DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
PAUL ROMHANY MIKE MAIONE Copyright © 2013 Paul Romhany, Mike Maione All rights reserved. DEDICATION
This routine is dedicated to our wives who put up with us asking them to keep thinking of a day in the week. CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION!------1
2 BASIC WORKINGS!------2
3 PROVERB ROUTINE!------4
4 SCRATCH & WIN PREDICTION!------9
5 COLOR PREDICTION!------12
6 TRIBUTE TO HOY!------14
7 ROYAL FLUSH!------15
8 FORTUNE COOKIE!------16
9 ACAAN WEEK!------20
10 MIND READING WORDS!------23
11. BIRTHDAY CARD TRICK!------29
12. BIRTHDAY CARD TRICK 2!------35
13. BOOK TEST!------37
14. DISTRESSING!------38 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to acknowledge the following people. Richard Webster, Stanley Collins, Terry Rogers, Long Island’s C.U.E. Club, Joe Silkie 1 INTRODUCTION
Thank you for purchasing Diary Presage. We truly believe you have in your procession one of the strongest book tests, certainly the strongest Diary type book test ever devised. A statement we don’t use lightly and after reading these instructions and using the book we think you’ll agree.
The concept originally came about after I reviewed another book test by Mike using the same principle called Celebrity Presage. I contacted Mike with my idea for the diary and together we worked on producing Diary Presage. It went through many stages until we got it to what you have now, and in collaboration with Richard Webster and Atlas Brookings we can now offer the fraternity this amazing product.
After working this ourselves we both realize the hardest part is holding back and not performing all the routines at once. Our advice is to pick and choose the routines you want to use depending on your working environment. In a strolling style gig you might perform two different effects on one group, then two different effects on another, etc. For stage you could use this as a way to force page numbers, dates for use in another routine.
1 2 BASIC WORKINGS
THE DIARY
A lot of hard work has gone in to producing this diary so that it looks hand written. We have used colored ink with special printing techniques to give it a realistic look. Originally we were going to sell a blank diary, which you can order direct from us via the website, but it literally took days to fill in.
With the techniques used in the filled in diary you have what looks like blue ink, black ink, pencil, highlights and even bleed from the other pages. These are all things you would have in a regular diary so we spent a lot of time replicating this as best we could. Each book is then very carefully cut by hand by Mike, so he is able to check every book we sell and make sure the workings are perfect.
Not only is it an expensive product to make, but also it’s also incredibly time consuming. What you end up with though is a prop that is of the highest possible quality and offers a wide range of effects.
There are several different methods in play here, which of course gives you the options.
As you open the book you will realize that it is based on the long short principle. The book is divided in to 52 weeks. If you flip
2 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE from right to left you will get the non-force pages and if you flip through from left to right you will get the force pages.
The two force pages (odd and even numbered weeks) are gimmicked in certain ways to provide with you the many routines.
The odd numbered force pages have the following forces: COLOR – Electric Orange NUMBERS – 04 – 05 – 13 – 16 – 23 PROVERB – A closed mouth catches no flies – Italian Proverb
The even numbered pages (right side) have the following forces: COLOR – True Blue NUMBERS - 10-11-19-22-29 PROVERB – Kill not the goose that lays the golden eggs. – English proverb
These are the basic forces that are built in to the book. You will also see that the hand-written entries on both pages are the same on all the force pages. It is these entries that will enable you to perform progressive anagrams. More on that later.
There are some BLANK spaces on some dates. This is done on purpose so you can fill it in yourself or just leave blank.
Personally we tend to leave them blank. As you read the routines you can see how you can personalize the diary for you.
Because of the way the book is made you can hand it out to a spectator and ask them to flip through. It is natural for them to flip from right to left without finding out the secret.
3 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
3 PROVERB ROUTINE
EFFECT Bring out your diary and from it take an envelope and place it on the table. Show the diary and explain this is the one you used last year. Explain you like this diary because each week has a ‘motivational’ type proverb, which you find inspiring. Flip through showing as many of the different proverbs as you wish. Then ask the spectator to call out any date that might have a special meaning to them, and you will see what the proverb is for that week. They call out the date and you flip through finding the proverb.
Open up the envelope and inside is your business card with the matching proverb. Sign it and let them keep it.
METHOD The strength of this routine, as with most in the book is that they are personal. You ask for a specific date with meaning, and then leave them with something to take away. The use of business cards with the predictions written or printed on them is a good way of handing out your name and phone number.
There are lots of different ways to produce the forces. In the example above we use a double-sided envelope. The envelope will enable you to load two different predictions inside. Depending on which date they called out and which is the match for the week will determine which prediction you bring out of the envelope.
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TO MAKE THE ENVELOPE
This is based on the billet switch envelope from TARBELL. The back of one coin style envelope is placed inside another so that you have two flaps at the opening and two compartments. We have changed the original slightly as you will see in the following photographs.
Trim the flaps in such a way so when closed you don’t notice two flaps and they are stepped a little so you can easily open the front most flap to gain access to the back compartment. Use repositionable mounting spray on both flaps. When you open either the two flaps together from the left side to access the front compartment or the topmost flap to gain access to the back compartment you hear a nice sound. The kind of sound you would hear if you were opening a sealed envelope.
The following photos will help understanding how to make up this envelope.
5 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
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7 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
OTHER REVELATIONS IDEAS
If you wanted to combine the proverb revelation with a lottery number prediction it would be possible to have the proverb printed on another object. By going to: www.vistaprint.com you can order pens with writing on them. They come in two different styles, printed or engraved. It would then be possible to have one proverb printed on the back of a card and the other engraved on a pen. You could even have the pen as a giveaway. In performance you would have a business card inside your diary and the pen on the table or in view. If you don’t mention either and just make note of them for the final reveal.
Depending on the date they have given you will depend on the reveal you use. If it works out on an odd numbered week then you point out the business card and written on the back is the chosen proverb. If they say even you then show the pen with the proverb written on it.
Another option is to use one envelope and a double blank card. One side has the odd week proverb printed on it; the other side the even week proverb. It would then be a matter of marking the envelope in such a way that you know which side is even and which side is odd. When you pull out the card it would be a matter of turning it the right way so the prediction comes out face up. Of course you couldn’t hand this card out but is a good quick and easy version.
HIMBER WALLET The easiest method is to use a Himber Wallet. Prior to the routine bring out your wallet and show one face down card inside. Leave the wallet on the table in full view. Once they choose the date open the wallet the correct way finding their card.
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4 SCRATCH & WIN PREDICTION
EFFECT The performer brings out his diary and takes out an envelope, which is placed on the table. The diary is shown to have different entries and at the bottom of each week are five lucky numbers. The spectator calls out any date, which is looked up in the diary. The lucky numbers are called out for that week and the envelope opened to show a lottery ticket with the matching numbers!
METHOD This uses the double gimmick envelope as in the Proverb Prediction. I have performed it various ways, but the most common I use is a scratch card that I printed myself. Included on the DVD is a PDF file you can use to make your own cards. The files we include print eight on Avery 5390 Name Badge insert refills. On the left side of the sheet is the number on the left side of the page and the four on the right side is the number on the right hand page. If you actually want to create scratch off cards that need to be scratched off to reveal the numbers, purchase square scratch off stickers from Chad Long, who also sells a great DVD with other magical ways to use scratch off squares. This way when you take it out of the envelope they get to scratch the
9 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS numbers and they match!
We have included both the front and back to match a real scratch and win ticket so you will need to run it through your printer twice, once for the front and again for the back. The photo below is in black and white but the tickets will be in color. When finished cut them out and place one of each prediction in the compartment in the envelope.
ULTIMATE LOTTERY PREDICTION
EFFECT Here’s a version I use on very special occasions when I know a persons birthday prior to my performance. I usually perform this as the final effect when using the diary. You bring out your diary and ask the target person for a special day of the year, say their birthday. You take out an envelope from the diary and place it on
10 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE the table. Show the person that every week has a different set of lucky numbers, and depending on the day they chose you will find their numbers. Turn to the date they gave you and get them to write down the lucky numbers, as well as THEIR birthdate.
Have them open the envelope and look at the lottery ticket inside. There are six numbers on the lottery ticket, all of them match the week they chose and the final one matches their birthday.
IMPORTANT POINTS This isn’t the most practical version because you need to do a bit of homework prior to the performance. In New Zealand where I tested the diary out the lottery uses six numbers. I had to come up with a reason for an additional number and so was able to find out a person’s birthday. If it didn’t conflict with any of the force numbers I could perform this version. I would have this version prepared when going to meetings or going out with friends.
The way to ‘sell’ this effect is to perform one or two routines prior and almost as an afterthought turn to the target person and finish with the lottery ticket. You casually ask them for a special day, say their birthday. You need to ask in such a way that it seems it was their idea they gave you their birthday.
In the right performing conditions this version will really blow the minds of your audience and I suggest you also leave the lottery ticket with your target.
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5 COLOR PREDICTION
You will now start to understand that with the diary you are only limited to routines by your imagination. We have provided with an amazing tool and ready to go routines but there are other ways to reveal the predictions other than inside an envelope. Here are some including the standard double envelope.
EFFECT Prior to the routine you bring out a small envelope and place it on the table. You show your diary and all the different colors for each week. Ask a spectator to call out any day and look at the color that matches that week. The envelope is opened and inside is a card with the matching color.
METHOD The colors used in the book match the Benjamin Moore color series. You can get the paint swatches from any paint shop, or order them from the manufacturer. There are a number of routines and ideas you can do using color forces. The above is the standard one described in the proverb routine. You can have a gimmick envelope and the paint swatch inside. The other color will be in the other compartment. Whatever date they call out is the color you take from the envelope.
EFFECT 2 You bring out a variety of long color swatches showing the different colors. Flip through the charts asking a person to say
12 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE
STOP and look at the one they have chosen. Have another person say STOP on any page in the diary and ask them to look at the color they stopped at. At the same time have both spectators call out their colors and they match!
The paint swatch is an idea I had years ago and uses the long and short principal again, just like a Svengali Deck. From the local paint store get some Benjamin Moore paint swatches, enough to make up a short and long deck. Cut the force cards and place them every second card down. By flipping through the charts the spectator will see different colors, and when you flip the other way you can force the color that matches the diary.
COLOR READINGS
With two colors it is also a very easy way to learn how to give cold readings. You only have to learn two different colors. Have the spectator call out their birthday and look for the color of the week – it will either be Electric Orange or True Blue. You can then give them a color or cold reading based on that.
13 6 TRIBUTE TO HOY
David Hoy’s Tossed Out Deck is one of the most popular mentalism type card routines around. The following routine works perfectly with the colors, especially in a more intimate setting although would work in a stage performance.
EFFECT The performer brings out their diary and shows the audience that every week has a different lucky color, some of them are called out but the audience can verify they see different colors. Several audience members are invited onstage and one at a time are asked to stop the performer as he flips through the book. They can then look at any color on either page. This happens with the other spectators on stage.
Asking the spectators to concentrate on their colors, and say that had a choice of 1 in 52, you are able to call out the colors the spectators are thinking of.
METHOD As with the tossed out deck, the spectators only get a choice of two different colors. You flip through the book showing all the weeks have different colors on them. Then when you have a person say stop you flip the other way asking them to look at either color on one page. For the final reveal ask them to return to their seats if they hear you call out the color they are thinking of. In performance you call out another color, a force color, another color and finally a force color. You have matched all their colors and they return to their seats.
14 7 ROYAL FLUSH
Here’s one for the card workers. This would fit nicely in to a regular card routine or as a finale to a card act.
EFFECT The performer has been performing with a deck of cards and gives them a shuffle. He brings out his diary and shows different weeks have different lucky numbers. He will test spectators luck in a game of cards. A person chooses any week of the year and the cards are dealt down to in order of the lucky numbers. The cards at each number are placed aside. When all is done they are turned over and reveal a royal flush. Lucky numbers indeed.
METHOD This routine gets a strong reaction following a display of card routines. Stack a deck with the components of two royal flushes. The cards to make up one royal flush are at position 4, 5, 13, 16 and 23. The cards to produce the other royal flush are at 10, 11, 19, 22 and 29. Because none of the lucky numbers in the odd week are the same as those in the even force week one stacked deck is all that is needed.
Use any of a number of techniques to switch the deck or simply switch the deck as you get the diary. Of course, you can open with this routine if you do a few effective false shuffles.
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8 FORTUNE COOKIE
This has been in my act in various forms for at least a decade. A version has appeared in my lectures over the years. This version uses the diary and is great for the parlor or cabaret type of venue. There is also a close-up version you could perform at restaurants using fortune cookies in those impromptu type moments. Here is the larger version.
EFFECT Sitting on a chair is a diary and a bag of Chinese fortune cookies. The mentalist shows his diary and how each week has a different lucky number, a color and proverb. A spectator is invited to read out some of the proverbs and numbers as the performer flips through the book showing they are all different.
A fortune cookie is taken out of the bag and the spectator breaks it and reads the lucky number, color and proverb on it. The performer explains that each cookie has a different fortune. The performer then asks for a week in the year, from one to fifty two. The volunteer then reaches inside the bag and chooses one cookie and asked to hold on to it.
The called out week is found in the diary and the lucky number, color and proverb are read out. The mentalist can show the week before and the week after but the one chosen is read out to reconfirm what was chosen. The fortune cookie is broken open by the spectator and the fortune matches exactly what was written in
16 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE the diary.
METHOD You will need: 1. Clear Force Bag (I recommend the Zip Lock Force Bag) 2. Fortune cookies – enough to fill both sides of the force bag 3. Slips of fortunes for each cookie – half will have the odd force page numbers, color and proverbs and the other half will have the even page numbers, colors and proverbs. 4. Diary Presage
SET-UP Having performed this routine for years I have discovered that most fortune cookies have gaps in them. Buy a large bag of cookies, enough so when you put them in the force bag both sides look full. With a pair of tweezers carefully reach in and take out the fortunes that are in each one. Replace these with your own force fortunes. It really is that simple.
There are other techniques I have used over the years including wetting the dough of a cookie and opening it up, putting it in the microwave to soften them, but the method I prefer is to find cookies that have gaps in them.
Load the odd page force cookies in one side of the bag and the even ones in the other side. The non-force cookie goes on top. Make sure you know which is odd and which is even.
If you want to use a sealed fortune cookie: Some fortune cookies are heat-sealed in a clear wrapper and have a plastic flap that runs down the middle of one side. This seal helps to keep the cookie fresh and makes it easier to open by grabbing ahold of it. Pull that plastic flap up so it remains upright. Use a
17 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS sharp blade like an Exacto® knife to cut underneath that flap the length of the plastic wrapper.
Remove the cookie being careful to not rip the plastic wrapper. Place the fortune cookie into a microwave for ten seconds. Once the timer goes off quickly remove the temporarily soft cookie. Careful not to burn yourself pry open one end of the cookie. Remove the fortune inside and replace it with your own homemade message printed on the same size strip of paper. Place the cookie back into the microwave for ten seconds. Once again remove it quickly so that you may squeeze the open end back together.
Once your force message is in the cookie carefully put the cut-open wrapper back around it. Then use super-glue to adhere the flap back onto the wrapper to seal it shut.
PERFORMANCE This is self-working. You introduce the diary showing the different fortunes for each week. Ask a spectator to call out any week. Once you know if it is odd or even you know which side of the force bag to use. When you start you can have another spectator reach in the opposite side and take any cookie out. That can be broken and read out. This is done just as an example of what the fortunes are and show they have any choice of cookie. Have the spectator reach in to the force side of the bag matching their chosen week and take out any cookie.
Take the diary again and show the fortune on the chosen week. You can show the week before and after and say you could have chosen this one or that one. They then read the chosen one out and break open the cookie. The cookie they chose matches the week called out.
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CLOSE-UP VERSION
EFFECT If you find yourself in a Chinese restaurant and are prepared this is a miracle. Prior to your visit you prepare a cookie by taking out the fortune and leaving it blank. Prepare two small slips of paper, one with the odd force week fortune and the other with the even. Place each one in it’s own thumbtip. Both thumbtips and cookie are in your pocket.
PERFORMANCE At the appropriate moment put your empty fortune cookie on the table or with the others that might be brought out at the end of the meal. Ask a person for a special date and depending on if it is odd or even week put the matching thumbtip on. Show the diary and the different fortunes and finally the one that matches the week of their special date. Take the empty fortune cookie in the left hand, and as you crush it to pull out the fortune load the thumbtip from the right thumb to the closed fist. As the thumb comes out of the tip the slip of paper will come out. Have the spectator open it and it matches the chosen week.
19 9 ACAAN WEEK
EFFECT Prior to the routine an envelope is placed on the table. The performer explains the following: 52 Cards = 52 weeks 4 suits = 4 seasons 13 cards in each suit = the 13 lunar cycles (full and new moons) 364 / 7 days in the week = 52 cards in a deck
When we add up the numeric, or spot, value of each card in the deck the entire deck added together comes to 364.
Show that each week has a different playing card hand written at the top. There is no order so everything is random. Have the spectator call out any number between 1 and 52. The diary is opened to that day and the playing card for that week is noted.
The envelope on the table is opened and it matches the chosen card.
METHOD We have not printed the playing cards at the top of the book because this routine is a bonus, and some serious mentalists may not want to have playing card associated with the diary. To prepare your own diary, choose two force cards and write one on the odd force week and one on the even force page at the top. The rest of
20 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE the deck is written on the non-force pages. When you flip through the showing the non-force pages no two cards will match. When you go through the force pages you will see you can now force two cards.
The envelope is the same double one explained earlier and the method is the same.
I have a friend who has a different playing card tattooed on each arm. These are his force cards and he uses this as his revelation. You are limited how you reveal the cards only by your imagination.
ALTERNATIVE REVEAL You will notice that the diary has a blank page at the front and a blank page at the back. Using a re-stick glue stick have one force card at the front of the diary and one at the back. A little dab on each card will stop them falling out. As soon as you find out if the week they call out is odd or even, open to the front or back to reveal the playing card in the diary. This is taken out and placed on the table.
Finish off as per the routine. In this version there is no envelope and the cards are in full view almost from the start. This method can be used for any of the other basic forces in the diary.
BRAINWAVE REVEAL With a deck on the table the performer asks for any number between 1 and 52. That week is looked up and a card shown. The deck is spread and one card is face up which matches the week called out. The card is taken out showing a read back and all other cards are blue.
METHOD This uses a gimmick deck known as The Brainwave Deck, which can be purchased from any magic store. With only two force
21 DIARY PRESSAGE INSTRUCTIONS cards it makes the use of this deck very easy.
CRISS-CUT FORCE With a deck of cards sitting on the table you show the diary has different cards for each week. The spectator is asked to cut the deck and one half is placed on the other marking where they cut. They then call out any week from 1 to 52 and the diary is opened to that week showing the card. The card turned over in the deck where they cut and it matches.
METHOD This uses an easy card force known as the Criss-Cut Force. With the odd week force card on the bottom of the deck and the even one on top you can perform this anytime with a regular deck.
With a card on top of the deck and one on the bottom have a spectator cut the cards and leave the cut-off portion to the left of the pack. Take the remaining cards on the right and place them on top of the portion to the left, forming a plus sign with the packets.
If they choose the odd week then lift off the top pack showing the bottom card of that pack, and if they choose the even then lift of the top pack showing the top of the bottom pack.
22 10 MIND READING WORDS
Built in to this book are words designed to be used with a progressive Anagram. The first I heard of this system for finding words was in a book test by Terry Rogers called The Key. I believe however it goes back to Stanley Collins in the 1920s . One of the best works I have ever read on this system and how to pull it off properly is by Atlas Brookings in his e-book called The Prodigal.
The basic idea is that the spectator is asked to look at words on a page, and by asking if their word contains certain letters the performer knows what word they are thinking of.
If you look at the force weeks you will see all the entries are the same. As you flip through the book you ask them to say STOP, and you open to a force page. You ask them to look at any word, but to make it harder on you look for a word that is say, five letters or more. Another approach offered by Atlas in his book, is to ask for a word that is interesting.
23 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
Their choice of words are below followed by the chart: PLANS TRAVEL LIBRARY TRAIN READING BOWLING SHOPPING STATION MOVIES POKER HOTEL KEYNOTE POETRY STORE
24 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE
25 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
How it Works: You will notice there are two columns of letters. The first contains the letters O, E, T, R and S. The second column is mixed with words but the letters are R, I N, E, S, A , R, and N. You will begin by moving down the left column.
Let us assume that in this instance, the word chosen was ‘Station.’
You will begin by calling the first capital letter on the left column, which is O. If it is acknowledged to be in the word that the spectator is thinking of, you will move down the column to the next capital letter and call that out, E. They will say there is no E in their letter. You then move to the letter in the second column, which is an S and call that out. They will say Yes so you move down to the next letter and call out A, again they will say yes which brings you to their word Station.
Another example: The word Shopping. 1. You call out O they say Yes. 2. Move down to next letter in 1st column – call out E they say No. 3. Move over to right column – call out an S they say yes. 4. Call out an A they say No so the word is shopping.
As you can see, each time they say YES you move down and when they say NO you move across.
If you try this a few times you’ll understand how it works. The best way to use an anagram is to memorize the chart. It really isn’t that difficult.
The words in our book test are designed so you will not get more than two no’s. This works well with an idea of presentation Atlas has in his book. He says that after you get a no you say, “the next letter isn't a _____.” This way if you hit great, if not you say, “I
26 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE didn't think so.” Again, we HIGHLY recommend you read the work by Atlas Brookings because he has presentation ideas that take the work of Anagrams to a different level. He turns a ‘no’ in to a ‘near miss’, which makes it much stronger.
From his book The Prodigal – “Your presentation is important. You cannot bumble, mutter, or appear unsure. You must be bold, concise, direct, and appear immune to little setbacks. In fact, you should act as though they intrigue you, and that you burrow deeper out of sheer interest. I have noticed that the audience will take your cue, and if you don't feel confident, they will not believe what you are presenting.” Atlas Brookings
MONTH OF THE YEAR ANAGRAM
You can also use the anagram for discovering a month of the year. My preference is to have a person look at one word from the diary and another to think of a month. This way when I am performing I can ‘bounce’ off each of the spectator’s thoughts. If there is No then I can say I’m getting crossed signals.
If you find it hard to memorize anagrams then have them secretly written down on the back of a business card, or printed on a pen. As we mentioned the strength of this lies in your ability to give the impression you are reading the spectator’s mind and just looking in to their eyes rather than looking elsewhere.
Example: If they chose JUNE R (NO) U (Yes) J – Yes E – Yes JUNE
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11. BIRTHDAY CARD TRICK Richard Webster
Well-known author and mentalist Richard Webster has a wonderful routine using a diary and gave permission to include it in these instructions. It is a very powerful way to give the diary meaning and make it more than a trick. By adding Richard’s routine to the non-force days you have yet another strong routine to include in the diary. In Richard’s own diary he has written some ‘cold reading’ for each day of the year and next to it are playing cards. There is still room in the diary to do this should you want to perform this routine. We also sell a ‘blank’ diary so you can fill it in yourself.
The Birthday Card Trick
Alex Elmsley’s “Birthday Card” trick is one of my favorite effects. Someone selects a playing card, and then finds the name of the card she chose written beside her birthday in a diary or birthday book.
I wanted to provide a logical reason why this particular card happened to be her “birthday card.” Otherwise it’s simply a puzzle. I also wanted to be able to perform it without a deck of cards.
The mentalist places a date book or diary on the table. “Tina, everyone has an important, special day every year. When is your birthday?”
29 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS
Tina might reply, “August 28th.”
“That’s interesting. Numerologically, that tells me you’re an independent person. You’re able to stand on your own two feet. You’re ambitious, progressive, and frequently come up with original ideas. By the way, did you know that every birthday has a playing card assigned to it?”
“No.”
The mentalist looks disappointed. He indicates the diary. “I guess that means you don’t know which card in a deck of playing cards responds to August 28th.”
“No.”
The mentalist smiles. “Your conscious mind may not know the card, but I’m sure your subconscious mind does. Here, let me hand you an invisible deck of cards. Take them out of the box and make sure they’re all different. Toss the whole deck into the air and call out odds or evens.”
“Odds.”
“Good. Hold your hands out and catch all the odd cards. Well done. I think you caught them all. Would you please separate them into reds and blacks, and place either one of them on the table. Which one did you put on the table - red or black.”
“Red.”
The mentalist casually brushes the invisible red cards off the table. “Excellent. That means you’re holding the black cards. There are two black suits, Spades and Clubs. Hold the Spades in one hand
30 PAUL ROMHANY & MIKE MAIONE and the Clubs in the other. Hold out both hands. I’m going to cover one of your hands.” The mentalist places his hand over Tina’s. “Which suit am I covering?” he asks.
“The Clubs.”
The mentalist nods his head. “Interesting. Toss them away. That leaves us with the Spades. You already threw away the even ones, so you should have just seven cards left - the ace, three, five, seven, nine, jack and king. Is that right?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Good. Let’s make two piles of cards. Put the low ones, say, the ace, three and five, over here. And put the higher cards - the seven, nine, jack and king over there. Good. You did that very well. Now please move those two piles around, so I have no idea which pile is which. Good. Let me put my hands on top of each pile. I’m going to raise one of my hands. Which cards have I uncovered - the high ones or the low ones?”
“The high ones.”
The mentalist sweeps them away, and lifts his other hand to “reveal” the three remaining cards. He places them in a line on the table. “This one’s the ace, here’s the three, and this one’s the five. Please place your intuitive hand - that’s the left one - on any one of those three cards.”
Let’s assume she placed her hand on the five of spades. “Very good. Now place your right hand on one of the two remaining cards.” Again, let’s assume she placed it on the ace of spades. The mentalist picks up the one card remaining uncovered - the three of spades. “This one is -.” He hesitates to see if Tina names the three of spades. If she doesn’t, he turns it to face her, and says: “The
31 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS three of spades.”
The mentalist hands the three of spades to Tina. “Isn’t it interesting that your subconscious mind led you to this particular card? If I’d asked you to name any card in a deck of playing cards, would you have named that particular card?” “No.” “I didn’t think so. However, it’s interesting that you made all the choices and all the decisions, and went straight to the three of spades.” The mentalist picks up the diary and hands it to her. “Have a look at a few dates at random,” he says. “And then turn to your birthday. What was it again?”
“August 28th.” Tina looks at a few pages in the diary, and then turns to her birthday.
“What card is listed for your birthday?”
“The three of spades!”
“That’s amazing. And what does it say for your birthday?”
“Original approach. Good mind. Ambitious.”
“That’s fascinating. Your subconscious mind knows much more than you could possibly imagine. It even knew the card for your birthday.”
METHOD
You’ll need to know any memorized deck. I use “QuickerStack” by Doug Dyment (available from www.deceptionary.com). This enables you to instantly know what card relates to each date. August 28th, for instance, is the 36th card in the stack (8 + 28 = 36).
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I use basic numerology for the brief character assessment at the start of the effect. Tina was born on the 28th of the month. I reduce this down to a single digit. 2 + 8 = 10, and 1 + 0 = 1. The basic meanings of the nine possible numbers are:
ONE Independence, attainment, confidence, good mind, better at starting than finishing. TWO Cooperative, friendly, diplomatic, affectionate, sociable, intuitive. THREE Good with words, creative, optimistic, imaginative, enthusiastic, many interests. FOUR Conscientious, reliable, hard-working, patient, honest, sincere, practical. FIVE Versatile, adventurous, imaginative, enjoys change and variety, restless, quick mind. SIX Responsible, caring, sympathetic, generous, emotional, loves home and family life. SEVEN Introspective, intuitive, logical, enjoys time on own, slightly different approach. EIGHT Ambitious, confident, managerial capabilities, goal- oriented, seeks success. NINE Broadminded, tolerant, compassionate, philanthropic, sensitive to others.
Number 1 appears four times a month (1st, 10th, 19th and 28th). Because of this, I’ve written the basic information for number 1 (and all the other numbers) in a variety of ways, so the identical words do not appear over and over again. I find numerology keywords work well for me. If you do playing card readings you might prefer to use the standard interpretation of each card.
The final part is to help the volunteer discover his or her birthday card. As you already know what the card is, all you do is direct the process by keeping or eliminating cards at each stage. When there are only three or four cards left, I finish the routine in a variety of
33 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS ways, depending on what the spectator does. In the example above, Tina covered the ace and the five, leaving the target card (three of spades) uncovered. I picked it up, and announced it was the chosen card. If she had placed her left, psychic hand on the three of spades, I would have swept the other two cards aside, and asked her to name the card she’d selected. Again, it’s the three of spades.
However, if she’d placed her left hand on either the ace or the five, and then placed her right hand on the three, the method has to change slightly. I’d casually flick the uncovered card to one side, and then ask her to raise one hand. If she raised the hand resting on the three of spades, I’d pick it up, and announce its name. The remaining card would be forgotten. If Tina so much as glanced at it, I’d flick it aside, too. If she raised her other hand, I’d flick the exposed card to one side and ask her to name the one card that was still covered.
This elimination process needs to be done briskly, as it’s important the volunteer has no idea that you’re leading her to a specific card. It needs to appear casual, as if you don’t really care what decisions she makes.
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12. BIRTHDAY CARD TRICK 2
Inspired Richard Webster’s routine here is Mike’s Birthday Card Routine.
Using any stack such as the Tamariz, assign card to the days based on the position in a deck month plus day. Ask a spectator her birthday then remove the cards from the pack so that the card needed is on top. The method Mike uses to do this was taught to him by Asi Wind where basically the box has some work, which allows you to use your thumb to get a break and peek about where you think the card you are looking for is located in your stack. Thumb count back or forth to the spot then pour the cards from the box while retaining the top portion. Drop the top part behind the bottom part now in your hand, essentially you are cutting to the card.
Table the cards then ask the spectator to cut the cards giving her some story about her ability to intuit the right spot to cut to get the card that matches her birthday. Use the Criss-Cut force and mark the cut. Then go to the diary, show that all the days have cards associated with them and find her special date. She reads the name of the card aloud. Then remove the cards "where she cut" and let her turn over the card at that spot, which is, of course, the card
35 DIARY PRESAGE INSTRUCTIONS originally at the top of the deck and matches the card at the date she selected.
There is plenty of time misdirection while looking at the book and when the spectator turns the card over it provides a nice visual that everyone can see and puts the emphasis on the spectator not the magician and more importantly not the diary. Essentially she, using her special powers, cut to the exact location of the card that is her birthday card.
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13. BOOK TEST
Diary Presage can be used to force a page number in a book for a book test style routine. One way is to have playing cards written for each week at the top of every page. As you flip through the book ask the spectator to say STOP whenever they like, or have them call out any week. Open to that page, which will be the force pages, and have them note the cards at the top of that page plus the card on the other page. For example my book has on the odd page the ten of hearts, and the even page has the eight of diamonds. I then ask them to take another book, which is any ordinary book, and open to page 108. From there you can either read their minds and tell them the word, or use it in other routines. Of course you can use some combination of the lucky numbers as well.
All you need to do is know the first word on the force page in another book.
This type of force could be used for anything from the final prediction in a Mental Epic routine to a prediction written down prior to the routine. Personally I prefer to use it in conjunction with another routine rather than by itself, which is why it makes the perfect force in Mental Epic.
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14. DISTRESSING
As beautiful and real looking as your diary is, you may wish to make it look even more genuine by giving it that ‘lived with’ look and distressing it some. Here are some tips to make it look more like you’ve been carrying it around with you for a year.
• Rub a light or medium grit sandpaper on the edges of the cover of the book, just enough to rub off some of the black of the cover exposing a little white… Use a little more rubbing on the corners, which would normally show the most wear.
• In the course of a year, you would probably have spilled a little coffee on a page or two of your journal. To give a few pages character, rub a little brown shoe polish on a few pages. Go easy, you can always add more ‘aging’.
• There is no writing on the inside covers. You might want to make a few notes inside the covers. You’d probably have your name and contact information written there just in case it were lost. I like to write the week numbers of the proverbs I want to read out loud, because I find a few especially interesting or funny.
• To add some personality to your diary use a highlighter or red felt tip pen to accent a few entries in the book too.
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