Copyright © 2018 by Peter Turner

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any

form without written permission from the author. For television
rights and further information, please contact:
peterturnermind@hotmail.co.uk

Cover Design by Fraser Parker

 Introduction
I have expressed in the past that writing the
introduction to any piece of literature (whether my own
or somebody else’s) is a struggle for me. This routine (in
my opinion) is really special and has served me well in
all manner of live scenarios. In fact, thinking about it I
have performed this routine more than any other
routine in my arsenal in a range of countries to all
manner of audiences including celebrities!

I have been very precious with this routine only sharing

the method and linguistic subtleties with my close circle
of friends and it has stayed that way for about 8 years.
One fairly fond memory I had performing this routine
took place roughly 5 years ago. I was sat in an Indian
restaurant in Bradford with Steve Haresign, Jared
Manley, Mark Chandaue and a couple of other
performers at 2am and the subject of P.K touches came
up. We were all jamming and it came to my slot to share
ideas and I showed them my take on the P.k touches
plot (an earlier version of one you are about to read) and
after I had finished performing there was silence. The
silence went on for about 15 seconds, which might not
seem like such a long time but in that moment (to me) it
seemed like forever. I had a knot in my stomach waiting
in anticipation for what they were about to say.

Then they broke the silence (simultaneously) – They

flipped, each of them in turn expressing how clean and
beautiful the routine was. I knew then that I was onto
something special and I have made changes ever since.

Whilst reminiscing just now another notable time this

routine served me well was when pitching for a
television show to a major network (which I can’t name)
- the producer who was one of the hardest people to
please I’ve ever met had expressed from the get go that
he hated mentalism and gave me 3 minutes to impress
him, I performed this routine and he completely
changed his opinion. He literally lost his mind and
insisted that I stayed and showed him more and called it
“new” “fresh” something that he had never seen before.
It was the talk of the company and still to this day I am
constantly requested to perform this whenever I visit the
company to this day – It had that much of an affect that
it became almost mythical and I have never (for that
company) performed it since. Sometimes less is more, if
you are looking for a reputation maker you found it.

You will notice with this booklet I have completely been

inspired aesthetically by Theodore Annemann’s
booklets. I really love the look of the old style booklets
that “Demon productions” created and the front cover/
insides are designed in a similar manner to “202
Methods of forcing”. I hope you love the look of this
booklet and that to some of you it will feel nostalgic.

Before I start to ramble, enjoy the content.

Peter Turner 2018

 P.K touches
Effect
The performer stands next to a seated participant and
asks them to close their eyes. The performer proves to
the entire audience that the participant cannot see the
performer after expressing how important it is that the
participant does not open their eyes.

The performer walks over to another member in the

group who is at least five to six feet away from the
seated participant (who has their eyes closed).

The performer openly taps the second participant on the

forehead and after doing so he asks the seated
participant if he felt anything - the seated participant
confirms he felt the tap from six feet away!

The performer then taps a third participant twice on the

arm, pauses for a few seconds and then taps the
participant a third time. He then turns to the seated
participant (who still has their eyes closed) and asks
them if they felt anything.

The seated participant says that they felt they were

tapped two to three times.

The performer asks the seated participant to open their

eyes, shake themselves off, relax and is instructed when

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the performer snaps his fingers to go back into a
relaxed, trance like state.

The performer moves over to a fourth participant and

taps him firmly on the left shoulder blade. He asks the
seated participants if they felt anything - the participant
confirms they felt a ‘firmer’ tap than the previous taps.
The performer then asks the seated participant where
they felt the firm tap and the seated participant points
to the exact spot that the fourth participant was
touched!

Breakdown
The breakdown for this routine is incredibly simple. The
verbal nuances in this routine are where the real gold is
contained and each nuance will be broken down and
outlined the exact way that I perform this routine word
for word.

Step One: The Participant’s Names

This is also one of the singular most important parts in
this routine. The participant with their eyes closed (the
one who feels the taps) is only going to know you are
talking to them if you refer to them by their name. This
can be devastating if you don’t remember their name
halfway through as this routine will not work. If you are
going to struggle remembering the participant’s name
them simply refer to them “participant 1” or “player one”
ensure they know that this is what you are calling them.
If you are cheeky and have comedic elements/ tones to
your show give them a nickname again it is imperative

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that they know you are referring to them when you talk
to them.

Step Two: Distance

The first thing this routine requires is the correct
positioning of the participants.

Ensure that the participant who is going to feel the taps

is seated (facing the rest of the audience) at least five or
six feet away from said audience. If you are performing
this routine on stage then you would invite a couple of
participant’s onto the stage and sit the participant who
is going to feel the taps facing the entire audience and
then a secondary participant sat side on. Do not have
the second participant sat with the back facing the
audience – This might sound like it would be obvious
but I have seen this more times than you would believe
in several mentalists acts.

In close up you would have the close up group sat or

standing facing the participant – One thing to note, I
would never recommend (unless very confident in your
ability) when performing this routine is to perform this
routine on a standing participant, you really need the
participant who is going to feel the taps to be seated. I
have performed this routine many, many times and
unless you are so conscious of your angles then this can
fall apart very quickly.

Whilst talking about angles let me go off on a tangent

about performing “surrounded”. One question that I
have been asked a number of times pertaining to other
routines (mainly billet work) that fits in line with this

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routine also is the age old question “Can this be
performed surrounded?”

For me this question makes absolutely no sense, I have

NEVER been in a scenario where I have performed
surrounded. I control where my participants stand at all
times for each of my routines for more than one reason.
I control my environment. I don’t mean this in a forceful
sense but I am very mindful of moving myself and the
“attraction” to a spot where I naturally have everyone
facing what I want them to face. If people are around
me, I will simply ask people to move or tell people where
I want them to stand. If I am about to perform a billet
peek and there are people behind me, I ham up how
much concentration reading someone takes and I talk
about seeing things out of the corner of my eye and it
distracting me and I politely move people wherever I
want them.

This is no different. Pull someone from the pack of

people make sure everyone else stays where they are,
the more distance in this routine the better. Remember
though the participant needs to be able to hear you
clearly. Also moving people around is a subtle way of
asserting your dominance in that situation, every single
television meeting I have ever been in I have moved the
head "Honcho" into a different seat. Once he/ she has
committed to moving and is part of the process they are
committed and you are more likely to succeed in
bringing to fruition whatever you are pitching.

Now that you have your participant seated this is where

we move into the physical aspect of the setup of this
routine.

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Step Three: Touches
The next part in this routine is to covertly touch the
participant a number of times without the audience
seeing. My preferred method comes straight from the
genius mind of Luke Jermay and utilises his amazing
‘invisible touches’ from his routine ‘Touching on hoy’. I
am a big fan of Luke’s and his construction and
execution of routines is second to none. When I created
this routine all those years ago it is no wonder that I
used his principle as I found there is no better one for
this routine.

However if you are more comfortable using thread, or a

chair that does the touches for you or Banachek’s ‘Aura
cleansing’ then these are also viable options. The
language in this routine is going to be the same however
the location of the final touch will change.

Before you apply any secret touch (which I will outline in

a moment) pay close attention to this next piece of
scripting and the couple of overt taps that I make (which
I will call back to very cleverly).

Performer: “In a moment I want you to remember

everything you feel. Any sensations you get remember as
I will be asking you about your feelings, for example If
you feel me touching you here (tap the participant’s
forehead) remember it, or here (tap the participant’s arm
twice) I want you to remember what you feel from this
point”

Emphasise the last line, the audience need to know that

you have dismissed the first few taps and you are

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expressing for them to remember from that point. This
scripting is one of the first verbal nuances I employ -
when I first started performing this routine I would ask
the participant “Did you feel me tap you?” The
participant would say no and it would be dreadful the
routine would fall flat. Anyone who has performed any
version of P.K Touches will have had this happen to
them a few times and had to then repeat the secret
tapping process and if it happens twice in a row (which
is very rare but does happen) then it is a really, really
awkward situation.

This way you have told the participant you are going to
quiz them and because of this they will make a
conscious effort to remember the touches so that THEY
won’t look stupid later. Remember they are going to
have their eyes closed and when you are tapping them
secretly they will believe that everyone else saw you
touching them, therefore they cannot lie later and say
they didn’t feel a touch also because they don’t know the
outcome of the routine it is in their best interest to
remember where they felt you tap them. I hope you
notice when you are reading this that every single aspect
and element of this routine has been tied up to such a
degree that the participants will be free to talk after the
routine without fear of exposing the method.

After you have overtly touched the participant once on

the head and then twice on the arm it is time to apply
the covert touch – remember you can do this using any
method that you desire, I will be outlining my variant on
the invisible touches from ‘Touching on Hoy’.

Address the seated participant,

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 Performer: “I want you to imagine I am holding a ball of
light in my hands (mime displaying a bouncy ball
shaped object as you speak) keeping your head still I
want you to allow your eyes to follow this ball of light
and keep your eyes on it (raise the ball of light up
until the participant’s eyes are above their natural
eye line). I am going to let go of the ball of light, when I
do I want you to imagine it floats in this spot and you
keep your eyes on it (Mime letting go of the ball of
light). When I snap my fingers I want you to close your
eyes and keep them closed. Don’t open your eyes for any
other reason than me saying open your eyes”.

Note to reader***

Again this is a carefully constructed line, it ensures that

the participant never opens their eyes prematurely.

End of note***

Position yourself at the side of the seated participant -

so that the middle of your chest is in line with the
participant’s left shoulder blade. Take your left hand
and place it in front of the participant’s face and re-
address the participant,

Performer: “When I snap my fingers close your eyes”.

*Snap your fingers*

The participant will naturally close their eyes.

Performer: “It is essential that XX (Insert the participant’s

name) cannot see us”.

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Whilst saying this simultaneously lean forwards very
slightly so you are bridging the distance between you
and the participant arm and wave your left hand past
the participant’s face (like you are checking that the
participant’s eyes are genuinely closed) and as you wave
your hand past the participants eyes this is where the
secret move will take place. Tap the participant with a
medium firmness on their left shoulder blade twice and
once very firm (but not enough to hurt them). It is
essential that they feels these taps.

The participant’s body will block the audience from

seeing you tap the participant and the rest of the
audience will be watching you waving your hand and
spending time focusing on you making sure that the
participant cannot see.

***Note to reader***

Pay close attention to the fact that I tapped the

participant twice with a medium firmness and once with
very firmly. This will play a big part later and will (I
hope) make you smile when you read how devious this
is!

***End of note***

The physical work is over, you have applied the secret

touches and no one in the audience is aware of you
doing so. This routine now relies on linguistics – It is
pretty much fail safe if you follow the next set of steps.

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Step Four: The Second Participant
This is where you are going to introduce a second
participant into this routine, it really doesn’t matter who
you choose for this I have found if the first participant
has a partner they are usually the best choice in this
scenario and I would use them all the way through until
the end. If however the participant does not have a
partner there you have carte blanche to choose whoever
you would like. In the additional thoughts section of this
booklet I will share several ideas and principles where
you can make it appear that the participants are all in
sync before you move into the P.K touches routine.

Before we get off onto a tangent –

Note to reader***

For clarity I will outline any physical actions you will

apply in this routine in a bold font type and words/
scripting in a standard font type and if I want to break a
section down to outline the psychology of a particular
part of a routine I will do so in one of these ‘note to
reader’ sections.

End of note***

Walk over to another member of the group, address

the seated participant (the one we have applied the
secret touches on),

Performer: “Keeping your eyes closed XX (insert the

participant’s name) you can tell by the sound of my voice
that I’m not standing near or next to you now right?”

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 Participant: “Correct”.

Performer: “And I’m not touching you now?”

Participant: “No”.

Tap the second participant on the forehead – When

you do this hold your hand up so everyone can
clearly see you moving. As soon

Performer: “But you did just feel me tap you?”

Participant: “Yes”.

The audience will naturally start to freak out.

***Note to reader***

Think carefully about the above scripting carefully,

notice that I reminded the seated participant to keep
their eyes closed, this again is important. I do not want
them prematurely opening their eyes this kind of
direction also serves a bigger purpose – It ensures that I
am in control of the situation at all times and the
participant’s thoughts are not left to wander off and they
are constantly on the ball when it comes to answering
the questions that I am asking.

Another line to focus on is this one – “you can tell by the

sound of my voice that I’m not standing near or next to
you now right?”

Notice how I end with the word “right?” – You can end it
with “Correct?” when it comes to the end of this

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sentence the last thing that you want is the participant
not knowing how to answer or their answer not being
clear to the audience… Isn’t it funny how one word can
completely change the shape of a question?

The whole “I am not touching you now?” and “But you

did just feel me tap you” lines serve a massive purpose.

Go back and read the scripting, imagine it from the

audience’s perspective as you read it. It makes the entire
process look and feel real time. I have never seen any
P.K Touch routine do anything like this most have a
jerky moment where the realities don’t quite line up.
This line is a deviation on a line that I’ve used since
jamming with Manos Kartilos in Greece five years ago –
after years of tinkering with this line (since that
interaction) and changing it numerous times I feel that
the above line works perfectly.

***End of note***

Step Five: The Third Participant

This is where I progress to moving to a third participant,

if you however do not have a third participant or you are
performing on stage and only want to use a second
participant to keep the visuals clean then that is fine
also but to stay in line with the way I do this (mainly in
close up) I will outline this as though I have approached
a third participant.

Walk over to the third participant whilst addressing

the seated participant.

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Performer: “Keep your eyes closed XX (Insert participant’s
name) I’m going to ask you a few questions about your
feelings”.

***Note to reader***

Again notice that I remind the participant to keep their

eyes closed, in writing it seems like I am overly asking,
in performance I can assure you it doesn’t feel that way.

Think about the word ‘feelings’ it is a great word. The

reason that it is so great is that it is a past and present
tense relevant word. By that, I mean to the audience the
word feelings is present tense whereas to the participant
because they have their eyes closed, they believe the
word feelings is past tense. How crazy is that?

***End of note***

Hold your hand up again so that everybody can see

and tap the third participant twice on the arm, lift
your hand up again, pause, look confused, smile and
then tap the participant on the arm a third time.
After you have done this hold up two fingers and
then three and move your hand to suggest it could
be two or three to the audience.

Address the seated participant,

Performer: “Out of interest, when you just felt me tap you

and if you are torn between two numbers that’s fine tell
me the two numbers, how many times did you feel me
tap you?”

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***Note to reader***

The participants answer is going to be different each

time. If they said “twice” you get a hit, if they say “three”
times you get a hit and if they say - “Two to three”
amazing, this is the best outcome because I purposefully
give the participant the floor to be unsure they will
usually take my offer and I frequently get the best
outcome.

***End of note***

Step Six - Waking and Re-inducing the

Seated Participant
After the participant has answered, move on to ask
the seated participant to open their eyes, shake
themselves off and take a deep breath in and let it
out. Address them,

Performer: “do you mind if I ask you a few more

questions about your feelings? “

Participant: “not at all “.

Performer: “When I snap my fingers re-close your eyes

and keep them closed”.

The performers snaps his fingers.

***Note to reader***

Remember you are still 6 feet away from the seated

participant at this point. Do not go back towards the

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participant - this is important to retain the illusion of
distance.

***End of note***

Approach a fourth member of the audience, take

your hand and raise it in the air again (the audience
should now be conditioned into the knowing
something is about to happen. Prod this participant
firmly behind the left shoulder blade and then take
your right hand and show the audience on yourself
where you tapped this fourth participant.

Note to reader***

I would advise when displaying on yourself where you

were touched going over the top of your left shoulder
with your right hand and reaching over and pointing to
the spot on your left shoulder blade first and then
bringing your right hand under the arm and touching
your left shoulder blade again. The reason that we are
doing this is that it will cover both outs dependent on
the seated participant’s way of displaying where they
were touched in a moment.

End of note***

Address the seated participant,

Performer: “The last tap you felt was it softer or firmer

than the taps you felt before this last tap?”

Participant: “It was firmer“.

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Note to reader***

Remember earlier when we tapped twice with a medium

firmness and then the last tap with a very firm tap? Well
this is the moment it comes back into play! It allows you
to ask the question the way outlined above and serves
as yet another convincer that they felt taps in multiple
locations!

End of note***

Performer: “Obviously you felt me touch you on the

forehead and the arm, can you point to where you felt the
last firm tap?”

The participant will now point to where they felt you

touch them!

Note to reader***

The word “Obviously” is so sneaky here! Remember right

at the very beginning when I used the head and the
forearm as an example of how the seated participant
should remember their feelings? Well of course the
seated participant will remember this and dismiss your
“obviously” line as though you are talking about those
example moments the audience however because you
touched them on those spots will assume you are just
confidentially pointing out where they felt the taps that
happened a few seconds before.

The line about the “Last firm tap” really wraps

everything up when the participant points to the spot on
their body that they felt it. They can reach over their

15
shoulder to touch their left shoulder blade or under
their arm either way visually you get the hit!

If you haven’t already realised, the seated participant is

always answering about their feelings in the past tense
and the audience will always assume that the seated
participant was talking about their feelings in the
present tense.

Not only that, they can all talk because they felt it on
the arm, then the head and then the shoulder.

End of note***

Ask the participants to open their eyes.

Address the audience,

Performer: “No matter how much XX (insert the

participant’s name) begs you to tell them what happened
never tell them, intrigue will get the better of them”.

Note to reader***

I love this little closing line as it creates intrigue,

mystery and the seated participant will always ask the
audience what happened. I guarantee to you that the
audience will not be able to keep their mouth closed
about what they witnessed. Think about it, would you?
That is essentially the mechanics of the entire routine. It
really is that simple and lasts only a couple of minutes
in duration but is a real reputation maker.

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 Setting the Scene
One of the most important aspects of this routine is
setting the scene to make the synchronicity seem
plausible – If time is of the essence then feel free to skip
using these subtleties, however if time allows I would
recommend using these simple subtleties as they really
allow for people to believe what they are witnessing.

You will notice that I start the “induction” with a ball of

light, this is a very, very traditional type of hypnotic
induction and is cliché if I am honest but that is the feel
that I wanted aesthetically. I wanted this to feel like it
might be hypnosis but of course this type of routine is
impossible to logistically 'Pigeon hole' into any category
and for that reason it would be very easy to make this
feel like a magic trick if performed without conviction.

Before I get to this phase I really want the audience to

feel that two minds connecting in a way that can have a
physical effect on the way somebody feels. I am going to
offer a few different presentational ideas that you can
use.

Before you do the ball of light or even mention the

notion of touches you can induce the participant using a
similar induction to the ball of light induction – The one
thing that is very important is to ensure that you do this
at a slight distance to the participant that is going to be
feeling the taps. Use language to suggest that the
participant’s senses are heightened.

17
Performer: “I want you to take a deep breath in and then
slowly let it out, as I am talking to you, you will notice
that every other sound around you apart from my voice
starts to fade into the background. The noises around
you help you to relax and each of your senses start to
heighten.

This won’t be perfect as you are just getting in tune with

your surroundings, I want you to imagine by the sound of
my voice whereabouts you feel I am standing. I want you
to imagine that you can see me holding up my hand.
Think of the first small number that pops into your mind,
this is the amount of fingers I am holding up. Don’t worry
about being wrong or right I want you to trust yourself,
keeping your eyes closed and staying in this relaxed
state how many fingers can you see me holding up in
your mind?”

Note to reader***

Think of the first small number that pops into your

head, say out loud the number that you thought of –

Did you go for the number 3? Psychologically when you

ask someone to think of the first small number that
pops into their mind it will be 3. If this hits (which will
be frequently) there will be such a surreal moment for
the audience and when you move into the touch phase
of the routine it has a plausibility now.

Naturally, any psychological force can be used here to

prove you have made a mental connection.

End of note***

18
This principle really fits in line with the notion that
restricting one of the senses helps heighten the rest of
the senses. It might be nice to mention this, I do
depending on how I feel at the time. If I feel the audience
is engaged then I might go off onto briefly talking about
it here, if I feel things are moving too slow I will often get
the participant to open their eyes, shake themselves off
and then move into the P.K. Touch routine and when
everyone is freaking out I then talk about the senses
heightening it’s all about feeling the right moment to
deliver your scripts.

I always play down the end of the routine also by saying,

Performer: “It’s interesting isn’t it how the brain can trick

you into imagining you felt something physical even
though there was nothing there right? I always thought it
was interesting when someone lost a limb and imagined
they could still feel it months later physically feeling the
limb itch and when they scratched the imaginary area
where the limb was the itching stopped!

I wanted to know what tricked the brain into believing

this and this is as close as I got to re-create that
phenomenon. It’s not perfect but it’s not a bad
simulation”.

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 Conclusion
I really hope you love some of the touches (mind the
pun) that I have shared in this booklet. I am so happy to
be able to finally share this with the community and I
really hope that it serves you as well as it has served me
in the past.

Now I have written this, I can finally get some sleep! Till
the next time we meet,

Peter Turner 2018

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