequence inspired by Jerome Finleys brilliant Tbought chann.el. we

introduce it as a sequence to let us get in synch with the audience: They are asked to take their

individual piece ofihe torn card behind their back and to place it in one hand. Then-they are

asked to bring both hands in front ofthem and to focus on the memory or emotion thatrvas on

the card. !flJthen give them a reading based on several cues and subtleties - but we wont go into

the details here.

The interesting part is that because they have an object ofsigni6cance (the emotiont or memoryt

,.pr.r.r,t"tionj in their hand, it is quite easy to idenri$' whiih hand the piece is in by emphasizing

this emotion especially ifyou add a Iittle visualization sequence.

Anyway, to continue: Finallv thev all are requesred to mentally transmir to us the emotion that the

firsi p"rticipant shrred u,ith ihem. A transmission from several people ar once is obviously much

easiei to reieiue th"n from just one person - especiallv ifthere are other competing transmissions/

emotions 'in the air', right?

After some presentational by-play we receive the emotion or memory and then reveal it in

whatever way we wish.

69

Those are the bare bones of the sequence. There are a few subdeties which we have included, asyou may have noticed:

-Vhile we used a billet tear in order to learn the emotion ofour first participant we could equally

well have used an impression pad instead. A friend olours Nico Heinrich, a zrry talented-young German mentalist - came up with a similar idea some time ago. He justifies the process oftearing the card with an invitation to the participant ro take all the pieces and hand them to a fervspectators. \Thether we prefer to use an impression pad for this routine depends on the situation.Aside from getting the peek, the point is thar we have offered an implicitly logical reason forwriting down the information.

lWe actually work in two directions simultaneously in this sequence:

. First ofall we never asl them explicitly to write or to draw the rvord or symbol, evenifthey do so. Andby not name the process ofdrau,ing or.writing, or even naming the billetitself, we prevent any anchoring ofthem in the participantt memory. Naming is irearing and,consequently, by preventing the verbalizarion we prevent unhelpful recaps ofthe performance. Soinstead of giving verbal instructions we work instead with rather vague and hazy ierms and fill inthe gaps of information with gestural cues.

. _ . Apan from this there is an implicit and logical reason for wriring or drawing and tearingwhich is obvious - and for which the participant needs no additional explanation. The procesiofrvriting or drawing is explained by the process ofsharing the symbol oftheir emotion! \Ve actmildly surprised that we have been given the card and seemingly hit on the idea ofsharing it withthe rest ofthe audience on the spur ofthe moment.

The basic idea ofsDanzg something (an emotion, a memory, etc.) is a very versatile tool. Youinvolve more than one participant and you.justify the process of writing (and even tearing) in rhesame step.

In addition the theme'emltio shai g'olfers many options. For example, ifthe emotion is apositive one, the sharing process is a gift to the audience ifyou emphasize rhis positive feeling andbuild up a group interaction and involvement based on this. Il on the other hand, the emotionis a negative one, you emphasize the fact that 'sharing is relieving'. In other rvords, you emphasizethe aspects ofgroup empathy, solidarity, prorection, understanding and sympathy.

This is a gift to your participant, giving them a feeling ofbeing helped by a group ofpeople'who understand'. This can be a huge emotional giftl But it is a gift to the participants, too.They become part ofa helping, healing group which induces a strong feeling ofwelfare andconnectedness. Chariry feels wonderful!

1We hope you find this idea and our comments useful in your performances.

70

NOTES:

71

'LRIX trw Ran Pink

FEETIN@ TEAF"iFIC!PAITL SH1PIEV

'71

FEELiN@ TEAP-IFIC!

For this effect you will need, as usual, a bi11et and pen. but i'ou'll also need a small velvet bag whichvou will give to the participant to take alai'* ith rhem aher rhe perfbrmance.

You start by giving them an interestins pslcholosical insight . . .

"Dreams and aspirations are someth ing 'r

e a]i har .. Prrsonal goals vary fiom person to person

and can be as simple as wanting to los< a liiile..eighr rhrough ro much larger and more complexdesires that require a lot more time and etii-,rr io achieve.

"There has been a lot ofresearch don: ir :I-.. area ofgoal-serting and, specifically, how importantit is to set realistic goals if vou riish ir, :;ii.r-e rour desires. Numerous bools have been writtenon the subject and, though t ha, t rrr: :iad ih.m a1l, I have noticed one recurring piece ofadvice,rvhich is: Wite dorvn vour goalsl

"The reason for this is based in f,1'.:rorL'sr : k ii simply not enough to just consciously think ofthethings you hope to achiere. rega:il... ,,ihorr importanr ir may be ro you. Any such thought gets

buried and lost in the chaos of ih. .,:h.r 60.000 conscious thoughts you have each and every day.

"\Triting down your goal and tiec-u;nJt re-reading it, however, creates something wondrousl lsthe information becomes stored in vour rubconscious your mind will treat it as a puzzle to be

solved. Your subconscious u'ill nor. uork ru magic, creating though$, ideas, and motivation, thatwill move you slowly but sureh' torlards achier,ing your desiresl

"l would love you to experience this. iir ou are happy to participate."

Having selected a willing participanr r ou continue, "Please think of something you would like toachieve. In particular, I d like lou to rhink about how to describe your goal in only a few words,Ibr example 'Save a thousand dollars. Gor ir? OK, write it on this piece ofcard, making sure thatno one can see it. Now, read it back ro lourselfthree or four times and then fold up the card and

place it on the table."

The goalis written, the billet folded. and then placed on the table.

You continue, "Great! That goal rs norv locked into your subconscious mindl Easy huh?l I wouldIike to share with you two more simple techniques for reaching your goals rvhich, when used incombination with the idea I have just shown you, create something very powerful and efective.

73

"Each goal needs to be broken up in to small, easily managed, acrions. For example, ifyour goal

was to irre $1000 dollars for a vication, the notion ofneeding thar much money immediatelf is

likelv ro be a liule overwhelmins. But, i[ vou were to view the $ I 000 a. ren Iots ol $ I 00 rhen. all

oia'rudden. the go:l become' a'iirrle moie manageable and ea:ier ro obrain.

"Now we can take it a stage ftirther and view the $ 1000 as lbnylots of $25, and then the end

goal seems even more achleuable and within your grasp. Most ofus will spend more than $25 a

iveek on frivolous items we could well do rvithout. So, bv simplr going without that extra cofee

or maqazine and so on. you could ea.il)'\a\e :25 a rreel 'lrottrr:nted ro. And rhat nay - well

u irhin"the .pace of, y.ir - you ,i ould'har < r\e S 1000 needcd lor lour drerm \ a(arjon. Doe.thi'make sense? Yes? Fantastic!

"So, here comes the fun part. 1We take your chosen goal and break it dorvn in to smaller pieces."

You take the participant's 'goal card' and begin to tear it up into small pieces, making use ofT-REX to obiain the information written on it. The participant is given the pieces and insrructed

to tear them some more.

The pieces are placed inside a small velvet bag which you then hand to the participant and you

continue, saying:

"This is a gift for you. Now, not only has your chosen goal been stored in your subconscious but ithas also been broken down in to small, very achievable pieces.

"tfi4ren you get home, count the pieces ofpaper you have in this bag, and think about the small

'baby' steps r-equired to achieve the goal you wrote down. Decide whether each piece ofpaper

,hould repres.rt "

daily or weekly action and make the commitment ro carrving each one out on

the regulir basis you have set for yoursell

''Keep rhjs bag by your bedside togerher with a small glas.. Fvery rime iou compleie one olthepori,iu...,ioi'.. irke one piece ol'paper from the bagland p-laci ir in rie glas. Th., ar night, iusttefore going ro Jeep. take a ,omin i ,o gare at rhe pieces ol paper in the gla's and congratulare

yoursellon rhe progres: you are making.

"Believe me - and believe in yourself- because following these directions will help you reach your

desired goal in record timel Good luck, and enioy all thJsuccess that is about to come your way."

So, where is the reveal? There actually isnt oneJ at least not in the traditional sense. This piece is

exactly as it seems in that its main ob.jective really is to help them achieve their particular goal.

74

Ihe soal-serrine advice e.iven in rhe 'cript i: real and i iork:l lhe riruali'tic sryle o[the

in.rricrions wiih regard"ro keepinq rhe piece. br rhe bed. erc.. r'ill aLso rtork ro reinflorce and

deepen the rer goal in the particip:nr. 'ubcon:.iou:.

Now, in case anyone is feeling a lirtle cheated, let me say that Ne can add a-'reveal' but it.is only

in olace to add a littie more i'nrrigue, as rve'll see in a moment. ft rvill also lurther strengthen the

chince that the parricipanr w rll fillorv through on the instructions rve have given them,

Because this piece is not being performed as a trickthe tear is justified rvithin the conrext of

Lhe goal-serrins inrtrucrions. li a re,uh. Ihere .hould be no crirical rhoughr on rhe pan oi rhe

prrr"i.ipanr *ir-h regard to rhe performance. and certainly nor in relarion to rhe tear, This enable,

iou ro'rela* in the "knowledge

ihar you arent being chasid. Measure your performance and enjov

ihe rime:penr helping lour fellol' man.

So where does the reveal come in? OK, Ier! imagine rhat the parricipanr wrote'To lose weighi as

their chosen goal. You could reveal ihe informaiion in one ofa number ofways.

1. After the last line of the presentation, "Good luck, and enjoy all the success that is about to

come your wry 1ou can pause lor a )econd. \Lare ar rhe parricipanr briefy and rhen smile and say:

''Lenie sor. *onderful lealthberelin.omingyourwayverysoon. I also 'ee a whole wardrobe

full ofnew clothes, tool So, be sure to enjoy that!"

2. Place a few differently colored bags in front oIthe parricipant and have them choose one in

rvhich to pur rhe pieces'ofpaper. Ilin. regardles ofwhjch one they choo'e say: Hmm. Irame

ol rhe color]. Thri i' ururlly J"o6ix1sl rviih health. vitaliry and - more speci6cally - weighr [os'.

Interesting choicel"

3, Ilrhe parricip.rnr is a lriend. or someone uho you know you will meet agaln soon. wair until

, ou ,.. ,h., aiain belore you make the reveal. ih.r. ,r. ,rny *ay. ro drop the reveal 'n to

ca,ual .on,e,saiion. You ll hnd rhar although ir may nor immediarely regi.rer \\irh rhem. rime rrill

provide ihem rvirh a mini-miracle. Ir will evenrually dawn on.rhem rhar rou ne,er knerr rr hat rheir

i..r., go"l ,ur,. Vhen rhis happens, .rp..t. phoi..rlll Ard, be sure to take credit for that, too,

b1 taying: T had a fee ing lou ruould call me rodar."

Paul ShirleyNovember 2012.

75

I-REX by Rrn Pink

ESSAYS (CONT...PAVr 2lBY COTIN MCLEOD

75

ESSAYS (CONT...I

Essay 2: Invisible touch . . . ofa billet.

I've mentioned in my previous essay that the ri'eakness ofthe Center Tear is that vou are often in

contact with the billet for too long.

I accept from the start that if I am to pertorm a real-time tear I am going to have to creare a _

reason for the tear And before thar, the reason I have for writing down anything to be torn is for

one participant to shorv the u'riting to ar least one other person. The justification for this is that

ifl cant reid the first parricipanr rhen I rvill attempt to read the second person. I believe this is

originally a Bruce Bernsrein idea.

Given then my justi6cation for t riting, whatt my justification for tearing? The tearing is simply so

rhat no one el5e. particularl. m<. can e|er \ee it,

So now the most important question: Iirhat's so, then why am I the one tearing it?

This is the part of which I am most proud - horv to get the peek and never be rem€mbered for

having ever touched the billet . . .

I've previously written in detail thar iustificarion = acceptance. More broadly, ifyou can justifr

somithing to people indirecth'. ir is ner er remembered because it doesn't arouse suspicion.

OK, back to the tear

Now I consider this next parr ro bc one ofrhe greatest subtleties I've ever createdl I take the billet

back lrom them and tear ir up mlselias I sa1', "l want you to tear this uP into really tiny pieces so

no one can see what you'r'e sritten. 1 rvant this thought only to exist in your mind."

As I say this, I tear it up and get ml peek. I now immediately hand the pieces back to the p€rson

and say, "So tear it up nice and small."

77

'i illr)i r,'.f ii;i!; i)ini!

I now give them a moment to tear it up as I look away. Before I turn around I ask them to cup allthe pieces between their hands.

I now turn around and re-fiame everything that's happened:

"You thought ofsomething, you showed it to him, yu tore it up and you're holding the pieces..."

The entire sequence then becomes reframed x tbem having torn-up the pieces and this is how it'sremembered, as they did most ofthe tearing. Yes, you tore it a little at the start, but that was purelyto show them what to do.

k's justified, it's accepted, itt forgotten about.

You now have the perfect model in which to frame your tear By applying this thinking and these

subtleties to it, you will be able to perform Center Tears with more confidence and make themmuch more deceptive.

'!7ith all this in mind for a tear, imagine how deceptive it is applying all this thinking to a real-time

peek. Then they really do all the tearins themselves.

78

iIOTES:

T-REX bv Ran Pink

INCEPTiON PPiNCiPIEBY H. APCANII

80

INCEPTION PPiNCiPLE

fr.rr. revelation in which a participant's thought is glimpsed prior to the relelation can be turned

:nro a multi-phase premise in which the performer also reveals other thoughrs leading up to the

dramatic revelation ofthe original thought.

Let's say you have .iust used T-REX and caught a glimpse that someone drel' a picture of a house.

I might continue by saying, 'ht this point, you have simply drawn a picture. and there is no rval'

rhatl could know what you drew, except to say that I know you did drarv something recognizable,

ves? All right then! Please, simply get it into your mind so that you are focusing on this image and

nothing else. . ." I then concentrate while staring at the participant for some dme. "Yes, absolutelv

impossible . . . at least so far. . ." (This line usually produces some laughter)

"l'll tell you what, let me try to establish a 'meeting point'within our minds using a few simple

thoughts. Lett take your image, spell what it is in your mind, and now lett take the /asr letter ofthe word you just spelled and tell me, could you make that they'rsr initial ofsay the /asr name ofone ofthe American presidents? Perfect! Concentrate on that name for a moment. Now can you

take they'rsr letter of the word that is your image and make it into they'nr initial in say oneof the

fifty Amirican states? Great! Now you are thinking ofan image, a president and one ofthe fifryAmericanStates..."

I rvill then hold up a poster board and then stare into the participant's eyes. I continue, " W'as the

president you were thinking of . . ."

I pause to build up the tension. I'm homing in . . .

"I dont think this is a recent president . . . 'Eisenhower'?" There will be an immediate reaction

from the participant and usually applause from the audience. 'And the state you are thinking of is

. . .'Hawaii?"' Another hitl

Now I quickll, drari' somerhing on the board.

"lVill you now please tell us rhat inirial image vou merell,thought ofrvhich led us to all this?"

I now reveal a duplicate drarving to huge applause.

Essentially, the 'Inception Principle' allorvs you ro get at least one extra revelation from any single

glimpse by just having your participant concentrate on reducing their thought to a word that can

6e spelled. So long as the word they are thinking of is the same, it is fairly easy, once you mentally

run through the lists below, as you will see.

81

Essentially, you get them to linh any Ietter that you want them to focus on to a category Each

category rvill only have one or two choices though it will appear as ifthere could be countless. Prior

knowledge ofthese categories and options can help you gain a few extra hits throughout your show.

And becjuse each letter offers a different set ofoptions, it is possible to re-use this idea (r,vithout

being overzealous) throughout your show, no matter how you are able to obtain your secret

information.

As you run through the alphabetical answers to forcing categories (see below), please remember that

thepeople you usi for this effect rvill be different from one anolher. Some ofthem will be more

inteiested in sports or cars, while others will be worldtravelers, history buffs, or naturalists. Your

revelations will be more impressive ifyou are 6rst able to discern rvhether your participant is more

likely to choose correcdy between finding a farm animal, a fiuit, a countrv or a geometric shape, for

example.

Once memorizcd, you can use practically your entire set ofoptions as a psychic reading while

simultaneously determining what category your ParticiPant is most likely to 6nd interesting:

"You're someone who I feel possesses a strong affinity with animals and nature. I'm also sensing a bitofa traveler in you and someone who enjoys culture and fine foods. AIso, you are a person who is

fairly analytical and math-minded"

Any aflirmation or denial ofthis statement th€n helPs you determine in what direction to.go with

your participant. You may also accidentally get some real psychic impressions! Just using the above

gen.ol ,t"tement *ill provide you with four psychic impressions which you can use to help decide

io which category you might best lead your participant. I usually ask my particiPan$ to focus on

two letters from the word that they chose so that I get two 'free revelations' that lead up to each

finale. Thus, I usually have at least six to eight psychic impressions to give them as rvell as any cold-

reading that I might want to add in on top ofthat. Of course, any misses can ahvays be used as

alternative ways to equalize the statements into plausible perceptions.

'Ihough it is not every mentalisti sryle, psychic readings are interesting to me. The way the readings

can pitentially flow in and out ofa mind-reading/inception proc€ss that Yirtually always works, Ilind'fascinating. Give it a try and you'll be surprised at how easily the aspects ofyour revelations can

be interpreted as a full-blown oracle-based psychic readingl

I like to have them concentrate on the /r.t letter of the word they are thinking of first, and then

have them think of they'rsr letter in phase two ofthrce. After that, I move straight into the

revelation ofthe actual word, name or image. Any single revelation ofa thought can now become

three times more amazing with this three-phase revelation (which also aids in hiding the modus

operandi ofl,our initial glimpse). Pretry cool!

82

The principle ofthis method, as far as I can tell, comes from an old idea that might have originat-

:d rvith either Martin Gardener or Karl Fulr'es:

''Think ofany country or continent that begins ri ith the letrer A, vou can eYen rhink ofAfghani-

rtan, so long as itt a country or a continenr. \oii spell thar countrv in t'our mind and tell me, is

ir possible to take that /asl letter and m;Lke ir rhe-flsr letter of, sa,t', a o?e ofinsect? Ifso, spell the

nime of that insect. Now while you are spelling. let me ask vou, could ,vou take that last lettet ofrhe insect that you just spelled, and hai e that lr-,r leter become they'rur letter in, sa1', a wild animal

rhat you can think o0 Excellentl Nori spell rhar ri'ild animal in your mind, and lett do this one

more tiame. Can the /arr Ietter ofthe riild animal that you are thinking ofalso be they'rrrletter ofa rype ofbird you can think oP

''Were you thinking ofan Ant. a Tis:r. and a Robin? (or was it a Raven?) Pretty good for not even

needing to be there, yeah?"

I have not yet been able ro dedni:i..-. ::n this efect to a particular author or date. But it was the

first time I had eyer seen rhe idea.,: llr,rins a cerrain lener to the first initial in a category of items

ofwhich there are onlr' onc or i..., ..5r :ous choices.

While I've known about this prir;i:-; ior some rime now, nobody with whom I have shared ithas known the source. Please con::;: ::ri if r"ou know the originatorl I want to be able to give due

credit. It doesnt have the subrleo-c,: irar. mentalism effects - it feels more like a back-page entry

it Popular Science or Psycl:olog: Za.;;. rut ani' information would be gratefully received.

Recently this principle was appli:d 'o' n. tiiend, Joshua Quinn, in his book Paralies, in his ellect'The Thought Chunnel'. Itt a len inreresring idea that is worth looking into. It was also given a

short mention in my friend Neal Scn-eis Tlle hacticaL ?sychic's Littk lVhite Booh as an ideaNealused occasionally when perfbrmins a book test. I came up with the application ofthis concept in-

dependently ofmy colleagues, bur I need nor even m€ntion the integrity of these men whose ideas

and boohs have become much soughi-aher modern classics in mentalism.

I have listed options belorv for categories thar,vou can use once you have glimpsed your secret

information and have a good idea..hat it is rhey are spelling. Ifyou are unsure ofrvhat is being

spelled, you can have them think oithe spelling ofthe color oftheir image, or a general shape

within the image. So long as something can be spelled, you should be fine. Remember that this

list may change and vary over time.

Finally, as you learn the lists, vou should note that sometimes there are two answers which might

be correct. In these cases, pumping fbr the correct information is not too dilicult:

83

. In the case of the letter A, for example, you might clarify whether it is mono- or a multi-syllable word (Audi versus AIfa Romeo, or Alligator versus ape), or whether the season felt warmto distinguish between Spring or Summer (April versus August).

. For the letter B, you might pump for the choice between a foreign or domestic car (BM\7versus Buick).

. Vith the Ietter C, you could pump for a farm animal that may or may nor ger €aren(Chicken versus cat) or a counrry rhar is either in North America or South Americi (Canada ver-sus Chile), etc., etc.

It is usually not that hard to knorv which answer they are likely to choose based on the feelingyou get about the pafticipant, and it is quite easy to pump for the correct answer by leading withthe right statements to narrow down fiom a choice of rwo possibilities.

A -- Audi / AIfa Romeo (make ofcar), August/April (month), Adams (president), Alligator/Ape(wild animal), Apple, Austria (European country), Argentina (South American country), Ant(insect)

B - Bull (animal found on a farm), Blue (color found in a rainbow), Buick/BMV (make of car)

C- Circle, Chicken/Cat (farm animal), Cantaloupe, Canada/Chile (North or South Americancountry)

D- Duck (bird), Diamond (gemstone), Denmark (European country), Dominican Republic,Dragonlly/Dung beede (insect), Delaware, December

E- Eisenhower, Eel (something that lives in the ocean), Elephant (rvild animal), England (Euro-p€an country), Elvis (famous singer), Eagle (bird), Emerald, Elborv/Esophagus (pan ofbody)

F- Friday, France/Finland (European countrl,), Fox (?), Falcon (bird), Florida, February, FootballGPon)

G- Gold (precious metal), Giraffe/Gecko (animal found in a zoo), Green (color fiom a rainbow),Gemini, Georgia, Germany

H - Horse (farm animal), Hexagon (geometric shape), Hawk (bird), Hippo (zoo animal), Ha-waii, Hydrogen (element)

1- Isuzu (make ofcar), Indigo (color), ltaly (European country)

J - Jupiter, Jefferson{ackson (president), Jamaica (Caribbean island)

84

K- Kennedy (president), Kangaroo (animal). Kia (make ofcar), Knee/Kidney (pan ofbody)

L-. Lincoln (president), Lamborghini (make ofcar), Lamb (farm animal)

M- Mexico, Mars, Mondal Milk (something in a refrigerator)

N - Nicaragua (North or South American country), Neptune, November, Nervt (animal), Nose

(body pan)

O - Obama, Octopus (something that lives underwater), October, Oxvgen (element), Orange

(color/fruit)

P- Pisces, Portugal (European country), Peru (South American country), Purple, Porcupine, Ping-

Pong (port)

Q- Quail (bird)

R. - Ruby, Red, Rhino (zoo animal), Roosevelt/Reagan, Rectangle/Rhombus, Rugby (sport)'

Robin/Raven

S - Sapphire, Square, Subaru/Saturn (make ofcar), September, Silver (precious metal), Saturn

(planet)

T- Taurus, Tiiangle, Tiger (wild or zoo animal), Toyota (car make, but also maybe Tesla), Tennis

(sport), TableiTelevision (furniture)

U- Uranus, Uruguay/USA, Unicorn (animal), Uranium (element)

V - Venezuela, Virginia, Virgin Islands (tropical desdnation), Venus (planet), Violet (color and

flower)

'W- \Wednesday, \flales, \X&ale, \Trestling (sport)

X- foX / oX (the LAST letter ofany animal big or small)

Y- Yak, Yellow, Yemen/Yugoslavia (country in the world)

Z- Zebra, ZimbabwelZaire (country in the world)

H. Arcana is a full-time professional entertainer, who has consulted on recent TV specials and

continues to perform for very select private parties all over the world.

85

I-REX by Ran f ink

PAPAMETEPS OF THE VAST EXPANSEBY INDPEIII GEPAPD

86

PAPAMETEPS OF THE VAST EXPANSE

Ail too often, I've seen mentalists create restrictions for the participant instead of crearing the.

f..lirg offr..do. ofthoughr. '\\,hat \!as the name oftoui 6rst pet and ii'rite it on this line here?"

fn.r&r. *o p,oflems in-rhai statemenr. Firsth-. if vou reallr-can read somebodys mind itt all

open and free, and so lou should trl to give that fleling, ILI discuss the problems in a moment'

b'ut the first thing th"i I ,. ish to "djres,

i, t hy the,v should ivrite anvrhing do$ n - and I lmorv

there are lots of justifications rhat people have offered fbr it over the vears'

Bob Cassidy has some great thoughts on it. I had Bob come- up and work on the shol'l'ithme recentli. He is a greiat guy. Heie's the thing: ldeally you'd want to get the ParticiPanl in a

psychological position, thr:t is, maneuver the;, so that they want to write their thought.dori'n'

irih., thin yo, ,rking them to do so. You want to g€t them so-that they almost dtmand' 'lfleie

nor doing this until I;dte this down.' That would be a great thing, wouldnt it? Could 1'ou

imagine hearing them say this:

"You may read my mind. bur before you do so, l want to write my thought down Do you have a

pen and a business card I could borrow?"

You'd be smiling from eaL to earl Now this may surprise you, but thatt exacdy what I aim to get

them to do. I dI it through a very simple thing - I do it simply by reversing our roles'

I say, "I'm a mind-reader"and I'll showyou exalctly what it's like' I'm going to think of.a nlti:' ,,

betile.n one and ten. OK, I've got one. I ,r"nt yor. to t.ll me what number it is that ['m thinking."

I ntee.

"Youre right. ltwas three! No, I'm serious, that was the number that I was thinking My abiliw

doesnt onily let me read your mind, but I can also project thoughts.

"Now, there are some people out there, probably like yourself, who might be a linle bit skeprical'

so let me propose something. \X4rat if I wrote on, say, mv business card and I projected the

number to you. \Vhate,'., ,iu-be, vo, said could then be 'erified

as the number that I was

projecting - that rvould be amazing. s ouldni irl

,,or, what ifl had told \'our tiiend rhe number I $as goine to project in adYance. Then 1,ou could

verii, it with them. Do 1'ou knot u hat I meani Leis Lt that' tut.leti not use something trivial

like a number benveen one and ten . leis use one ofrour thoughtsl Okav?

,,So lets do this for real. Lett do it rvith some prool Ler's use one ofyour thoughts. Lets make this

so that there! no doubt in your mind that we're actuallv connecting here "

87

They are so excited. Thatt my first thing in taking control ofwhy thcy are rvriting it down.

1 also design the business card so that where it says th€ nam€ and information it also leaves

a relatively clear spot in the center, and I say, "Here, just wherever you can write dorvn." The

business card is therefore designed so they are left with only one logical place to rvtite.

You dont have to draw lines, movie screens, oL TV's, or anylhJng like rhat.

My card is designed with 'Gerard the Hypnotisr' and there's a little white space underneath and ittthe only place to write on the card.

Now back to the problems. The first problerr is why we are asking them to think oftheir first pet?

To my way ofthinking this seems too contrii,ed. \7orse than that, there may be a suspicion in the

mind ofthe participant that you had somehorv lound out this information before the showl Ifyou are truly a mind-reader they should be able to titnk of aqtthing. Otherwise we are effectively

saying, 'I can read your mind, and ofall the thoughts I could possibly reveal lrom your mind I've

chosen to go with the name ofyour first pet.' That \yould be ridiculousl

OK! Heret my greatest contribution to T-REX and mind-reading with peels in general - and

I cant believe 1m going to share this with youl This is so good I wish you could see me do a

performance ofit, because itt inoediblel

I dont say to the participant, "Think ofyour first pet around u'hen 1'ou were six years old - the

name ofthat pet." What I do instead is to set-up the thought like this:

"ri(4rat we are going to try is mind-to-mind communication. Ir's similar to horv vou communicate

on your cell-phone. I mean, with cell-phones you put somethins that tralels invisibly through the

atmosphere into your cell-phone and our brains are far more technologically advanced than our

phones.

"Just Iike our cell-phones, if I were to call you on the phone and you saw, Andrew Gerard calling,'

on the screen and you didnt pick up, then we can't communicate. You have to psychologically

pick-up here. In a moment I'm going to ask you to do this and you must pick-up. . . because ifyoublock me and you don't answer, I cant do it. Are you willing to open up and to at least think for a

moment that theret a chance that this could work?"

The participant will say, "Yes, okay." Now you have psychologically maneuvered them so that they

have to do certain things a certain way and they are agreement with what you are proposing.

88

"Iti soing to be up to -vou to choose rvhat to rhink. Because you have had literally hundreds of

billio'ns oT choughts in your life. I need you to home-in on just one of them. This will be your

choice. It could"be a thought about a person; it could be a thoughr-of placel it could be someonet

name; or it could be a typi offood . . . it could be absolutely anlthing. You iust need to.have some

kind ofreal connection ro rvhatever it is that you are thinking about. It should be something that

you can focus on, visualize, or picture in your mind, no matter what it is all right? I rvill give you

, ,..ord to think ofthe all the-different ihings you could pick and then let you settle on one of

them in your mind that you want to use as alarget for me to connect with." Now that makes sense

to them.

After a moment they will say something like, "Okay, I m thinking about something. Yes, I ve got

something."I say, "Ol-iay, great! So that we haye some proofl want you to just write it down here, please And

youi friend hlre seems like a trusnvorthy person, so *hen you are done, please show them what

yor, *rote and then fold it up. Greatl Once you've written something down, your mind connects

to it."

As they do this you can address rhe audience:

"This is actually a little psvchological trick. Ifever you want to remember somebodyt name, just

write it down. The act ofiutiting down the name actually helps you memorize it. But heret the

really cool thing - you dont actually need a pen and paper. Therext time you meet someone and

,"y, " Wh"a, yoi t name?" and they reply, you can just use your finger ard write their name on

your leg. Becaur. your mind doesnt know whether or not you are holding a pen it just notices the

-us.le"memory oithe motion and it imprints the name ofthe person, so you will never forget

an)ryvay.

'Anpvay, once you write it down it becomes more focused and fixed in your mind, especially norv

that we've been talking about it."

I take back the billet from them and then I peek the writing. Lett say that I see the rvord 'Maui''

"Now I'm picking up lots of thoughts, so I'm going to ask you to do something quite hard. I'm

going to ask you to tn' and not think of anvthing but ,vour one thought. The more vou trv nor to

ihinli of thingr, the morc that thei' are going ro come in, it's going to get mess\', So this is rvhere

the communication starts. Iin going to trl to call vou menrallv noril I'm going to try to connect

rvith you. I want you to focus on me. Dont break eve connecrion ri'ith me. I rvant you just to

continue to breathe. Breathing is vert'important, Iti going to oxvgenate your brain and its going

to help you to focus. Now you might find in "

nlo-.n, that the things around us get a bit blurry

in your peripheral vision. You might even 6nd your ears start to ring a liitle bit or that peoplet

,,oices git more disrant. That's just us getting into this tunnel connection, okay?"

89

Thatt ali hypnosis and suggestion. People's ears will ring and everything will get bright and bluny

as they conc;ntrate. They just trance right out on me'

I continue, "lmagine what this is, your thought ' '

,,This is a sense ofconnection, but it's not to a living thing. Theret no heart inYolved, or this isni

a oerson. Iti not somerhing man-made. This is a grounded sense of nature. Something that is very

pJr..fut ,nd ..1In;og. tiiis a place . . . Youre thinking ofa calming, peaceful place "

Now I wouldnt state the exact name that had been on the billet. Girls will often start reacting to

my commenrs even so, "Oh my " '*ing God, yesl Oh my Godl"'IheY react because they could

f,J"" irri ,fr",.nf,, "f

one of a hundLed irillion ihings and I just got that it's a place. You could

;;J,h.*:;;;, eu.n.ay Maui - and youie doic. You iust homcd-ir on the .ategorl'. animal.

,.g.,.bt.. mineral. \ou plcked up rhar iri a ptace ,Ir

' calming' ir'' nourirhing rhi'i'aolace'

Yorr can rake iL further if tou wi:h. howerer:

"Okay. there something in this place that you could you could go to with a nice feeling ' It's not

like a irot-tub and irs nlt a really comfy bed, but it feels like that in some ways "

I say'hot-tub' and 'comf' bed' to psychologically lead them towards the feeling ofthe feeling of

comfort of being on a beach.

,,ls there somewhere you can go in this place that could be really familiar that you could^fe.elyour

.;"i;;;;. "rd yo,lt ,urrou"nding. ,rexc ro your skin? okay, I get a se nse that you are feeling this

;y;;;i;, ;lyou? Yes. It's a slnse of being warm and ir's grirry' like rock ' but it's softer'

Iike sand."

They seem like they are going to freak outl Norv I can lead them on still hrlther:

,,ls there a look-out) There's nothing on the horizon. k's iust ocean. Irt clear. Is there something

uou l"n n.rtl Or look around and.i. theres people there There are llowers and you're hearing

music. but it's like a Ukulele. Is this Hawaii?"

They will say something like, "l jusr imagined I was on the beach, theret a big Hawaiian guywith

a lei playing a Ukulele ild sand and he gor all tharl"

This gets a much bigger reaction than merely saying "Maui"l

The inverse olthat would be me saying "l want you to think of a place..This could be a place that

yo, h.r. b..n to or rhat you *rnr',o io,'d urire ir righr here on thi' line Keep ir in yotrr mird '

. . I'- gerring rhe name 'Maui'."

90

Itt so weak, but thatt the way that 99% of mentalists perlorm it. The idea ofnot qualifi,ing whatthey can think of (or write) I call 'the Parameters of the Vast Expanse'. It makes it clear that we are

notjust using one path within a parameter, and that this is all I knorv abour vou instead, I amgiving them the feeling that I could knorv everything about them!

This same approach is applicable ivherher rhe1, are thinking ofan event, an objecr. a place or a

Person.

I reiterate that they could have thouqht ofanvthing: the time on a clock, a vegerable, ther couldhave thought ofa food or a mor.ie - anlrhing but they are thinking ofa person, a male person.

The idea ofopening the paramerers ofrhe rast expanse ofthought is priceless!

'S7hen I say "k it Maui?", and rhel reph: Oh. r'esl l sav, "Okay, just so that I know you're notjust being nice and plaving alone. ii e har e our proof. right? So I'm going to need to see that paper.

I m not saying I don't beliele i'ou...

"l really picked up on those rhinss. but I cant sleep at night unless I see it." So you look throughthe ripped papers trying to put rhem back together so you get your own final confirmation.

Additional Justifi cations

When I get 1rcu to ivrite dori n i-our thought you are doing two things. Firstly, you are giving me

permission to be able to get inside your mind to try to access that thought and, secondly, we hai-e

a psychological contract benveen us; I'm going to read your mind, and you're going ro stick withthat thought and not change your mind. Here's what I say to them:

"I want you to write down that thought, and I'll tell you why in a moment".They write it down.

"Itt because, in a moment, I dont want you to be the only person who knows what you'rethinking. Sometimes I pick up different aspects with different people. Some people are morecreative and see things in colors, in their mindt eye. Other people hear things, auditorilv, in theirmindt ear, as it were. I rvant vou to write it down and then to pass it ro your friend."

Now, addressing the friend, I say, "l'd like you to open it up and just read it". Addressing the firstparticipant again, I say "The reason I rvant you to write it is so that you're not whispering andthink I can lip-read or hear what you're going to say. This way everything is just in the mind, OK?"The participant passes it to their friend. The friend opens it up and reads it and I say to the friend,"OK, have you got it too? Greatl OK, we dont need it anymore. As long as you borh know thesecret rhoughr. I want you both to think ofit in your own way'.

Now you can go back and forth berween th€m saying things like, "OK, so from you ffirstparticipant], I'm geming sense that theret a warm color, there's orange, and pink, green. But fromyou [second participant] I'm hearing music. Now, there is music that you would associate with thisplace . . ." and so on, gradually building up a picture based on the two sets ofimpressions you are

getting from them.

I'll leave you with an amazing peek story. I was performing once with a young lady and she wrotedown the name 'Harold'. I consider that I struck lucky with this because this girl was, I wouldguess, 24 years old and 'Harold' seemed like an older mant name. She looked to me as though she

was paft -Asian and so I took a chance that 'Harold' was her dadt name - a name he rook when he

came to this country from wherever he originated in Asia.

I said to her, "l get the feeling that this is a mant name and that he's older than you. This is a man,correct? But you're not rhinking ofthis persont real name, are you?" She said, "No". I carry on,

"This is an Asian man, and this is a name he has adapted or adopted, but. .. " The girl was amazed

and said, "Yesl This is crazy!"

I take another step into the unknown and ask her to write down his real name in Koreanl Nowwhen I peeked, I also memorized the rough shape ofthe letters. I told her to grab my wrist and Isaid, "I dont really know what I'm doing here . . ." and I drew it in Korean. I drew her dadt name

through muscle-memory and she was stunned. "That's my dad's name in Koreanl" She said, "Butyou don't read or rvrite Korean, thatt crazy!" I said, "Well, that's what your vibe was."

She asked, "\X/as I moving your wrist?" I said, "Maybe you were on a subconscious level, but ittjust what I picked up from you . .. this is Harold."

And thus we create a miracle .

9)

T:-REX by Ran Pink

BY IIiAPI( fl"sDONIN

94

TUNING OUT....TO TUNE IN

"lf I were not a plrysicist, I would probably be a nusicidn. I ofien thinb in music. I liue my daydreams

in music l see mY life in terms of nru:it'" Albert Einstein

By working effects around someone s loi'e of music, and a favorite song in particular, you can

connect with something quire primal. something emotionally resonant with your participants.

k will definitely have a more poserlul meaning for rhem than simply asking them to think ofarandom word from a dictionari-or such-like. Please dont underestimate the power that this effect

can have as a piece oF mind-readinE.

Opening Thoughts

lWhat makes Rant T-REX so sr;ar ir thar it seems to simply rip-up the billet and destroy what was

rvritten, rather than some oi :ht ;ozler' Center Tear handlings which look somewhat like creative

paper-folding techniques.

For me it forms a balanced perlornan;e equarion: you have the participant write something down

in order to focus their rhoughts ard r:inforce them through the action ofwriting, and then you rip

it up immediately to fairlr-destro. ;n., chance ofyou cheating (as ifl) Of course, this motivation

is an unspoken script; nelertheless -' our certaintt' about the procedure ofwriting and tearing willseem completely plausible to the pani;ipant as long as you believe it yourself

One ofmy favorite effects to perlorm using T-REX employs a performance technique which I call

'lnformation Expansion'. I'll tell rou .. hat the effect is and then we can discuss the approach and

specifics.

Effect

The participant thinks oftheir litoriie band, rhe lead singer and one oftheir rvell-knorvn songs

The performer rhen revealr "ll rhr...

Method

The logical disconnect (thanks Dr. Bobl) rhat makes this effect so porverlirl is that you reveal all

ihree pieces of information rvhen the on11, thing the participant writes dorvn is the name oftheirfavorite band/group. Once you knorv that, everything is else simply revolves around you Ieading

rhem. There is a definite element ofdual-reality going on: the audience watching the perlormance

s ill think that what you are revealing is far more about what the participant is thinking themselves

95

than is actually the case. Both parties will be equally amazed though'

As well as mastery ofT-REX you will need a zrry good knowledge of rock and pop music'

The,lnformation Expansion lies in using information 1,ou already know(your knowledge of,

oopular music) ro ,eveal -och -ore "boiur."hat th.y are thinking than the simple word or phrase

ihJ, ini,i"ll, *ro,. down. This serves nvo functions. First it minimizes the purpose and focus

or'the b;ll.l and.lro jt makes rhe subsequent reveals about their thoughts and decisions, i.e. the

immediate choice ofa song, a far more polverful and amazing experience'

Performance

The oarticioant thinks of rheir favorite band and makes a note of it on a billet. You tell them that

,hi, L i, oid., to focu, and concenrrate all their attention on their decision. You then perlorm

T:REX, the billet haYing served its purpose. If rhe band whose name you glimpse has one song

that is a lot more populir th"n any othirs then you are home and dry lfnot, itt not a problem -everyrhing is still coYered.

Ask the participant to mentally hum one oftheir more well-known songs. You state that you aI€

h.rring L*r"i*n., "t

on.. but th"t you rvill try and sort them out, picking out the one that they

are mentally humming.

Thke out another billet and without lerring anyone see, wrire the name ofthe band boldly across

the top. Underneath write the names ofseveral oftheir most we!l-known tunes and then cross out

all bui their mosr popular. If they have several that are hugely well known, then cross out all except

yur fa,torite.

State that think that )'ou think vou haYe the song, but thar vou definitelv have the name of the

singerl Ask rhe participanr ro imagine rhey are at a concert rvhere this band is performing. Make it

,..i. ,hr,you.i,,n. o,li rl;gh,ly. ie, go into,.r lighr rran,e. ard then ..rt ro de.cribe ro 'hem

whdl

rou are.seeing in vour *i,id, iy.. D-e.cribe rhe.ineer. appcara''rr e. rheir outfit and maybe 'omeintor-r,;oo .lbou, rhe band, rhe guitaristt Iive anrics or a crazv stage-show or indeed anything you

know "bout

them. As you deliverihis information in a stream-of-consciousness style,.make it seem

that you suddenly focus (you have been hit by a moment of clarity!) and then name the singer.

Take vour time with this. Remember you are supposed to know nothing and are simply tuning

inio tir. p".i.ip"ntt thoughts, having gone beylird the information they wrote down earlier'

Finallv, ask for rhe song they are rhinking o[ Reveal that you had sensed that correctly andl1ave

,tl "].. of U"'f-, th. b"and rnd rhe song",n Lirren on l our biller' ll rhe named (ong is one of the

ones you ctossed out, ask if the helper thought of several be[ore settling on that one'

96

T-REX by Ran Pink

They will always say yes. Explain that that is what confrxed you as to the song, but because theythought ofseveral songs, the image ofthe singer became very strcng for you.

The worst case scenario, (but it's still not bad), is i[ when you get *re peek, you arent sure ofthe songs of the band in question. Or perhaps the band has had several number one hits (this

tends to be more likely with modern girl- or boy-bands) then switch focus from the whole bandto individual members ofthe band instead. Explain that a lot ofthese $oups sound the same toyou(!) so you would rather work with something visual. Then have the participant write the nameofthe lead singer on the other card, fold it and hold on their palm.

Reveal the names ofthe other band members (ifyou know them). Perhaps you could also reveal a

couple ofsong tides and then end with the name on the card you never even touchedl

'I-REX by Ran Pirk

CENTEP TOPT{ II{FLUENCE- BY JAN TOPSTEP

98

CENTEP TOFN INFTUENCE

I ve tried countless Center Tears over the i'ears bur I hale never reallv been happy rvith any ofrhem. Of course I'm not talking about rhe mechanics, but rather horv thel'flrred my sryle. The first

one I learned (when I was 13 years o1d) s'as a tear rvhich I found in Henry H av's Ztubertt tnaeste

nan hoennen - aGerman translation of his iamotss Ledrn Magic.

Some techniques are really clever and Rans T-REX is one of rheml But I had ahvays had a

personal problem with my presenrarion and motilation. 1i{4ry let somebody write dorvn something

ivhich you are going to destroy a moment larer? Fortunatell it seems I'm not alone in my

aoncerns.

I have to admit that I ve seen plors. presenraiions and bizarre and mystic performers who couid

get away with destroying the paper. Bui in being dillerent and tryingto be authentic I could never

ieem to manage it. In the end I iust got used to using different tools from my arsenal. Until, that

is, I tried a different approach. This js one ofmv dearesr plots . . .

I talk about influencing and manipulating people, and about how everyone has experienced

this at some point in their liles. I select someone in the audience and ask if they would help me

demonstrate what ] mean.

I explain to them that ther should rn'to resist being influenced by me. I ask them to think ofany

nvo-digit number, but noi ii. 66 or 99. \X&ile I talk I repeatedly draw various numbers in the air

with my extended forefinser bLrr do ir in a rvay that the numbers are not readily identifiable.

Additionally, I somerimes extend nvo fingers on both hands repeatedly while I mention again and

again that they should rhink ofany two digit number. This seemly obvious suggestion to think ofthe number'2' can be i'eri'funny (rvell, it is in my case), and you also have a chance to come back

to it later if the participanr gets one or more '2t' in their number. I think you get the idea.

I may put on a shorv of menral concentration at this point (to try and infuence them), but once

the participant has confirmed that they have decided on a number I let them write it down on a

business card, (or other piece ofpaper). They fold up the business card and I take it from them

and pay it no attention at all. \{,/hile I ralk about the fact that there are some people rvho are

very dilficult to manipulate I tear the paper, get the peek and then throw the Pieces away. I act

as though I am convinced I have not been able to influence them as planned. At the same time,

however, I make sure that they dont say the number out loud.

99

I then explain that I didnt want them to wrlte 33,66 or 99 while they were repeatedly writing,this, nuriber in the air. . . I dont say rheir number, but rather I write it slowly several times in

J. rir rntil th.y r.alir. that I am "ctually

wriring their number in the air Depending on their

number

I mav imorovise and interpret my earlier actions to increase the effect, e'g' that they may have been

;n;:r.;l b,, lz'T hrd beln indicaring. or rhar rhe number ha<

'ome other observable signi6cance.

iirrffr.i""l ,fr" I had a feeling frori rhe beginntng thar rhey wouldn't be influenced by me and

I compliment them on their menral strength . . . and then act surprised when I find out that I

couldindeed influence them after all. I think you get the idea'

I believe that there are several things nice touches in this effect: There is no heat on the actions -ihe goal is not, obviously, to gain sicret information. Rather it is only an experimenr' and initially

i ,.!*, . frii I also think iJs "

good test to find out if I can work with the particular participant.

Ifthe effect goes well I can then work with them for the next experiment'

In the right context you can use this in almost any situation, be it informal, close-up' formal'

stand-up, etc.

one more thing: Ifyou are a just starting to use the Cenrer Tear in performance then this effect

gives you a grea-t opportuniry-to practicJwith the minimum ofstress in front ofan audience!

i hop. you lnioy ii and that it gels your creative iuices flowing'

100

T-RXX by Ran Pink

Jc,€,i'S HANDTIN@BY JOSE PPAGEP

102

T-REX by Ran Pink

This script has served me so well that it is hard for me to share it. Use the exact wording ofthescript and you will make a billet truly invisible!

I have laboured to perfect this wording through a great deal oftrial and error to get it to its present

form and achieved billet invisibility. Iiis the most direct mind-reading effect I currendy perform.

"l want you to think of a word. It can be any word. It is important that this word is something

that you can visualize in your mind."

I continue:

"Repeat the word over and over in your head . . . I want you to visualize the word in your mind as

if it was written. In fact, I want you to write the word here."

I then hand the participant a blank piece ofpaper and a pen.

"Please, write it nice and clearly, visuaiizing each letter"

The participant does as instructed and then I take back the billet and begin to tear it as I explain:

"You wrote the word. That means that your mind now remembers it written. Repeat the word over

and over in your head."

I hand the torn pieces ofthe billet to the panicipant and then reveal the word.

JOSTS HANDTING

103

T-REX by Ran Pink

KtttER lilsTlllcfBY PAII. SHiFIEY

104

KILIER lNSTltlCT

This presentation is a condensed i.ersion of a much larger confabulation+ryle routine called Killer

Instinct, in which the participant plar s rhe parr of psychic detecrive and reveals very specific

information pertaining to a s.ri Lll., ,. ho is responsible for a spare of murders during the mid-

1900's.

Although the full routine is nor lei published I am happy to share my ideas pertaining to the tear

so you can build your own routine around the premise.

Presentation and Scripting

"\,X./hat I am about to share r irh lou is rhe story ofa serial killer who brutally murdered 23 people

between 1938 and 1947.

"Given the brutality and degree of ibrce used in some ofthe crimes the only thing that could be

deduced was rhat the kiiler iras a man. orher than that, there seemed to be no discernable pattern

that this monster follos ed .. hile carn ing out hls crimes. The victims differed by sex, age, race, and

social class. His merhods oiintlicrine pain and eventual dearh were also varied. Sometimes it was

quick, but for oiher more untbrrunaie souls, it was slow and painful. This man was pure evill

"Of course, this was in a time betbre tbrensic science really came to prominence. It was a time

when detectives had to relr'on qur-instincr, a keen eye for minute detail and - every so often - the

help ofpsychics in order to solr-e the crimes . . . and this case was one of rheml"

You produce an old photograph oi a real crime scene and place it on the table directly in front ofthe participant.

"This photograph wat raken on . . .'

You turn over the photograph to display the following, hand-written information:

105

Case number 3773Mr. Dwyer, Sean - Deceased. Age 27.

June 28th, 1941

"... the 28th ofJune,1941, the victim was aMr Shaun Dwyer

,,The one small clue which led the police ro suspecr that the same killer-was responsible for.

.

.r..iJng .r.tt -urder w"s th. pies.nce oftiny pieces of torn paper found in and around the

.rlr* ,..t!. vr, ."n ,.. ,o-. ofth.- he,e, neai the t"heels of the buggy in the background "

You turn the photograph back around and display the image, bringing their attention to the small

pieces ofpaper in the PhotograPh.

"Finally, after exhausting all other avenues,

rhe aurhoriries conraLted local P5ychic.Doris Milcalf. They hoped she might be able

to orovide some valuable and much needed

infirmation in relarion ro rhis elusive killer.

"\iflhen she arrived at the crime scene, Doris

immediately sensed that the small pieces ofpaper were. lirerally. rhe individual parrs ofa

puzzle. purposely lefr behind by rhe killer in

order to taunt the investigators.

"She described a vision ofthe killert hands

holding a small blank card Something was

rvritten on the card and then she saw them

rearlng it to "hreds

and scartering the pieces

.,ro,,nd rhe lifeless bodv ofrhe victim.

106

"More importantly, she sensed that information being.rvritten rvas b-rief' personal in nature' very

soecifrc. and.r,rem.lv Dtazrrr' She announced rhat 'f rll rhe piece' of paper 'ould be lound and

irr.ir-Uf.J .r,r..+ ii u,ould gir.e rhe authoriries a major breakthrough in learning the killer's

identiry

"Now, I'm not going to tell vou rvhat rvas written on the card ln fact, I am not going to divulge

any more inforilatiJn "boui

th. .rse because we want to testTazr psychic abilitiesl

"Evervone has within them various degrees ofheightened awareness, insight' or psvchic abiliry It is

,,o,, (*u.t, a skill that is easily shari.ned. So. liis begin by rrying to slowly and gentl,v activate

your psychic abilities.

"Now, I am not asking you to come up with anything really-specific about the crime for the rime

beins. Iust relax,.nd err. at rhe photograph. Ailo' ylu"ubiontcious co flow Let jt form a letr

,d;;r";; ,;rh. ;rrrr. iFp"r'onrl'in[o,i.iion ,h,, rhe killer might have been wriring on the card'

"Remember, we are jusr activating and rvarming up your intuirion at the moment So' as the ideas

flo* i, i, i,,,por,rn, that you men-Iion .,.ry o.tJ oi ti"*, regardless of how silly or obvious they

may sound. Does that make sense?"

You pick up a blank billet and a pencil and get ready to make some notes'

"fue you beginning to sense any information yet? Yes? Great! Let the,different thoughm flow.

,-f"",igh y"; .iri. Describe to -. the firrt tiing your instinct is telling you What personal

information is the killer writing on the card?"

You should allow the participant to describe the type of information that is being written on the

card, taking notes ofwhat they say. For example:

Participant: "Um. . . maybe a date?"

You: 'A date? fMake a note on the billet.] Greatl Allow your senses to warm up eYen more Do you

sense anyrhing elrei"

Participant:'An address?"

You: [Vriting Address' as thev speak.] 'Address. Greatl You are doing verv rvell so far! Anything

else?"

Participant: 'A name?"

107

You: 'A name? Interesting! You are 1000/o correctl" (You add it to the list, underlining the word'Name and purring an 'X' in fronr ofit a. 1ou sa1 rhe word 'correcr'.

You continue, "lt was the killer's first name. lVell donel k usually takes the average person quite a

while longer ro intuit rhar piece of informationl

"Now, we know the killer is male and that he is writing his 6rst name on the card before tearing itto shreds and scatering the pieces around the crime scene."

You now hand the participant the pencil and billet on which you have been writing.

"Lett take this a Iittle further. What I would like you to do is to siare at the center ofthis piece ofpaper. As you do so you can allow your vision to blur a litde. OK? Greatl

"Now I would like you to imagine Ieners ofrhe alphabet {loaring around in benveen you and thecard. They are a little blurry at first but - slolvly a ferv ofthe Ietters begin to sharpen and become

clearer and clearer, rearranging themselves to form the first name ofa man.

"Do you have a name in mind? Gread I rvould noiv like vou to write the name you are thinkingofon that piece ofcard. Once you are finished rvriting, I rvould like you to re-read the name toyourselfa few times. Allorv it to burn deeplv into your memory as I will be asking you about itlater on."

You then turn away slighily, allorving the participant a moment to do this. You then ask them toFold rhe card a. per rhe T-RLX insrructions.

"Have you done that? Excellent!"

Taking the folded card from rhem you conrinue:

"Now remaining true to the killer's own bizarre ritual, lett tear this rhing to shreds."

You tear the folded card in to small pieces and then hand them the pieces, saying:

"Here, keep tearingl The killer would have wanted this card in as many tiny pieces as possible."

Once they can tear no more you ask them to dump the pieces on the photograph ofthe crimescene. As soon as they do so you should quickly blow on the pieces causing them to scatter all over

the table.

You then say: "The night breeze carries away the evidence, and now the name you visualized exists

only in your mind."

108

You now remove an opaque pay envelope from your pocket and place it on the table You then say,

"Can you please tell me the name you were thinking oP"

The participant responds: "David."

You open the envelope and pull our mug-shor photographs of four distinctly different looking men

and piace them in a io,u onihe r"bl. in fiont oT the participanr. You ask rhem to choose one ofthe

pictures and they do so.

"Lett take a moment to consider rvhar has actually happened here. I began by asking you to warm

up your intuition as you thought about the rype of information being written on the card. With

only a few attempts you correctly stated that it was his name.

"Then I asked you to allow imagined letters to form a name in your mind. And - without

any clues or prompting from me an actual name appeared. Then, fiom a free choice offourphotographs, you were somehou' drarvn to just one."

You then turn the remaining three phorographs over to reveal the information written on the back

of each photograph, i.e.

Photograph 1:

Evidence: Case number: 3773Name: Shirley, Paul

FOL,]ND NOT GUILTY.

Photograph 2:

Evidence: Case number: 3773Name; Mcleod, ColinFOUND NOT GUILTY.

Photograph 3:

Evidence: Case number: 3773Name: Queen, BrandonFOUND NOT GUIIY.

You ask the participanr ro rurn over their chosen photograph to find the following information on

the back:

Evidence; Case number: 3773Name: Weise, DavidGUILTY

109

You continue, "It would seem that you have found our killerl Are you sure you havent done this

before? Well done!"

Methods

Even though all methods used are extremell' simple. ieis qo through them phase by phase and

address the background subtleties.

Phase 1:\Tarming up the participanr's intuirion.

This phase serves a couple of important pulposes. Of course, it r-ert' quicklt- establishes that the

participant has some degree ofheighrened intuirion.

The script states that dre information being written by the killer is "personal in nature ' v::y :?ecifc.

and. extiemely brtzez" and also that "ifall the pieces ofpaper could be found and assembled

correctly it would give the authorities a ma.ior breakthrough in learning his actual identity."

A critical participant might say: "But you just gave me a ton ofclues (and wrote down my guesses)

until I staied that he waiwriting his name!" Even though I have never experienced this type ofresponse, they would be 10070 correct, as that is exactly what you l/, doing.

Ensure, therefore, that you subdy and gently guide the participant until they hit the mark. Don't

overplay the hit, but make them arvare that they have done well compared to the average Person'

It is i minor hit compared with the information they are about to intuit, but is an important part

ofthe routine, as it rially does make participanrs sit back and think, "1Wow, this may actually be

workingl"

I had performed this effect a number of times before realizing that manl' particiPants had, more

oft.n ih"n rot, thought'Name' Iirst, but that rhev quicklv disregarded it as being too obvious So ^

be sure to emphasizelhe part of the script that says: "lt is important that you mention eyery one of

them, regardliss ofhorv silly or obvious they may sound."

lVith a little patience and gentle coaching you will ahval's be able to lead them to the correct

conclusion. Once they hit, regardless of how many guesses it took, congratulate-them on their .

,above average'skill in being ible to intuit that it was indeed the 'First Name' ofthe killer that they

saw being written.

110

Phase 2: Name in print.

you have performed T:REX ard norr. need to get rhe neii h.Jearned name on to the back of the

force phoiograph. There are manl cler'.r,r'r,'ri'o, could achieYe this. Here is' in my opinion, the

most straightforward and cleanest merhod.

The pay envelope containing the four mug-shot photographs sits out ofyierv on i,our knee. All

four,urp..rr details are hand-writren in pen on rhe back of each photograph rvith th_e exception

ofthe force phorograph. This has a blank space where the 6rst name will be rvritten. LeaYe this

photograph iositiJned hallin and half-out ofthe envelope, exposing the space in rvhich you need

to write.

Collect the pen and fill in the irame' section ofthe card, as rhe participant is tearing the name card

to shreds. Siide the photograph all the rvay back inside and palm the envelope. As you lean forward

to blow ".ross

th. pi..., o-fprp.r, reach into a pocket ofyour choosing and retrieYe the envelope,

with the good ole' 'pulling out bv the finger tips' method.

You are now clean as a rvhisrle. The force photograph now sits inside a fully examinable envelope,

with the participant's thought-of name rvritten on the back.

Phase 3: Fatal Attraction.

All four photographs now sit in ftont ofthe participant ready for thtm to choose'just one" Of.ourr., you

"t. p.bably way ahead of me here . . . Equivoque. Th-da!

You no doubt have your own favored method offorcing one object from lour Ifyou.are

inexperienced in using equivoqu., then do yourselfa favor and purchasel4ax Maveis Muhiplicitl

from your favorite mfticretail.r. Then watch it at least {iye times. It's is lull to the brim with some

fanrasrjc ideas and :ubtleties for using equivoquc.

Lastl1,, being a prinred book, I could not include the photographs I have prepared for this routine.

Ho-ever, shouid vou l'ish to perform this piece, please drop me an email at:

info6menralistinstittttion.com

Put'T:REX' in the subject line and I u'ill be happ,v to email vou print-ready copies ofall the

photographs required. Thank vou for reading.

Paul ShirleyNov 2012

I11

tAsTwoPDs...

T-REX has served me well and I now pass it along to you, my reader In your hands it will be

something special. Now go out there andjust do it . . .

Come visit me at www.woddwidemagic.com to see what else I'm up to.

Come and visit me at www.worldrvidemagic.com and see what eise I'm up to. Let me know how

you use T-RIX and any rourines or variarions you creare.

I hope you've connected with the T-REX Center Tear and that you understand and feel

comioriable rvith the moves by now. Serious students ofthe Center Tear might like to track down

these other wonderful Center Tears. Each has it's own unique benefits and touches, each with its

own set ofguidelines and subtleties. They are all worthy ofcareful study. . .

Al Baker - Centre 71ar, Richard Osterlind - the Perfexed Center Tiar and The Ultimdte Center

T?ar, Brtce Betnstein - Ber ttein Center Tbar, N Mann Ihe Improuisitor and Tbe Mag-E1e Moue,

Al Mann / Bo6 CassrdyThe Mdg-E1e Mot,e Supreme, Bob Casidy - The Mag-E1'e Motte Reuhited,

fuchard Busch - Zr n Billet Tear, Jas Jaktsch - Jaja Tar, Barrie fuchard son - Busines Card Cenxr

Tear, DoccHilford - Keepittg The Center, JohnWells - Bdd)t Bihet' Chester Sass - Ches-Te(a)r'

L.rtke lermay - ReaL Timi 1tir, Matt Mello - Bilbt Tear, David Numen - The Sentir 7Zat Nchard

Stride & Alan lVas tlak - Of Cutter 71dr; Roy Zaltsman - RZ Cetter Tldt TA Warers - Center-Tlat

, Elliott Bresler - E B. Tear Wriation f oxt Su,itchcrafi , Lee Earle - Cettet Tear Tetch ltt Vdeo' David

Gemmel - Mag-Atidus' Pablo Amira - WH Battotrt ?ar; Simon J Lea - Totem Za4 Rudy Hunter -ging Ral, Ray Hynan - The Ercentric Zar; Doug Dlmer.rt- R2D2, BiIl Cushman -Dr BilletTear

11.2

TOO|oWIEDGMENTS

I'm forever gra:=- :: =. o , .:.:--- :ontributions from the skilled mentalists who have shared

their though:. r: :,:1 : --- .'- :: :::-p rhis book feel more complete. I wanted you, the reader, to

get a sense ri:: .:'- :.: :: :i= -: '.'our orvn rules when it comes to the logic ofwhy we do what

we do.

My thank e : :: l::--: ,-r.:-:'ind for writing the foreword for T-REX and for sharing

all his incr:J: : =: -.=-- =i rechniques with our community.

I also erte::;:::'. --:-::i :o:

Ben Harr:s '..:,: ::::::siormed ideas and came up with the name T-REX - a very important

contribur:..: :- i-il

Les Cross o: --,.-":ri'riringsupportservices.com for proofreading and copy editing the text.

Newell L r::::; ri.ho encouraged me to write up my first Ce nter Tear and Tim Tiono and MurphtiMagic *ho. ': 100+. supporred and ordered. in quanriry, my frrst release - a simple l5 page

pamphlei ;.rJ fl,ink Pinh, which helped sran all rhis . . .

Brandon Qu:en and Ahmed Kalil lor taking the photographs and for making sure my hands sere

properlr posirioned. AIso Elliot Bresler, for helping to compile the Center Tear references.

Paul Carnazzo kept me focused on finishing this book, and Paul Shirley, Brandon

Queen, Christophe Ambre helped with some great brainstorming ideas.

And finallr', s'irhout rhe support of mv amazing family, I would not have been able to ma.ke ihis

book happen. Thank rou. I lole r-ou.

Ran Pink 2012

113

T-RIX by Ran Pink

fuchud Osterlind - www.osterlindmysteries.com

Paul Carnazzo - www.mentalvoyage.com

Michael Murray - www.magicbox.co.uk

Colin Mcleod - www.I-Know-Stuff.com - twitter pColinMentalist

Michael Weber - www.asingleperfectmiracle.com

Tom Jorgenson - www.facebook.com/tom.jorgensonl

Rainer Mees and Thomas Heine (Paralab$ - www.paralabs org

Paul Shidey - www.menralistinstiturion.com

Hircana - www.ShopOfsecrets.com - ArcanaSecre ts@gmail com

Andrew Gerard - wwwAndrewGerard.ca

Mark Elsdon - elsdon. blogspot. co. uk

Jan Forster - www.gedankenmagierde

Josd Prager - www.ementalism.com

Christophe Ambre - www.experimentaliste.fr

Les Cross - www.writingsupporrservices.com

www.worldwidemagic. com

114

tlttlKs TO THE COI{TRIBUTORS G T-REY

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115