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 BAIRN

FOUR WORD
FOREWORD
FORWARD
BY FRANCIS
MENOm
I can't count.
BA\RN

CONTENTS
Dedication 1

Four Word Foreword Forward By Francis Menotti 3

Introduction 7

COMPLETE PERFORMANCE PIECES 11

"Mr Golden Balls" 13

Accidental Mental Square 23

Bookend 31

Nutcase (And The" Yes But No Principle Of Doom" ) 43

Fussy Eater 49

Step Up 53

Errrm ...1Can't Remember 59

Sensible Influence 65

Predictagram (AKA E1) 71

Who'S Got £he Mon€y? 87

Afraid Of Dogs 93

Order and Agender 99

Magazine Test Of The Stars 109

Theo and Cassidy Walk into A Bar In Ostin 113

CLOSE UP AND CASUAL 119

Sucking a Softy 121

Snotty Nosed 125

Nookey 131
Attraction 137
Tell The Truth, Kidda. 143

4
 BAIRN

CONTENTS
Mind Turn 147

The One Short Way To Play Fair 153

Knowledge 157

Siapper 163

STRAIGHT FROM THE NOTEBOOK 169

The Lady Who Almost Made Me Faint, Who Then Bought Me A Drink 171

Focused Opener 175

Seance From The Past 181

Dinosaur Subtlety 187

Thoughts and Subtleties on Add A Number 191

Headlines In Black And White 203

And The Star Says.... 207

Called Out Thoughts 211

Reason To Write 217

The Distant Bet 221

As You Do Book 227

Breaking News 235

Tossed Out Death 241

Stacked, Borrowed, Remembered 247

An Act VS A String OfTricks 251

Crowd Control 255

Starting Strong 259

Add Ahead 263

Closing Thoughts 267

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6
 BAIRN

INTRODucnON
Welcome to Bairn. And thank you for your trust and interest in my material. I
want to give you something straight away: a promise.

I recently fell out of love with mentalism. Not performing it, just reading about it as
much of the new 'stuff' that was appearing.

I was starting to become less and less inspired by the progress in our art. To be honest,
I'm one of the few who is kind of against all this purist stuff.

My thinking is that if mentalism became less visual and more linear, "you think of
something, is it this ... ?" then yes it would be impressive to us, but it would be boring
as sin and lose all theatricality, entertainment and just become a party trick.

Instead, my personal preference is to make it visual, interesting and even surprising.

My promise to you is that I've not wasted time writing up anything that is not tried,
tested and worked in front of real people. Real people who have real expectations.
Expectations that you are going to amaze them. Expectations that you will impress
them, they'll enjoy it and that this can be the conversation for much of the remainder
of the night.

You'll see that some of these are described in full detail because I have worked them
for a significant amount of time, with details, important moments, thinking and
reasons. Others are brief because these are usually close up pieces that I only ever
perform socially. I never receive payment for performing up close mentalism. It's only
ever for the sceptical minds of friends and fellow performers that I share my close up
mentalism creations.

Another thing you ought to know is that I've put a lot of work into making this as
interesting, confronting, offensive and strange to read as possible. This way you'll stay
awake, interested and hopefully be so appalled that you'll forget all of my routines and
never use them. If, however you do use them please be advised you do so with the
caveat that if we were ever to share the billing at a gig I have first choice on all of this
material, I also reserve all manufacturing, TV performance and performance rights on
cruise ships worldwide for all of the material contained. If you want an exception, write
to me. I'm pretty friendly - and I have great hair.

1
 BAlRN
I am so very grateful for your time and your investment in reading what I am sharing
here. In fact if you want to discuss any of these ideas further, you have questions,
or you have an even better development please join me in my Facebook group at
facebook.com/bairngroup

Finally, I should briefly explain the title. Bairn is a word used in some areas of Scotland
and the North East of England - where I was born and raised. A Bairn is a child. And
these ideas have been through the process of conception, they are born and then they
are raised - and finally once we let them free through passing them on here, they make
their own way in the big wide world.
,.
Take care ofthem for me, will you ?Thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart,

Ken Dyne

8
 -""'""

BAIRN
 BAIRN

COMPLETE
PERFORMANCE
PIECES
These are my most prized pieces of mentalism that I have and continue to use
in my shows right up to date. You will find a lot of scripting and subtleties in
these routines that go in to some detail as to how I make them work in real
life performance. These really are like children to me, so I hope that you enjoy
them too.
 BA1RN

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 BAIRN

"MRGOLDEN
BALLS"
liMy father is a huge inspiration to me. He helps me become better at what I do
and who I am. Mainly by using his catchphrase, "That's shite'~

A phrase which can mean he doesn't approve of the quality of something, or that he
doesn't believe what someone is saying.

However it is not this particular phrase of my father's that we are interested in tonight.

To explain, let me invite four of you to join me ..."

Four men are asked to stand in a row across the stage.

"Inside of this slightly homosexual bag are five balls:'

I don't do any jokes about balls, it's crass, too easy and ... okay sometimes I do make
'balls in bags jokes; and I sometimes mention the word 'sack' too. You're so hard to lie
to. Behave!

Right...back to it.

"Please each reach in and take a ball, but do it secretly so not even you get to see the
colour of the ball you take. And do not look just yet:'

Now each of them has a ball.

"What I did not tell you is that each of the balls is of a different colour. The colour of 4
of these 5 balls is not important. However, one of them is a Golden Ball.

Please take a quick peek at what colour ball you have ..."

They do so

"... and if you are the one with the gold ball, you are what my Dad would call, Mr Golden
Balls. That means, you can do no wrong.
BA\RN
In a moment I am going to ask you each a question. You must all make up an answer
which is untrue. However, Mr Golden Balls, whoever you might be, you must always
tell the truth - because you sir, can do no wrong.

Now there are only four of you, and five balls. I just want to make sure that one of you
is holding the Golden Ball. .. so let's see which one has been left:'

You tip the bag up, and the ball falls out. It happens to be the red one, for example.
I usually hand this to someone near the front just to hold on to for now. I do so
dismissively, as it plays no part in the rest of the routine.

"Great, so one of you IS Mr Golden Balls.

The first question ..."

Now, depending on the audience, you can go with rude questions or more innocent
questions. What I have found is that the anticipation of the question is almost as funny
as making the questions rude.

My pool of questions I choose from is below. I would love to say that I spend time
before the show carefully selecting the appropriate questions, but that is simply not
true. I have them in my head and just pluck the ones that feel most appropriate, and
that come to mind in the moment, live on stage.

GOLDEN BALL QUESTIONS

Where was your last holiday/vacation to?

How many children do you have?

When was the last time you had sex? (pause then follow up with "••. with
another person")

What is the first name of your emergency contact?

What is your biggest fear?

Your dream woman is sitting opposite you, who is it?

What colour is the underwear you are wearing?

14
 BAIRN
What make of car do you drive?

HoW many pairs of shoes do you own?

An even 'smarter' way of doing the questions is if you are set up to do a Q&A and have
been able to peek some of the cards already*. You select people whose cards you have
identified and base your questions on what they have written.

For example, if someone wrote that they have a dog called Emmanuel one of your
questions to all of the people in the row would be 'Name an animal that you own as a
pet: Now when you go along the row they all give their answers. However when you
go back to the person who's dog's name you know you say to them, "You sir are lying,
you do not have a pet rabbit, am I correct?" he agrees. Then just before you dismiss him
you can say, "You look much more like a dog person to me. Am I correct?"

The audience is pretty impressed.

You can then go even further and reveal the name of the pet dog! A seemingly
unrelated effect where you can introduce the information gleaned from your Q&A into
other routines in addition to the other intricate ways discussed in my own Banquet
Q&Amethod.

Of course it is not usually possible to craft four suitable questions from the peeked
information, so you will almost always need to have a set of stock questions in mind
too.

After each question one of the four people is eliminated, with the phrase, "You sir! You
are NOT Mr Golden Balls, show everyone your baill" upon which they do. Each ball is
collected back into the bag from whence it came. Yes that was a real use of the word
'whence:

Just to be clear, I eliminate just one person who looks the'least golden'in their response
per question. 50 you will need three questions in total.

However before I denounce he that is less than golden each time, I involve the audience
in a vote. This is something I was doing when performing Larry Becker's 5neakThief** as
it adds a real active involvement from the audience.

The way this works is I very simply ask the audience to, "Please applaud if you believe
that the least golden person here is gentleman number 1..." and so on down the line.

One thing I have found particularly fun and effective is to call the first person

* My'Banquet Q&A' approach works perfectly for this.

*" Stunners and Stunners Plus by Larry Becker
BA\RN
'Gentleman Number 1; the second person 'Gentleman Number 2' and then to give the
final two people increasingly acerbic nicknames*. At least this works for my style.

This achieves two things. First of all the immediate humour. But secondly, since you'll
refer to these two people by these nicknames throughout the show, you'll find that
their friends and colleagues will begin calling them by these nicknames too and thus
your legend lives on.

This is something I learned by watching master hypnotist Paul McKenna, who never
explained that this is what he was doing, so whether conscious or not (no pun
intended), I thought this nicknaming thing was a very effective way of carrying on
your legend long after the show.

At the end of the routine, as the questions get more funny, bizarre or sick (depending
on your style), you are left with one person, who opens his hand and out rolls his
golden ball. I then pass him a small trophy which says 'Mr Golden Balls' with the date
under it.

Now comes the surprise ... the one you have all been waiting for.

Just as Mr Golden Balls is about to leave the stage you call him back. You go back to the
person in the front row who is holding the only ball that was not chosen.

You remind everyone that they put their hand into the bag themselves and freely
chose any ball at all. Yet tonight they left the red ball in still in the bag by chance.

By chance? Perhaps it is not by chance.

You have Mr Golden Balls read the engraving on the bottom of his trophy and it reads:

"Chance for fate let it never be said,

The remaining ball will always be Red"

Surprise!

I then let them keep the trophy. I buy my trophies from a local shop that specialises in
sporting trophies and they cost around £30 each. Which is fine by me as it leaves this
person with a real physical memory of the show - and they do tend to keep them. At
least I've never seen a single one of them left behind after a show.

* Nicknames I've used this week include:

A man who is well groomed - "More Mirrors Than Sense"
Someone with unusual hair - "Hair-Style"
Someone wearing an unusual shirt -"Le Shirt Tragic"
A man who looked like Jerry Springer -"Jerry Springer"

16
 BAIRN
However I did at first consider having the following message engraved on the bottom:

"This trophy belongs to Mr Golden Balls and let it be said,

Kennedy may only retain it, if the remaining ball is Red:'

In this case, you get to keep the trophy to use again for a future show. I think taking
the trophy back is a really big mistake. Not least of all because it's giving something to
someone only to take it back, and that feels bad not only to the person themselves but
to the whole audience who are watching.

The main reason I don't like to take it back is because it then looks like every show the
red ball must be left over somehow, in some mysterious way that although they do not
understand, it must always be the red ball. However by giving away the prediction it
seems that it is so much more fair.

And yes, it really is engraved. This is no Medallion.

THE TRUTH
Some time ago now I scribbled something in my notebook about surprise. One of the
problems with mentalism is there is often no surprise.

The set up often implies the finale.

In almost all mentalism we have someone do something to begin with where the
audience is anticipating the outcome. For example, someone thinks of a word from
a book, at which point the audience is almost certain that you are going to work out
what that word will be.

So my mind often turns to how we might include surprises, unexpected twists and
turns in our plots that the audience does not expect. This probably comes from my
passion for mystery drama where twists and turns are par for the course.

Here I take the often 'improved' Kurotsuke/Body Language (Maven/Gaucci) routine

and add an extra impossible, surprise climax.

The whole routine is as per the classic old method of having the gold ball be the only
magnetic ball among four other coloured balls that are not magnetic. The main thing
for this to work is that rather than all white and one gold as per the standard sets, each
ball must be a different colour. I actually just painted a standard set using spray paint.
BA\RN
I'm not very good with DIY but even my crappy skills could make a mess with a spray
can. And what's nice is that once you've sprayed the balls, there is so much paint left
in the cans of spray paint that you can use to turn your neighbours cat into a tiger or
a panther!

So that's the standard bit out of the way. Now how about the prediction? Well before
we get into how, let's wax on a bit about why this works and why it does not.

Put simply, this is an impossible prediction. A chance-like fate-esque prediction. If you

are presenting purely as a psychological performer I'm not sure how you could frame
this as psychological in nature. The choices are made blind, no influence was made so
it's a bit of a stretch to explain this away as amazing psychology.

Just sayin:

So how is this possible? I really enjoy the simplicity of this. Plus explaining it is a hoot
because the number of innuendos I have to gloss over are simply penis!

To get this final surprise, unexpected prediction to happen you actually require six
balls!

The colours of my balls are:

Gold (magnetic)

Red

Blue

Green

Purple

White

The reason for these choices is that they all look quite different under most lighting
conditions, including stage light - which often screws the colour of things up.

Notably there is no yellow, as white can be mistaken for yellow very easily. The most
important thing is that none of them look like gold or could be mistaken for gold.
Like yellow. Yellow might be seen by some (foolish as they might be) to be 'golden' in
colour.

In this case I predicted the red ball to be the one left over. The reason again for this
is that the red shows up clearly. Where as white might look red if you stand on a red

18
 BAIRN
spot on stage. Red is red. The same can be said for a good solid blue. And a nice green.

I would only ever predict one of those three colours personally, but I'll leave that up
to you.

So we have our coloured balls. Now it's time to give some attention to the bag. The bag
is gimmicked. Booya! Sorry ...

But in a really simple and, I think, pretty cool way.

Inside of the bag there is a secret pocket.

However this pocket is not as deep as the
bag. It is significantly shallower.

It is into this narrow, shallow pocket that you

place your force ball.

As you have people remove a ball from the bag

you hold the bag from the corner where the
pocket is, and you hold the force ball, through the
bag, in your hand. This just ensures no one aCCidentally feels it whilst dipping their
hand into the bag.

Now each of the people can freely take a bailout. Your other hand with the magnetic
ring on does it's work to figure out which person is holding the golden ball.

Once all four people have removed a ball each you still have one ball left in the bag.
Now here is the really nice part: You tip the bag to make the ball roll to the opposite
corner to where the force ball is, and then grab the last remaining ball through the bag
with your hand. In the same motion you tip the bag up using this one hand that holds
the remaining ball back, and the force ball will drop out of it's pocket into an awaiting
hand of someone seated near the front.

Now the method is over. You proceed with your presentation of discovering Mr
Golden Balls. Which is hysterically good fun. And then you can reveal your engraved
prediction of the left over ball.

What is even nicer is that, for the lazy among us, the process of collecting each of the
balls back in the bag and then collecting the remaining red ball and dropping it in its
secret pocket as the prediction is revealed totally resets the routine as you go. Not that
you'd need to of course, but you can.
 BA\RN
Let me address the terrifying question on your mind: "what if the remaining ball in the
bag happens to be the gold ball?" - there is a chance. Here is how I would handle it,
although I've not had to use this 'out' just yet.

Step 1: Offer each person the opportunity to take the 'still unknown' ball from the bag
with their other hand and drop their ball into the bag - swapping balls. You do this to
every single person. This would be done before they look at their ball.

If this doesn't work out I'd then ask them all the very first question and then say "either
you haven't understood the instructions or you're all lying and the Golden Ball is still in
the bag! Then pour it out and start from the top again.

I hope you enjoy some element, either the theory of building surprises into your
mentalism, the method for the prediction in this routine or even just the presentation
for Mr Golden Balls.

...

..

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

I·
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BAIRN
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22
 BAIRN

ACCIDENTAL
MENTAL
SQUARE
You're 15 years old and your mathematics teacher is looking up at you,
squinting.

"Did I hear you correctly? You want to be excused from my class to rehearse for a PLAY,
in DRAMA block?"

"Yes Mr Perrywinkle:'

"Think about it, where will 'drama' get you compared to my mathematics class? Where
will it get you boy?"

You look into your crystal ball key-chain your old aunt Valerie gave to you and see
yourself in 15 years'time.

You've performed at hundreds of corporate events, people are laughing and cheering,
you've toured in a theatre show, you're performing on six star luxury cruise ships,
rubbing shoulders with millionaires and performing at celebrity parties.

You drop the crystal ball and leave Pythagoras in exchange for Stanislavski. Or in this
case - the school's shitty performance of Bugsy Malone. Where you're playing 'Boy 3'.

Maths is boring. But it's sometimes useful in mentalism. Kind of.

One of the worst things about Magic Squares, (apart from them being wildly over
done) is the name. There is little if anything magical about them. They're really a task
of mental ability to create an impressive grid of numbers - clever, but not magical at all.

I came up with this presentation amidst a panic, trying to create an opener for my show
that would work for an audience of a few thousand. Thankfully it is just as effective for
a group of eight people so it has that nice versatility that I quite like.
BAlRN
On stage is a large whiteboard. The performer throws a ball to select a person at
random, who is asked to think of a two-digit number. Obviously he has to take a public
berating by you before he names his number.

"I'm going to be calling out a lot of numbers in a moment and I don't want anyone
losing track of which number is yours, so please take this pad and write down that
number and keep the paper yourself, and the number secret. We will use it for
reference later on:'

While he writes using his crooked left hand, the ball is tossed again and a second
person is asked to stand, and he too is to think of a 2-digit number.

"Sir, you are our backup in case I cannot do what I need to with John's number. We'll
get the pad over to you too so you can make a note of your number so you don't get
confused in a few moments'time. Mainly because I don't trust you:'

Returning to the first guy, John, you say, "I want to make sure your number is completely
random so please take whatever your number is and add ... say, twelve to it. Now you
have a random number that as well as me not knowing, you did not know you were
going to pick before now. Is that correct?"

"Excellent! Please help me to warm up my mind, call out your new two-digit number:'

"Forty-five;' comes the reply.

"The number forty-five is an interesting one. Let me see if I can do this. And if not, we'll
use the other one:'

You now fill each cell of the grid on the whiteboard with a number. Once they are all
filled you step back, looking proud.

"Forty Five. Excellent. I've been trying to get the hang of this for a few years now and I
think tonight we nailed it!"

You proceed to show that the digits in the grid total the volunteer's number (forty-five
in this example) in every direction. Vertically, horizontally, diagonally, the centre four
squares, the four corners in fact any four squares that touch - they total forty-five!

Amazing!

But it's not over. This would be a (shudder) magic square.

"Thank you. Now I realise that I also asked you sir (pointing to the second guy) to think
of a number. It felt like you just thought of a random number didn't it? Please do not

2.4
 BAIRN
change it because I had a feeling that your two numbers would some how be related.
Could you call out your number please?"

"Twenty-eight"

"No, not the same number. You see I didn't know which number you would choose sir,
and I didn't have a clue what you would choose sir. However, what IS forty-five plus
twenty-eight?"

Seventy-three!

I did have a feeling whatever you said tonight might total..:'

The performer turns the board around and printed large and bold for all to see is the
number

"Seventy-three!"

THE TRUTH
I'm pretty excited about this effect because it adds a significant unexpected revelation
at the end of the 'magic square' routine. (I love surprises!)

I remember reading a Magic Square routine by Geoffrey Durham in which he would

end it by having predicted the number that was called out. And although the method
is ingenious, presentationally it doesn't work for me.

If the performer knew in advance that the number would be, say seventy-three, then
he never did learn the maths to make the magic square work, did he? So that was all a
sham. Now the audience feels badly let down.

So I moved on and forgot about it. Until I read about someone performing two
simultaneous magic squares, on two separate grids. Another idea I thought was weak
in that performing it a second time doesn't add anything, in fact probably takes away
from the effect.

Now the concept of adding two numbers together and predicting THAT came to my
mind.

So imagine if you could do everything you just read, the whole effect without any
BA1RN
secret writing at all. You can. In fact there is absolutely no secret writing required here
at all. I have the prediction total typed up on my home computer and printed on my
printer, stuck to the back of the whiteboard I am using.

There is no mechanical switching or anything at all. No pre-show. No stooging. No

switching.

I shared this with my two magician friends Mike and Mick, or Mick and Mike as they
like to be called, and they said how much they loved the method at work as much as
the effect.

So what is going on?

This is as direct as it comes really.

Let's start by printing off your prediction on your home printer. Let's imagine the
prediction is the number... oh I dunno, seventy-three. It can be any number. In fact I
change my number often just to keep it spicy for any repeat audience members.

Print it off and tape it securely to the back of your whiteboard. Recently I've been using
an A2 pad of paper. Since this is a show opener for me, I have the grid on the first page
of the pad and the prediction on the inside front cover of the pad itself (I prefer the pad
over the board because it's not so reflective so the audience can see it easier).

On the front of the board (or on the page of the pad) draw a grid for your favourite
magic square method (check out Chuck Hickock's in his book Mentalism Incorporated,
or my friend John Archer's method on his DVDs through Alakazam).

I'm not presenting you with a method for making all the numbers add up in all of the
directions here, there are MANY resources around for that and you can take your pick
at your favourite one. I'm all about the amazing, surprising prediction effect here.

Have two people chosen at random, and use your favourite method to peek the
number they are each thinking of. In your mind total those two numbers. You now
know how far out the total is from your prediction.

For example, let's imagine that John (person #1) is thinking of the number 33 and
person #2 is thinking of the number 28, which together total 61. 73 (our prediction)
minus61 is ... 12.

I calculate this while staring at John (person #1) and apparently weighing him up.
Now you simply need say to him, "Whatever your number is, I want to make it more
random so please add 12 to it:' - remember no-one knows that you secretly know the
two numbers so by saying this there is still no suspicion.
 BAIRN
Now have him call out the number (which is now the number he thought of, 33, plus
the number you told him to add, 12) which in this case would be the number 45.

You now proceed to do construct a magic square for the number he called out, this 45.
In terms of method it is all over now.

Once you have revealed the hundreds of directions in which the grid totals the number
(45 in this case) everyone thinks the effect is over. Method-wise it is. Presentationally,
you're about to kick them hard!

NoW you simply have to ask the second person who is thinking of a number (again
which you apparently do not know) to call out his number, have the audience mentally
total the two numbers which will of course come to the sum total of your prediction.
Now turn your pad around and watch them EXPLODE!

Simple maths and a couple of peeks and we're home dry.

To answer your burning questions:

WHICH MAGIC SQUARE FORMULA DO I USE'?

I use the one Hickock references in Mentalism Incorporated, which is a Karl Fulves one.

WHICH PEEK DO I USE'?

I actually use an electronic clipboard to gain the information. However I'd also consider
the following billet handling:

Hand billet one to volunteer #1. Have him write his number down.

Retrieve the card and switch it for a dummy. Leave the dummy in full view.

Go to pocket and palm a second dummy in position to switch, but bring spectator #1 's
billet out at finger tips as if it is a new blank billet.

Explain you'd like spectator #2 to write his number on 'this card; you say as you open
up the card, peeking spectator #1 's number. Switch the billet for the blank one you
have palmed en route to handing it to spectator #2.

Have spectator #2 write in a place suitable for your favourite peek. In my case I like
my friend Alain Bellon's full billet Obsidian Oblique, but just as practical are Millard
Longman's Acidus and its variations.
BA\RN

HOW DO I DO THE CALCULATION ON THE FLY?

Truth is, my mental mathematical skills are poor, and it turns out through asking fellow
performers to achieve this effect on the fly, it's not just me that has a problem doing
the mathematical jiggery-pokery required for the effect.

So the question remains, how do cheat it? Well I use a bold presentational ruse. You
probably expected that thought, right? You mentalist you!

When I ask for the numbers I demonstrate how I want them to think of the numbers by
removing my iPhone from my pocket. I use it as an illustrative device to say, "I want you
to imagine your mind as a miniature computer, and I want you to press the random
number generation button to create a number"

Now I place my iPhone on the table.

I then peek the two pieces of information I require. Now, returning to the first person
(who I will have make the addition or subtraction) and, picking up my iPhone say,
"Now to make this even more random .. :; I gesture at my phone, "I want you to open
your mental computer's calculator function:'

I open the calculator on my iPhone and show it to him as an apparent visual aid, of
course without directly mentioning it (the fewer senses I stimulate the more likely they
are to forget I ever did this, which is what I want).

"... and imagine typing in whatever your number is, and seeing it boldly on the screen;'
I turn the phone back so only I can see it and type in his number.

"... type it in, in your mind right now;' I press the plus key and type in the second
person's number, then type minus the prediction total. All of this wile telling the
person what to do.

This done, I now have in front of me the adjustment that I will ask the first person to
make.

If you prefer not to use your phone for fear that it infers technology, then have the
person imagine a note-pad in their mind, the kind of thing they'd use in those maths
classes at school.

Again, use the pad and a pen to gesture what you want the volunteer to do, you can
do your workings out right under their noses, on the pad.

I do sometimes feel more comfortable just picking up the pad I've been using
throughout as a way of gesturing. But it does depend on the circumstances.

2.8
 BAIRN

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
· i--------r---------~~~~~~~
I

· II--------~--------------------~
•
· I ________~------------------------~

· .--------~--------------------------------------~

30
 BAIRN

BOOKEND
You casually stroll down to your local HSBC bank to withdraw some fifties to
give to the homeless. Everything is going well, you're having a nice chat with
the rather hot bank teller, she's been telling you how, as it's a Wednesday, all
the bullet proof glass has been taken out for cleaning. Lovely.

suddenly, out of nowhere, a gang of criminals bursts into the bank. "This is a robbery!"
.they scream. The armed men grab two innocent children and are holding guns to their
heads.

You're not sure whether to run or piss yourself in fear, but suddenly ... you have an
idea .... You shout, "STOP!"

Everyone turns to look at you. Transfixed.

"What if I perform a really good mentalism show, right here, right now ... Then will you
not kill those children and steal all the money?"

They slowly stare at you ...

One of them turns to the other and says, "I saw that Darren Brown on telly and he was
pretty good. Let's say yes"

The pressure is on, you better blow them away. The children's lives depend on it ...

Before I was performing 'Theo and Cassidy Walk Into A Bar In Ostin; what you're about
to read were my opener, middle and closing routines. If you're skimming this book, this
looks like a helluva long trick - that's because it's not one trick but three. However the
three tricks work together to deliver a strong opening routine, a middle that allows
you to achieve the method, and an ending that's a surprise kick in the nuts that defies
explanation.

As I've said a billion times (actual statistics supplied by the Global Association for
Statistical Horticulture), the main thing mentalism suffers from is a lack of genuine
surprise. The set up of a routine will generally indicate the ending of it. Think about
most routines we know of...

A book test. Someone thinks of a word, the audience knows that you're going to reveal it.
i
I
Add a number. A prediction is on display. People write numbers down, they're
I· totalled ... the audience looks right at the prediction and assumes you're going to have
predicted this total.

No surprise. I mentioned this earlier. I want to bleat on more about it though.

What I did was create a prediction that was a surprise, even though it was on display
the whole time. To describe this I'm going to have to share with you my entire act
structure, namely the first routine, the 3rd routine and closing routine from my act.

Here is the performance:

31
 BAIRN

PART ONE
THE LOCK OPENER
After I've performed Focused Opener, I've selected another person (and those
of you who know my Primal Prediction* routine, know that I'm ready to do it
now) and invite them, and their partner to the stage**.

As they make their way up, I hand out a small padded envelope to someone sitting
near the front, for safe keeping. The size I use is called (5 in the UK.

The lady removes her ring, I hold out a combination padlock and extend it in front of
her. She places her ring on to the padlock, and the moment she does I shout the word,
"THAT!"

I continue, "That is exactly what tonight is about. Non verbal communication. Did I ask
you to place your valuable ring on to this grubby looking lock? Have you ever done
that before?

You see, sometimes we just know things. We don't know why, we just know.

This is a combination padlock, it has 4 digits, do you know the combination?"

She confesses that she does not.

"Wouldn't it be amazing if I had set it to the first 4 digits of your private mobile phone
number? Here dial it in:'

She does, but it doesn't open.

"Give it a good hard tug. No? Nothing? That's because I didn't know the first 4 digits of
your phone number:'

"I want you, in a moment to imagine that last wheel of the combination spinning
around, starting at zero and spinning around and around and around and NOW ...
what do you think that digit is?"

'Four'

* Available as an instant download at MentalUnderground.com

I only perform this for social events as the connection ofthe couple is important to the feel of
the routine.
 BAlRN
i
I "Turn it to four, does it open?"
j.
I 'No:

"Correct! Because you've got to get the next digits too. Now I don't want you doing this
logically so, tell me the name of your favourite drink?"

Just as she finishes replying 'Banana Mojito' (a great choice, but always hold the mint),
you bark at her, "and the next to last digit?"

'Two:

"Perfect. You have no idea where these numbers are coming from, have you? Please
turn the second last digit to two:'

She does.

"Perfect. So we have 'something; 'something, 'two' and then 'four' if everything is going
to plan, right?"

You say without looking at the lock, as if you already knew them.

"Would you please name an animal out loud for me?"

'A snail:

"Ha! A snail, that's a very interesting ... what's the next digit?"

'One:

"Dial it in. And, thinking about it now, name something apart from mathematics that
.' you might do at school"

'Lunch break:

"Funny! My favourite part of the day. So what do you feel is the final digit?"

'Nine:

"Dial it in and give the lock a tug ... and what do you know you found the perfect
combination nine, one, two, four. Give them a round of applause".

EXPLANATION OF PART ONE

I use an Allan Wong Dream Lock. The workings are such that so long as the first digit
is not a zero, the lock will open. The important thing presentationally is that this rou-

34
 BAIRN
tine places importance and weight on the selection of the digits, as if they are really
important.
I also like the subtlety I came up with, which I realise will only work for my UK friends,
of having the volunteer test the lock by dialling in her mobile phone number. All UK
mobile cellular phone numbers begin with a 0, so it will not open the lock. Simple, and
subtly proving that the lock doesn't just open when the dials are moved at random.
Apparently.

Of course you do not need to buy one of these gimmicked locks to do this routine, in
fact my buddy Patrick Redford has some amazing work on using ungimmicked locks
for this exact type of thing, you'll find these in his book Glemm.

What is new here? Not much really apart from the placing importance on the digits,
the subtlety with the mobile phone number and, of course the fact it is setting us up
for something far greater, and unexpected later.

I'll get to that.

It is at this point, I usually go right into my Primal Prediction - no gimmicked-envelope,

envelope routine*.

Still available at the time of writing from my website www.MentaIUnderground.com

 BA\RN
i
I

I· PART TWO
,. THE BOOK TEST CENTRE SPREAD
A volunteer is asked to confirm that the first word on the top of each page of
the book is indeed different, and that you've not had a special edition printed
with the same word over and over. This is for real.

You will then flip through the pages, she is to call stop whenever she likes and you will
have her think of the very first word at the top of that page.

This is done.

You pick up your pad, scribble on it for a moment, look at her... go to change your
mind, and then decide to stick with your gut instinct on the matter.

She calls out the word she was thinking of, it happens to be the word 'Doctors; you
turn your pad around and everyone can see you clearly wrote the word 'Doctors:

EXPLANAnON OF PART TWO

The word is forced. Ijust take a pair of scissors to a page of the book and make a short
page. I actually shorten 8 pages so that I can REALLY feel that'click'with my finger tips.
I don't want to risk missing it under performing conditions .
. .'
What is new here? Nothing, nothing at all it seems. That is until the fourth section
when I tell you what was really going on ...

. .'

36
 BAIRN

PART THREE
THE ADD A NUMBER ENDING
You have three people stand, they are to each think of a three digit number.

You pick up your pad and take a look at the first person, and then make a secret note
to yourself. Looking at the second person, you ask them to please settle on the three
digit number and not change it. You again scribble something, before moving on to
the third person who you look at and comment about it being a number that has some
small significance to them. You scribble something and then look down, you puzzle for
a moment before tearing off the sheet, screwing it up into a ball and throwing it away.

On the new sheet you write something large and then place the pad to one side.

Pointing to a fourth person, you ask how their maths skills are. However they answer
you have person number one call out their three-digit number. Let's say their reply is
·749.

You enquire with the second person as to their three digits, they say 923, looking at the
fourth person you coldly say, "749 multiplied by 923"

This gets a laugh. Believe me, it does. Ha de ha hal

And just in case it doesn't, here one for you:

RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH~
HAHAHA. HAl HAl AHHHH.
 To help them out, you hand them a calculator that you've borrowed from behind the
I· bar, from reception or wherever.

,. They mUltiply the three numbers together and come up with a total. .. they call it out
and boom it matches your prediction when you turn your pad around!

EXPLANAnON OF PART THREE

Again, nothing new method-wise here. I use a forcing calculator which will generate
the force number. These days we can use a borrowed iPhone and employ the amazing
TOXIC force. Back when I was still using this, the TOXIC thing was not around, so I
would frame the calculator as having been borrowed.

A word on borrowing the calculator, I used to be pretty paranoid about it and so would
actually borrow a calculator from the front desk or behind the bar, so if anyone did
enquire everything would match up. I don't think they ever did, but then again I have
no way of knowing.

Probably a case of running when not being chased here. I'm like that a bit.

Presentationally, I like the section of having them stand up and think of their numbers
and then apparently doing the mathematics with the numbers they are thinking of
and making that my prediction. Rather than predicting the total before they even
think of the numbers. It just seems a bit more real to me ... even though it's far from it.

.'

38
 BAIRN

PART FOUR
THE SURPRISE
only that ladies and gentlemen:' I say immediately after spinning the pad
. ".null .. to show the prediction matching the total of the numbers, "but at the
_' __ 'M'_ of the show I handed a padded envelope out to this gentleman here.
would you please open the envelope and carefully take out what you find

bring it up here, and open it. You can see there is just one £10 note in this
please take it out:'They do, and they hand the wallet back to you.

PRead our the serial number on the note please:'

He does and it matches the total of the numbers from the add a number.
ffBut that is not all. Reach inside of this pocket and you'll find a folded piece of paper.
Unfold it and read it out for everyone to hear:'

They unfold it and read out, "If all goes to plan tonight I am hoping that the number
created will match the serial number of the £ 10 note I placed in my wallet. I'm also
hoping that of all the animals in the world, someone will name a Snail. The same
person will love lunch break at school and if I'm right I'll also buy them a banana mojito
after the show. Signed Kennedy:'

A big climax to the show, and the audience is dumbfounded!

EXPLANAnON OF PART FOUR

The first part is the serial number. Well that's simple enough, the serial number is the
number you force using the calculator or TOXIC force in the first place. What I love
about that is you're setting them up for something they have no idea is even going to
happen. It's a double payoff, for absolutely no extra work what so ever.

The written prediction is really what this whole section is about, it's what I've been
leading up to and I hope that by outlining a big chunk of my act you've been able to
see the impact and surprise it gives in the end.
 BA\RN
i
I
Each of the routines I've described in this section contributes to this final surprise.
j.
Let's take things one at a time.

All of the information that is predicted, whatever you decide for that to be, is gained
in an off-hand, apparently merely presentational bit near the beginning of the show,
under the guise and another totally unrelated routine.

At no point do I allude to the fact that the information the lady is calling out might be
useful or important. In fact I really focus on the numbers.

I am of course remembering all three of her choices and repeating them over and over
in my head.

The second routine I described here, the book test, is when the dirty work actually
happens.

Inside the pad of paper you have placed the prediction, already somewhat folded,
with the blank spaces showing, where you will fill in the choices.

So to clarify, the whole prediction is written out before the show, leaving blank spaces
at the end of each line for me to fill in whatever the volunteer calls out in the lock
routine.

You are going to force the word for the book test. So my force word is 'Doctors: So on
the page in the note pad where I have placed the folded and prepared prediction, I
have already written the word Doctors nice and large.

During the book test, when it looks like I am writing down my thoughts I am actually
filling in the prediction. Once filled in, I fold the prediction one more time (it is pre-
folded so this is nice and easy) and palm it off, at the same time as turning the pad
. .' around to show the word Doctors.

The audience are amazed by the book test, and their minds are occupied so there is
no chance they suspect I'm filling in anything for later - after all they don't even know
it's coming.

Moving on to the surprise - I have the volunteer open the envelope and take out
the wallet. There is an important reason I use a wallet rather than anything else like
a prediction box, least of all being it looks like a natural normal object and not a
magician's prop.

They take it out and will almost always try and hand it to me. Why? Because it's a wallet.
And we all feel awkward handling other people's wallets. But I vocally resist saying I

40
 BAIRN
don't want to touch it and that they should open it up.

wallet I like to use is the Stealth Assassin, so when they open it they can see the
bank note straight away. I have them remove the bank note, this is apparently the
prediction, so now there is no heat on the wallet at all, so they hand it to me.

It is at this time I use the Sight Unseen facility of the wallet to load the prediction into
it from the back.

Once the serial number matches, I then direct the volunteer to take the folded paper
from inside of the wallet. She does and of course you are done.

Important things I love about this routine are that the bank note is in there. This is
crucial to me. Why? Because I don't want to have the moment of them opening the
wallet to have me ask for it so I can load the prediction. Instead, the moment they open
it they can see the bank note. Now they think that this was the only thing I want them
to focus on, the heat is totally off me.

Again, the audience and volunteer think it's allover and I surprise them again with the
written prediction.

Finally, it's a wallet. Wallets aren't famed for containing predictions and small notes of
paper of events that will come to pass. So without the bank note, the wallet makes no
sense and has no context.

Audience's minds work episodically, so they see each trick or routine as a separate
element. It is this that stops them from seeing the surprise coming, and this precise
thing that stops them suspecting the secret writing.

This is without a doubt one of my favourite pieces of routining, this and the Theo and
Cassidy Walk into A Bar In Ostin routine. I hope you enjoy it too.

The combination lock element of this is actually a version of'Nutcase' (elsewhere in this
book) that I developed for use in corporate settings, where 'Nutcase' was developed
first for my theatre show.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

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41
 BAIRN

NUTCASE (AND
THE llYESBUT
NO PRINCIPLE OF
DOOM II)
Throwing caution to the wind and embracing your ignorance, it's opening
night of your brand new show 'The Subliminalist' in a local 400-seater theatre
and for some reason the majority of your town haven't bought tickets to your
silly little mind reading show - instead they've opted for going to the pub to
watch England's first match in the World Cup.

Your skills in planning are impeccable.

Nonetheless, as the lights go down and you stand back stage you get a peek at the
audience and you're stunned to see it's sold out.

You've somehow managed to find the only 400 people in the whole of your football
crazed city who would rather watch an Albino-alike do a billet switch. Cracking good
fun!

The first act goes well. You accidentally got a standing ovation at the one routine you
shoe-horned in, because you needed an extra twelve minutes of material and it's time
for act two.

You throw a paper ball out to someone and have her stand.

She's a big bosomed 20-something year-old from Yorkshire. Her name is "Gemma':

You introduce"Gemma"to a briefcase that's sitting on the table. The briefcase is secured
with a shiny silver chain, which in turn is fastened with a sturdy-looking padlock.

"Gemma, do you have any idea what the 4-digit combination to this lock is?"
 BAIRN
i
,..
I
You're hoping this will work like a dream and she won't get it Wong. But she admits
that she hasn't a "Scooby Do" - which is northern-speak for, "No::
I· •
She joins you on stage. She's attracted to you, her eyes give her away. By that I mean,
she has eyes.

"Make it up, but just go with a single digit what do you think the last digit of this
combination lock is? It's between one and nine:'

"Eight:' comes her reply.

"Okay, now I am going to try and distract you, name some currency!"

.' . "Dollars:' is her reply. Now remember I'm in England, so Dollars not such an obvious
choice. It's not Vietnamese Dong, although if she'd blurted out"Dong"the show might
.. ' have taken a nasty turn .

. . ' "Now name the next digit ..."you almost interrupt her.

.' . "Seven:'

"Good, so something, something seven eight ... the next two are for five and six love.
And just to confirm, you are just making this up, yes?"

She agrees.

"Name an item of clothing:'

"Underpants:'

"Classy, thanks. Any particular brand you fancy?"

"Calvin Kleins:'

"That was a rhetorical question, but never mind, what's the next digit?"

"Two:'

"Okay, something, two, six, seven ... name a book:'

"Errrrr....errrrr... The Hobbit:'

.' .
"Wow, you look a lot more like a 50 Shades Of Grey girl to me ... the final digit is ... ?"

"Nine:'

"Try the combination. 9, 2, 7, 8:'

44
 BAIRN
approaches the case, dialling in the combination and then with a 'click' it pops
The audience applauds wildly.

as it dies down you pull the case free of the chains (insert metaphor as you see fit).
popping open the case, you remove, "A dollar bill! A pair of Calvin Klein underpants ...
and a book ... The Hobbit!"

Bam! A surprise that sends the audience wild!

THE TRUTH
This was the predecessor to the routining I shared in Bookend elsewhere in this book.

This piece works very well for theatre-type performances. However I wanted to create
a version that packed a similar punch but was suitable for corporate shows, and that
is what Bookend is.

What we have here is a combination (oooerrr "punny") of things going on. The first
is the lock. I bought Alan Wong's Dream Lock for this effect. This lock can be made to
unfasten on any combination.

The surprise physical prediction combined two elements I love. Firstly the unexpected
surprise the audience didn't see coming. Secondly, the fact that the prediction is not
just written, but is a set of physical items which preclude the idea that the outcome
could be altered in any way.

The secret here is a pre-show method that is pretty well hidden with subtle language.

During the interval I had my assistant, a guy called Mark Conlin head out to the theatre
bar and select someone for use in the effect.

After a little chat I introduce a number of blank business cards, each with different
things written on them.

"I want you to just cut the pile of cards and take the first three cards wherever you've
cut to. In fact, here, just say stop as I flick through the cards" - I riffle force the cards.

I then tell her that once she looks at the cards I will be attempting to confuse and make
her forget these during the show using numbers and all kinds of other psychological
strategies.
 BA\RN
During the show, I lead the audience to believe she is just making these items up, how?
Look at the subtle language. I am actually having her agree to making up the digits,
and no mention or attention is placed on the items she calls out.

The concept here is that she is agreeing to one thing, when the audience believes she
is agreeing to another entirely. That'll be the 'Yes But No Principal Of Doom' in action.

And yes, I've called it this shitty name just in case someone wants to reference it in a
future publication so I can bring the classiness of that publication down to my level. Be
thankful I didn't call it the 'Lovely Jubbly Principal' or something more crass.

By the way, the idea of getting people to agree to something else other than what the
audience believes is as old as the hills and has been used on TV for years. I didn't invent
it, but I have named it. Plus I've not seen it mentioned in print anywhere.

.' .

.' .

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSI on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

46
BAIRN

41
 B

. ==+====--=====

48
 BAIRN

FUSSY EATER
Jll've got a confession to make. I'm one of the people that not many others like,
I'm the kind of guy who everyone looks to at the dinner table, the moment the
menu is placed in my hand. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm a fussy eater.

Always have been, but I'm getting better.

But I'm a sensible fussy eater. You see, I come prepared:'

You gesture with the brown paper bag you are holding.

"I always pack a small lunch before I leave to go anYWhere, just in case I can't find
anything I'd like.

Thankfully this place is amazing, and the food is fantastic so my sandwich is going to
go stale.

Madam, I mentioned I have a sandwich in here, there are only a few sandwiches I
actually like, I said I was fussy right? I want you to work out which one I've brought
with me tonight.

Is it, Ham and Cheese, Chicken Caesar Salad, Chicken and Coleslaw, Bacon Lettuce and
Tomato or Cheese and Pickle?

I'll say them again, Ham and Cheese, Chicken Caesar Salad. Chicken and Coleslaw,
Bacon Lettuce and Tomato or Cheese and Pickle?"

She thinks for a moment before calling out "Bacon Lettuce and Tomato'; where upon
you ask her to confirm and otherwise bully her with your witty repartee before inviting
her to join you "on stage, taking this round of applause to whet your appetite':

On stage you hand her the sandwich, which is in one of those plastic packets.

"These days they print the ingredients of the sandwich on the packet, please would
you read out which sandwich this really is?"

Of course it matches.
 BA1RN
You thank her and ask her to return to her seat. As she is about to sit, you say,
"sandwiches can be a little dry on their own, I've brought a drink with me 'just in case;
I'll give you a clue - it's either Coke, Diet Coke or 7-up. Which do you think?"

Again she pauses to think, looking dreamy eyed as if thinking about a long lost lover,
before spewing out the words "Diet Coke':

You look disgusted, "what are you trying to say?"The audience laughs, mainly because
your stomach is bursting out of the front of your shirt - all of those balloons and razor
blades you've been eating have certainly taken their toll.

Then from the paper bag you take out a bottle of Diet Coke, before scrunching the
bag up - proving there were no more sandwiches and no more bottles hidden inside.

THE TRUTH
. ' 'M

.' ' . It's interesting how the strangest things will get your gears going with a new idea .
In this instance I was looking for a piece I could perform as part of an evening's
entertainment where I'd be sharing the bill with other acts.

One of the first considerations that came to mind was that I should not have any
.' ',.
setting up to do. This way there are no difficult changes, I can just wander out in front
of any old chaos and perform.

As an aside, I think being easy to work with like this is something that pays dividends
with bookers and clients.

So my mind got to thinking through an old idea I had around 18 months ago
concerning the 'packed lunch: This is what came out of this thinking, and even though
I never used this as part of the performance I intended to, it has played very nicely as a
light-hearted relief during my act.

The concept for this, and the entire first part is pretty much from something I read in
Lee Earle's Syzygy quite a long time ago now. I have to admit that I've never considered
it an 'idea for development' until I came up with the bottles idea.

On its own the bottles idea doesn't really have enough of a punch, however as a kicker
to the sandwich routine from Syzygy it really hits an audience very hard.

I won't go into too much detail about the sandwich, only to say that the story around

50
 BAIRN
a fussy eater, whilst true is also a perfect excuse for giving people a limited

only thing I will say is that the outside label of the sandwich box has a series of tick
on it, that you nail write a simple tick or cross through as the person makes their
up to the stage.

I really want to focus on is this really clever idea (I think) for the drinks. Again the
of the fussy eater fits in perfectly, as no-one need question why you are giving
limited choice of drinks.

a step back and look at how the person will remember it. They named any drink
that's what was in the bag.

But if you ask them to name any drink, you have to be able to cover a wide range of
possibilities.

The same would be said if we were to ask someone forTHEIR favourite drink. However
by making a simple presentational shift into it being a small set of the 'only drinks you
like' because you're a 'fussy eater'the restriction makes perfect sense and doesn't even
raise a question, never mind have to deal with it.

The method is simple. In the bag are the three bottles, however they are not your
normal bottle. These are three of the rubber Neilson Vanishing Bottles.

These three are standing inside of the bag, left to right Coke, Diet Coke, 7-Up. Which
ever one is named is the one you pullout. Now since they are all made of flexible
rubber, when you pick up the bag containing the other 2, you are able to ball it up just
like in a vanishing bottle magic effect.

The purpose of the sandwich is to give a reason for having such a large bag. If the bag
were to only contain a bottle, then why not have a smaller bag?

To begin the effect, I have the 3 bottles in the bag, and the sandwich behind the bag.
So when the audience believe the sandwich to be coming from inside of the bag, it is
not, instead its coming from behind it. But no one is looking for anything suspect at
this pOint.

My clever editor pointed out that you could stick a diet coke label over the top of the
Coca Cola label. If Coca Cola is named, it would be very simple to knock the label off
before removing it from the bag. This would make the crumpled ball smaller.

5'\
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51
 BAIRN

STEP UP
10pm and the whirring of the roulette table is overshadowed by the hustle
bustle of the patrons on the casino floor.

audience assembles in the show room, the room is small but it is packed at seventy

your whimsical introductory routines you approach a man seated in the second
and ask him to think of something simple he could draw if he was given just a few

he has something in mind, he's asked to join you on the stage and is handed a
pboard on which to bring his imagination to life.

ree more people are asked to stand in a row alongside 'Gary' and are each handed
their own pen and a clipboard with the same instructions.

Once all of the drawings are completed they are handed along to the lady on the end
ofthe row closest to you, Gill.

Gill is a lawyer from the city and is very well dressed. She mixes the clipboards into a
new order before placing them on to the table that is by her left side.

Standing in front of the table, you say, "As humans we have a real sense of ownership.
We even see it in children when they fight over 'my toys:

Tonight we are gOing to play with that affinity we have to our own things ... For the
purpose of this game you Gary will be Person Number 1, Heath you will be Person
Number 2, Angela you're Person Number 3 and Gill you are Person Number 4:'

You pick up the top-most of the pile of face-down clipboards. Showing it to the
audience, and not the row of volunteers. It is a detailed line drawing of a simple
wooden chair.

"This belongs to one of these four people. You four cannot see the drawing, you can't
see through these wooden clipboards and so have no idea whether this is your handy
work, or not. I am going to try and communicate both using verbal and non-verbal
language as to who's image I believe this to be.
 BAIRN
To me this is a timid person who puts on a good show of confidence. A person who is
very analytical with keen attention to detail.

To me this means Person Number 3. Would this person, Person Number 3 please step
forward and tell everyone what you drew?

A chair? Perfect!"

You turn the drawing around to show Angela, the aUdience applauds and she returns
to her seat. You pick up the next clipboard, "This time only non-verbal communication.
If this is you, please step forward for the audience to see:'

Gary, the first person in the line steps forward.

"Gary, you are Person Number 1, what did you draw?"

Sheepishly, Gary confesses, "A really bad dog"

The audience applauds wildly.

"Two of you remain. I'm going to place these two images, still face down, side by side.
Heath, come stand by my right side and just pick up either of them on instinct.

Tell everyone what you drew ...

.' . A yacht? Turn around the clipboard you freely chose ..."

It is of course his yacht!

With your hand to your temple you 'sense; "This one belongs to you Gill!': The aUdience
" . '- laughs at your bad joke.

"But you placed these face down on this table yourself and so I could not possibly
know what you drew, correct?"

Gill agrees.

You pick up one ofthe used clipboards, tear off the top (used) sheet and begin to sense
what she drew.

.' . Once you have finished, you have her pick up her clipboard from the table and show
everyone her drawing.

Upon turning yours around it is clear you correctly received her image of a candy cane!
The jackpot!

54
 BAIRN

THE TRUTH
the way this reads looks like a variation on Larry Backer's infamous 'Sneak
, the starting point was entirely different.
effect started off as a discussion with Banachek.

effect came to me in a dream. Four people standing in a row. They draw pictures.
of those pictures is chosen at random. One of the four drawers is asked to step
rd.ltturns out that the person who stepped forward was the artist of the selected

played with all kinds of methods. Some that involved instant stooging and even
",h,,'clr;'lIvforcing one of the people to stand up or step forward.

I?rr,nclti"r"n electric shock chairs. Invisible threads. PK touches.

lIy, after a lengthy conversation with Banachek we thrashed out this routine, he
has given me his blessing to share with you here now for the first time.

Each phase uses a different 'method' so this may appear lengthy and involved as there
is a lot going on but I promise you the effect it has had for me is wonderful.

For the record, I have only ever performed this around fifteen-twenty or so times
during a tour of small UK casinos. Hence the story.

To begin with the clipboards are marked so you know which one belonged to which

The first revelation is very standard and simple, however it acts as a training and
conditioning to allow success in the second phase.

The important point of the whole set up is something that the audience, and I'd
imagine as a reader here, you'd forget.

You must label them 'Person Number 1; 'Person Number 2' etc. And while you do so
you hold up the relevant number of fingers while looking right at the person.

So as you look at the first person in your row you look him right in the eye and say'You
are Person Number One' and hold up a single finger. Repeat this with each of them
with the relevant number of fingers.
 BA\RN
Now when you come to the first revelation you hold the clipboard so the audience can
see it, you hold it right above your head. While you say who it belongs to, you always
address them by number and not name, For example if the first picture happens to
belong to Person 2, you will say, "To me this means Person Number 3. Would this
person, Person Number 3 people step forward and tell everyone what you drew?

At the same time, what the audience at large does not see is that you hold up a single
finger directly behind the board. The row of volunteers can see the finger being held
up - but the audience can not.

Banachek's idea, very much worth your consideration was to hold the fingers up
behind your back. I found it easier and bolder to do it behind the natural barrier that is
the clipboard. Plus all attention is already on the clipboard so the row of participants is
much more likely to be looking at it, than at your hands behind your back. We agreed
anyway. :)

So the first drawing is matched to its owner. The owner is dismissed.

Now you will use the training you have just given your row of people. Pick up the next
drawing, let's assume it belongs to Person Number4.

Hold it up and you say, "This time only non-verbal communication. If this is you, please
step forward for the audience to see" - you now hold up the correct number of fingers,
in this example four fingers.

Due to the conditioning of the previous phase, Person Number 4 will step forward.
Voila!

I have had it happen once that the person was too drunk and wasn't paying attention.
Ah casino gigs eh?

Its a simple matter of waiting an extra beat for someone else in the line to nudge them,
which happened once. Or, what did occur another time is you can just wait a moment
and then proceed as in the previous step.

The next step is pure Banachek brilliance. In fact it sets up the next two phases so you'll
be way ahead.

You walk behind the table and pick up the two face down clipboards. You are going to
peek what is drawn on both of them in a really cool way.
..
'
In the pot you have used for the pens you have placed a convex mirror - I picked mine
up from a motor vehicle supplies shop in the UK called Halfords .
..
'

.' .

56
 BAIRN
is the perfect size to fit snugly in the pot I have, and it will swing on a pivot
you to put pens into the pot.

ng handed out the pens from the pot to the volunteers you use your finger to
the mirror in the pot around so that it is like a mirror lid.

when you pick up the two clipboards you can use this as a shiner to see exactly
is on both of these clipboards.

is done during the action of placing the two clipboards side by side.

you read the marking on the back of the clipboard to your left. Ask whichever
it belongs to to come stand by your left side. Gesturing casually, you ask him

Under these conditions I've never failed to have them pick up the left-most clipboard.

As soon as he picks it up, you ask him what he drew. He tells you and you have him turn
clipboard around.

The final clipboard that is face down, you already peeked the drawing using the pencil
pot peek mirror, so you can easily proceed to duplicate this drawing.

The reason I peek both of the images on the final two clipboards is just in case the
second last person did happen to pick up the wrong one. If that were ever to happen,
and it has not yet, as soon as they touched the clipboard, rather than asking what
they draw, I'd turn my head over to the person who's drawing it was and ask what they
drew, they'd announce it and I'd have them turn around the selected drawing. Then I'd
duplicate the second last person's drawing instead.

Thank you to Banachek for the time and inspiration to thrash this out, and of course
for the really powerful psychology in the penultimate phase to get someone to pick
their own drawing.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

S1
.' .

58
 BAIRN

ERRRM...1CAN'T
REMEMBER
Drifting in the sea of theatre-goers exiting that evening's performance of Les
Miserables you drop by The Hippodrome Casino for 'just one drink~

barely get the drink in your hand when you notice a school-friend of yours sitting
a nearby table.

After the introductions between your friends and his you're cajoled into accepting an
invitation to join them in their complimentary seats for the Midnight Cabaret in the

show starts with what can only be described as a drag-act without the jokes and

After the ordeal is over, the group start to discuss whether there is a fathomable
method for un-seeing everything they'd endured over that previous sixty minutes.

Can someone make us forget?

Surely you can mind reader guy?

Having people forget information is a popular fancy of the mentalist. The independent
works of my two friends Luke Jermay and Patrick Redford have been among the most
prevalent.

In both cases I got excited about the routines and performed them with great impact.
Even though the effect was extremely strong, it was not the one I wanted.

In the case of almost every'cause someone to forget' effect, with the exception of those
that use real psychology and hypnosis, the effect is seldom one of actually forgetting,
but usually one of mis-remembering.

Around 2008 I set about creating a routine that was 100% physical method based (Le.
not hypnosis or suggestion based) that caused people to forget. The way I defined
BA\RN
how I knew I'd be successful in this little challenge was if I could get the unprepared
participant to strain and say, "Agh I just can't remember!':

I shared my approach with Luke Jermay and was pleased to hear his excitement for
"The exact opposite of what everyone else is doing".

So let us back up a bit and go through what we see when witnessing this:

"How is your memory?"

"It's okay, I think:'

Talking to the audience you say, "On these pieces of card are various thoughts to focus
on, names, places, colours, shapes, objects, animals, minerals, f1owers ...all kinds of
things:'

On each card is a different word.

"I'm going to ask you to remember what you see on one of these cards in a few
moment's time. As we've all seen each card is unique and there are lots of words for us
to play with. So go ahead and take one of the cards"

The participant takes one of the cards from the pile.

"In a moment you are going to turn that over and I want you to stare at every element
of that card because you'll only have 45 seconds and then no matter how hard you try,
I'm going to make you forget what is written on there. GO!"

The clock starts and then you very abruptly stop him and take the card from him.

"Let me look at what you had here. Okay, there's a colour. I did say I was going to have
you forget, so I want you to try and remember the colour that was spelled out on the
card. Go:'

Now step back and watch as he searches through his mind, trying to remember. He
cannot. And eventually you can ask him, if he doesn't offer it up by himself, "Can you
remember it?" and he will, defeated, reply with "No::

THE TRUTH
The method goes back to Kenton Knepper's 'Wonder Words'. The stack of cards is made

60
 BAIRN
two sets. The first set has a single thought printed on each of them. The second
has the same thing on each, that is a list of 14-20 different things, none of which is
The second set is also cut short on al14 sides i.e. it is slightly smaller.

is an image of a card from my second set:

Take the two sets and stack them

Sentimental alternating each so you have a set 1
Junction card followed by a set 2 card, then a
Lego set 1 card and another set 2 card all
Steven the way through. I have 10 of each
Camel Statue
so you'll end up with a pile of 20
Banana Paris cards.
Canada Rose Bush
Crest Now you pretty much have a pile
Strawberry
of index Svengali cards. To show
them all as having single words on
each card hold the face of the pack toward to audience and let them fall
one at a time. Due to the Svengali (long and short) nature of the cards, only the cards
with single words on them will show.

For this routine to be effective, it's important that our participant should be seated
upstage of the performer. The performer is standing in front of the volunteer.
The reason I have them seated is because by doing so, you significantly reduce (if
not eliminate) the chance of them getting up and walking around to see what the
audience is seeing. Which would blow this particular effect out of the water.

The audience can see each of the cards and understands that there is a single word
on each card. However because of what you say, when you later show something
different to your participant, everything will still make sense for him, even though the
card he sees has many different words on it.

You say, "On these pieces of card are various thoughts to focus on; names, places,
colours, shapes, objects, animals, minerals, flowers ...all kinds of things:'

The audience, who can see the cards at this point, see that there is one of each of these
things on each of the cards.

Now take the cards face down and have the participant cut the cards to select a
random one. When he does, due to the fact the force cards are slightly smaller, the
face down card he cuts to will be one of the force cards which is filled with numerous

&'\
 BA\RN
Before he can turn it over, you say some more ambiguous, yet specific sounding things
to him:

"In a moment you are going to turn that over and I want you to stare at every element
of that card because you'll only have 45 seconds and then no matter how hard you try,
I'm going to make you forget what is written on there. GO!"

First of all you have justified why he is to spend so much time looking at this, but yoU
also put him into a blind paniC, because you start off by saying "in a moment" and then
without any count down or other clue, you say "GO!"

When the volunteer looks at that card he will try hard to remember as much as possible.
Of course he will not remember the colour, because you haven't written one on there.

When his time is up, just ask him to name the colour as per the script and watch him
try hard to recall it. Which he won't.

The effect essentially works on the fact you'll be overloading his brain with far too
much to remember.

Although I explained this with the 'colour' being the thing they forget, I only used the
colour as the forgotten item one time. Since then I've found it a lot more practical to
use the'name of a battle' as the item which they forget as it would be easier overlooked
by them, if it had been on the card in the first place.

One concern I fought with for a while was how the person appears to be reading a lot
of information on the card, while the audience believe it ought to be just the one word.

I have a couple of subtle things I do to overcome this. The first is that I place the person
as far up stage as possible, that is they are as far away from the audience as I can justify
in whatever environment I am performing. The second is I try and stand directly in
front of the person so that I obscure as many audience member's view of the person
as possible.

I rarely perform this effect, the reason being that I don't think it has a 'wow' moment, or
.' ' .. ~
a climax. It's more of a process-type routine that then leads into another effect.

." ....
. " ....
You can see performance clips, receive updates

" ....
BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,
previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

. ' ....

61
BAIRN
·
~ ',,'

....

64
 BAIRN

SENSIBLE
INFLUENCE
randomly chosen (if you like) folks stand in a row across the stage. They
from ugly to mildly attractive.

your table is one of those table-standing flip charts, four of the pages are folded
out of view.

one of the tables near the front you pick up the water pitcher and fill your glass.

all tend to think that we have five senses, right? Well there are some scientists who
we actually have ... four. Be honest, how many of you thought I was going to

see, if you've ever had a cold, you'll remember that with a blocked nose, your
sense of taste is significantly reduced, and for some people, totally vanishes. Scientists
have provided us with a lot of conjecture that the reason this does not happen 100%
time is in fact nothing to do with smell OR taste, but with memory. Those who
they do still taste 'something' may be recalling a taste from their subconscious,
rather than tasting it here and now. We are going to put this to the test, and to do that
we need four impartial people. You four look very impartial to me:'

like all four of you to close your eyes now and keep them closed. With your eyes
closed I'd like you to take a sniff, a good deep whiff of what I place under your nose.
But only when I tell you:'

Whilst saying this, the first of the folded back pages of the flip chart is flipped back
down, on it is the word 'Coca Cola:

The glass is then placed under the nose of the first person.

take a sniff of this and tell everyone which drink you'd expect to taste if you
 BA\RN
were to take a sip:'

The volunteer inhales through his nostrils and calls out 'Coca Cola:

"Interesting. Thank you. Keep your eyes closed just for the moment."

Addressing the second person in the line, "John, please do not be influenced by What
Chris here has said, take a nose-full ofTHIS drink and tell everyone what you'd expect
to taste .. :'

During which you flip the second page of the flip chart over to show the word 'Dr
Pepper: Then place the same glass under his nose. Of course he calls out'Dr Pepper:

"Please, Chris and John, would you confirm that this is absolutely what you smelled
and then tasted?"They agree.

This is repeated with the remaining two volunteers who, even though they all sniff
from the same glass, which is in sight the entire time in the performer's hand, call out
'Orange Juice' and 'Beer'.

THE TRUTH
This little piece was developed on the coach journey from our hotel to Barcelona
airport after a three day drinkathon of a stag do (bachelor party).

There is absolutely NO dual reality here. Not even a little bit. The four folks on stage are
totally unprepared, they genuinely call out what they smell in the glass that's being
held under their noses, they smell the things that you have display even before they
sniff the glass, the glass contains water that is poured from a borrowed pitcher from
any of the tables and neither the glass nor pitcher are ever switched .

. " ' .. ' - The secret is in the glass. Take any regular glass, although I'd recommend as wide a
mouth on the glass as possible .
. " ..
Now go to a local store where they sell lip balms, in the UK and USA there is one called
Claire's, and dig out four flavoured lip balms. One each with the flavour Cola, Aniseed,
," . Orange and Beer. If you cant find them in stores, have a search online. Google is your
friend.
," .
The flavours here are specifically chosen because they don't have a direct connection
," ..

66
 BAIRN
lip balms. If we'd gone for strawberry and cherry then it'd be an easy thing to
back track to those kinds of things.

the glass and although it has a round mouth (the mouth is the super technical
for the bit you put your mouth on to take a drink from), as it sits in front of you,
it has four sides. One closest to you, one opposite that furthest away from you

a small, half inch of each of the balms at the locations. For example, furthest
from you smear a little bit of Cola. Then 90 degrees clockwise at the 3 o'clock
smear a little Aniseed, at 6 o'clock the orange, and at the 9 position the beer.

take a Sharpie (or any other permanent marker) and mark the base of the glass
the 6 o'clock position.

a flip chart, I personally like the ones that are made by Postlt that stand on top of
but any will do. On the first page boldly write Beer, on the next write Orange
then Dr Pepper and on the fourth write Coca Cola. Flip all of these pages over.
there is nothing for you to remember other than to pick up the glass so that the
mark on the bottom of the glass is closest to you.

INh"">",,r possible try to borrow a pitcher of water from a table, this really sells the
that there is nothing untoward with the water. Do take care, however to pour
water into the middle of the glass and not let it touch the treated edges. This will
flavour the water and you'll be in trouble.

Have the four people on stage close their eyes, this is partly for presentation but at also
so that they don't see the smears on the rim of the glass, nor do they get their senses
confused whilst looking at the clear water.

Go to the flip chart and flip the first page back over. Since these are already in order,
there is absolutely nothing for you to remember, other than to stand directly opposite
the person who will take the sniff.

The remainder of the routine is you simply openly flipping each page of the flip chart
and subtly turning the glass around 90 degrees before each sniff. This can either be
done in your hand as you walk around, or simply by putting the glass on the table so
you can use both hands to flip the page over on the flip chart.

If at any point you get lost as to the orientation of the glass, that's not a problem (and
does happen in the heat of the moment), just pick it up and find the black marker and
re-orientate the glass to where you need it to be.

This effect is so strong because of the following elements so please do remember

&1
 BA\RN
these points when performing this:

There is no dual reality. Everyone is experiencing the same astounding effect.

The water is borrowed

The flavours are NOT typical boring balm flavours. We're using aniseed, for example, to
have one person say Dr Pepper.

Finally to clean up, I just keep the water on stage with me and drink from that glass
for the remainder of the show. At least the flavour doesn't get boring as you have 4 to
choose from throughout. :)

For another totally unrelated effect on the subject of taste and smell, check out Morgan
Strebler's 'Taste Conditions' It's more magic than mentalism but I'm sure you'll see how
it can be re-framed to be a nice follow-up to Sensible Influence.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

68
BAIRN
 .. . =~==-====
=~-====
. .. . =~-====
=~==-====
=~_=====i
. . =+==-=======
....

....
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 BAIRN

REPICTAGRAM
(AKAE,)
I sat in the local coffee shop, I'm sat by the window drinking a Cara-
Chocolate and as I'm about tuck into the slice of my favourite Lemon
IAASsc:ak,e, when a young lady asked if she could join me.

usually oblige, but she was visibly shaken and concern was clearly eating
at her.

one's eyebrows apparently means "go on .. :' because she sat herself down at the
and told me of everything she experienced the night before.

the following seven or eight minutes she described what she'd seen that previous
I was transfixed and couldn't care less if my Caramel Hot Chocolate went cold.

Mysterious Man on stage asks everyone to think of a word and focus on it in their

,"It can be any word, any word at all with five or more letters in - otherwise it's not going
to be such an impressive feat:'

The performer wanders around the audience and hands pieces of card, one to each of
six different people.

"It's important that everyone is chosen at random for this experiment. So I'll turn
as you pass those cards around the room. If a card comes to you, remember
you can pass it to your left, to your right, then the person in front of your or to a person
behind you. You can even stand up and hand it to someone else in a totally different
part of the room:'

Then when he said stop, everyone who is holding one of the six cards is to secretly
write their word on it.
 BAlRN
Once written the people were to slide their cards, face down into an envelope that he
walked around the room for them to insert their card themselves.

The envelope is held above his head and asks another member of the aUdience to
join him on stage and to take the envelope with her. In so saying, he has her take the
envelope and she makes her way to be seated on the only stool on the stage.

The young lady was now asked to open the envelope and remove the cards and look
them over.

"If any of the words happen to be the same, just discard that one and certainly don't
feel like you need to choose that one:'

She is then asked to confirm that all the words are different and "we haven't ended up
with six people all thinking about the same word?" which she agrees is the case.

"It's important that you have a choice, and more important that you make the right
choice. You see, there is one word printed very large inside of this envelope. I'm hoping
that I was able to influence one of these six people to think of the word I need in the
first instance, and now I'm hoping you pick up on that same word and you select it
from among the other five.

Of course right now you have no conscious clue as to which one it is?"

The lady agrees and then the Mystery Man walked over to a large envelope. "It was
huge. It was bigger than his head. That kind of big:' She seemed impressed.

"Okay, let's get some dramatic hype. Music please:' He called for music and there was
some. It was a low rumble, thumping, the rhythm of an increasing pulse.

"Now let's reveal your chosen word. One letter at a time. The first letter.. :'

The lady looked down at one of the cards, 'M:

And to everyone's disbelief, from the envelope he was now holding the oh so
" ',;',"
Mysterious One removed the letter'M; printed on a card, "big and bold. As bright as
day:'
." ...
The lady was asked to face away so there can be no thoughts of collusion.
" ..... '"
You look closely and see that he has hold of the next letter already, the top edge and
' .. "
corner of it are already peeking out of the top of the envelope as he asks for, "the next
letter':
.', ...

11
 BAIRN
card is pulled free of its chamber and the 'A' is seen printed on the card.

he picks up the pace and by the end he is removing the letters for us all to see
the still-turned-away lady is asked to call it out.

r:",,y\lrmf-' is looking around in utter astonishment. The word MARINE is clearly spelled

you think you've got it. There's got to be more to that big oversized envelope
meets the eye, right?

engulfthose thoughts in flames Mr Mystery hands the envelope out to an audience

" .... ~"'n"rto"keep as a souvenir, and also check there are no extra pieces of card, letters
anything extra at all!"

And there were none. I know, because he handed it to me:

first thought was it was too good to be true. And to that end I almost dismissed
the whole thing as the usual recollections of any audience member, who forgets the
important elements and unknowingly embellishes the others to amplify the mystery.

But later that night, I wondered what it would be if she had not been mistaken. What
would it have been if this account had been the exact, pure truth?

Copset Mapine
[scot1,
Remain
 BAIRN

THE TRUTH
This whole routine in its fundamental component parts breaks downinto the folloWing
steps:

Have six random thoughts written. Collect the random thoughts.

Switch the random thoughts for the ones you've pre-written (in differing hand writing
styles etc of course).

Have the person openly look over the thoughts and choose one, anyone at all with
absolutely no process.

Remove that word from the large envelope.

Hand out the envelope as a gift, because it is empty.

THE REALISATION OF
POSSIBILITIES
If you've read any of my other work, you'll know of my obsession with predictions.
Depending on the works of mine you are familiar with, you may also be aware of my
ongoing search for interesting revelations. (One of the most interesting I've come
across is that detailed in my Brainwashed manuscript).

This piece is of particular interest to me because it is born out of wanting to make the
revelation of a predicted word somewhat more interesting.

To illustrate how it came about, let me take you through the process in just the same
way that it created itself in my mind.
" ..... .
"Someone will think of a word, I'll force it or something probably but we'll deal with
.'. " that later;'this was my internal monologue, "and as the person reveals their thought-of
word "" pull each letter our of a huge envelope, one at a time.
'. " " .
"There'll be tension and drama as each letter builds the accuracy of the feat. Rather
,'. "

74
 BAIRN
the revelation of a word all happening at once, and getting just one round of
use we could get five from a five-letter word, or heck even twelve from a twelve
word. Although that might be pushing it:'

was my first thought. Simply a way to reveal something in my show. Slightly

but nothing worth getting excited about just yet.

only a moment before I stumbled across the opportunity that doing such a
affords us.

I was excited! Before we go into the details, take a look at the words below.
are the six words I switch the audience's cards for (the method for making the
will follow later in this book):

consider that the cards are never laid out in front of anyone like this, and are in a
that they leaf through one at a time. This disguises any sense of the words being
. Which they are. Very.

The idea I came up with was to have a set of words that could all be spelled out using

Yes, we are venturing into the world of Anagrams. I was reading a lot of Steward James
at the time so it was on easy connection for me.

I then spent a LOT of time researching the exact words I would use to see if I could
find some words with quite a number of letters that spelled ordinary sounding words.

The next element was to remove the idea that anagrams were in use (cover every
base), and to do that we use both sides of the large cards in the prediction envelopes.

So these words are actually two sets of words. A 'Front' set and a 'Back' set.

The 'Front' Set

Escort Corset Sector

All use the same letters. Then on the backs of these cards:

Airmen Marine Remain

However there is one more very important feature of these words, that actually
resulted in me going back to the drawing board - well the internet - to find a new set
of words. Corset, Sector, Escort, Airmen, Marine and Remain are the final set.

This additional feature I researched over a couple of days was that they should:
 BA\RN
1. All be real, ordinary words that normal people might write down.

2. Be made of as many letters as possible to make Anagrams look less

likely.

3. Be split into two sets.

4. The two sets should use some interesting and significantly appearing
letters. Many of the trial sets used too many similar letters.

Then to make things even more complicated, but to ease the performance...

S. Each one of the words should start with a different letter. I will explain the
importance of this when we come to the routine and revelation section
'The Performance Of El: Believe me, trying to do it without this is a LOT
tougher.

Together, these are the principals that make "El ':

You will also notice that there are no additional letters. However one thing I have
considered (but not performed) that you might like is using longer and shorter words,
by having punctuation on the backs of some of the letters. The lengths could vary from
dropping just one letter by adding an exclamation mark, you could drop two letters
by adding quotation marks at either end, and combine quotes with an exclamation to
dispose of three letters.

I've not used this method at all so cannot detail its operation here, but it has been part
of my considerations and so wanted to share it with you in case you take a fancy to
playing with it.

THE SET UP
Let's walk step-by step through the set-up process to get yourself ready to perform
this routine.

." .. THE CARDS

Either print the cards yourself or, like me, have them printed by a local printing
.' . .. company who can do so on some thicker card. I have mine on 3S0gsm board. This is a
nice sturdy card, and is also thick enough to block light and shadows coming through.
' ...
76
 BAIRN

mine printed inverted, that is the background is solid black and the text is
reason for this is that this configuration shows up better on stage for larger
Something I learned from Richard Osterlind as he talked about using chalk
to make revelations rather than the dry-erase board.

that, but never applied it. Until now. Thanks Richard.

cards should be printed double sided in the following pagination:

NR RIO I/C NIS EIE

It's important (I say this from my own foolish experience) that you have all of the letters
printed in UPPER CASE.

The 'Key' words are Marine and Escort. It is from those two words you will create the
others. They will be placed into the envelope so that the M is facing out closest to the
front of the envelope, and thus if you turn the envelope over, the letter E will be front-
most facing the audience. I wanted to briefly explain the orientation of the printing
to help you understand it for now, but we will go into much more detail on this later.

Once you've excitedly collected your printing take your sticky tape and use it to create
a tab on each of the cards at a different point along the top edge.

Once attached use the marker pen to write the letter that is showing but on the
opposite site.

The reason for doing it this way is because you will be looking at these 'tabs' from the
back.

Now stack the cards so that M is face up on the top of the packet, spelling Marine, with
the Efacing up on the bottom of the pile.
THE ENVELOPE
The only preparation I make to the envelope is to draw a question-mark on to the
address side.

Well in truth my ability to draw question-marks is so impairedl that I have had them
printed on to transparent adhesive and I stick a big "7" to the address side of my large
envelope.

So take your pile of cards and insert them into your envelope with the question-mark
facing you have the M for Marine facing you too.

DISPLAYING THE PREDICTION

This is something I have played with and tinkered with most of all - well almost as
much as finding the six words that would work.

My current solution is to have the prediction hanging in the middle of a washing line
that runs the width of the stage or performing area, using a miniature Bulldog Clip. For
close up placing it on the table is perfect too.

This washing line will also have five additional miniature Bulldog Clips on the line, as
you will use all six of these to clip each of the letters in your prediction.

We will get into the detail of this in the next section.

SWITCHING IN YOUR CARDS

The effect relies on the audience believing that your volunteer is choosing one
word from among six that are all created by the people in the audience. This further
dissipates any notion that the words being chosen from are special in any way, never-
mind being anagrams of two sets that each start with a different letter.

Switching things is very much a thing of personal taste, and so most will use their
own preferred method but I do want to share my preferred methods for various
circumstances.

I'd always envisioned El as a stage piece, however when I first set it up as a DIY piece
using my home-office printer I wanted to test it out on some friends.

I printed it smaller so as not to look like I was doing a stage routine at dinner. After
performing it close up like this I realised that it's fantastic routine close up too.

To the SWitch. To work most deceptively, you should be performing to a group of eight

18
 BAIRN
Of course if the group happens to be smaller, just reduce the number words

formula for calculating the number of cards to switch in is; Group Size - 2 (with a
m result of six)

should be two more people in the group than there are cards written on for two

to call on what Jack KentTiller calls The Assumption Swindle, that is that each of
people will assume that their card is the only one that did not get chosen for use
experiment, should they accidentally catch a glance at the cards once they are

set is a second card short because we don't want the person who does the
ng to have chosen a word. Primarily to cover the fact all of the written words
be switched out, and secondly to lay any thoughts of collusion aside. I.e. he will not
his own word over any of the others.

the people around the table (and the nearby tables too if that suits) take a card
write down a random word. "Please keep it clean, and it doesn't have to be an
,nr,,,,,"mrlfl word. But do make it of a good length, less than five letters is probably not

"It can be an object, a job, an animal, a piece of clothing, but it does not have to be
a noun or a 'thing; it could just as well be something like 'enroute' or 'withhold' or
something like that:'

You turn your attention to the person seated closest to you and ask that they don't
write a word as they will have a different, yet very important role to play.

Once the cards are written out, ask a person sitting on the opposite side of the table to
collect them all in. Everyone is to pass their card, carefully face down without any risk
of letting anyone, particularly you, see.

Now you walk around to the other side of the table and have him slip the collected
cards into an envelope.

Here I simply use myoid favourite, the Shaxon Flap to have the envelope containing
the written on cards, switched for an envelope containing your pre-written cards.

If you're not familiar with the Shaxon Flap an alternative is to take one envelope and
cut the flap off it. Now place your pre-written cards into the top envelope of the rest of
the pile, now add your 'Flapless' envelope on top.
 BA\RN
Now when you collect the cards in, you slide them all into the top envelope (the
'Flapless' one). Then as you walk back around to Tim take hold of the flap from the
second envelope and pull it free of the stack. This is the envelope that contains your
pre-written cards, the f1apless one that with the ones they wrote is still on top of the
pile.

Job done.

An alternative idea I had, which I've not tried at all so may not be as great in real life as
it is in my mind is this:

Set up the pile of envelopes with a different force word (from the special set of 6) in
each of the six envelopes. Then place this pile of six on to a further three or four empty
envelopes. Then place your 'Flapless' envelope on top of it all.

The procedure is very similar, take a card from a volunteer and insert it into the'Flapless'
envelope. Now grab the top flap (actually from the second envelope down in the pile)
and put it free of the pile. Hand this envelope to Tim.

Now go to the next person and do the same, insert the card into the same 'Flapless'
envelope and pull the top flap free of the pile.

At the end of this sequence the audience will believe you have placed each of the
cards into separate envelopes and handed each of them to Tim .

. ' ...... In reality you've got a 'Flapless' envelope containing six pieces of card, and Tim is
holding six envelopes, each one containing a since card, with a different force word
.' '..... on it.

The simplest way of all that I can think of achieving this is to fill one envelope with your
force words and place it face down on the bottom of the face up pile of envelopes .
.' ...
Collect the cards from the group in the top envelope of the pile and as your make your
.' ...... back way to Tim it's a simple case of turning the pile of envelopes over in your hand.

This moment is easily covered as you ask Tim to verify the fairness and begin giving
him his instructions .
. ...
"

On stage I used the envelopes for the longest time, but recently veered toward
, ~. ',,'.' using something my friend Banachek has released called the Psychic Pad Folio. This
simple but brilliantly subtle device allows you to have people place their cards on to
.'. "
a clipboard so that you never touch them, and yet switch in your pre-written cards.
,',
"
... This is my preferred way to perform this on stage at this moment.

.'. "
"
.
80
 BAIRN
A final consideration is to use Ted Lesley's Teleport Envelope. This will allow the
volunteers to place their cards into the envelope, and the last one to seal the envelope.
This person is then able to pass the envelope to Tim, who then opens it himself and the
cards have been switched. It's totally hands off, which is the gorgeous thing about it.

AND TO PERFORM
You now have almost everything you could need in terms of the 'Elements'. However
there are some performance subtleties and shortcuts that you might find useful.

In this section we'll walk through the performance step by step so you can see the way
that I do this, and can then make it work for yourself.

Before walking on you have the prediction envelope hung in the centre of your
horizontally suspended washing line. In your pocket is a stack of envelopes. The top
one is 'Flapless; the second contains 6 pieces of card, each bearing one of the six El
specific words, each in a different hand writing style.

To begin I like to ask everyone in the group to think of a word. This creates a very much
inclusive atmosphere.

Once they've been given just a moment to consider their choice of word I walk among
them and hand out six pieces of card.

I talk about how important the randomness of the words are, and so to further remove
any control I might personally have, we are going to pass the cards around, and keep
passing them until I call stop.

The energy level raises as six cards each make their way forwards, backwards, left and
right among the guests. During which I make a big deal of not looking.

Call stop and have the people who are holding the cards write their word, "big and
bold across the card. Once you're done keep the pen and place your card face down
on your lap (or on the table in front of you or whatever suits):'

Now heading into the audience collect the cards in the envelope (really they go into
the 'Flapless' one on top of the pile.

Still standing in the audience pull the flap of the second envelope (easy, as the first
one doesn't have a flap) to bring the second envelope free of the pile, continue in an
upward motion to bring the envelope above your head to keep it in sight at all times.

It's at this point you call to someone sitting near the front and ask him / her to stand.
Ask their name and hand the envelope to them and ask for a round of applause as they

&'
 BA\RN
join you on stage.

This sequence is choreographed to feel as fair as possible in the moment of action

and, most importantly, on recollection. It's a small piece of business, but the notion of
having the volunteer carry the envelope to the stage, rather than you really crushes
thoughts of the performer doing anything 'sneaky'.

On stage I have the participant take a seat. This is to make him comfortable as I want
to reduce the risk of error due to his nervousness. Being seated goes some way toward
this.

I do however keep a little distance from him, standing next to the large prediction
envelope I say, "I'm hoping that I've been able to influence at least one of these people
to think of the word that I've printed inside of here. In fact, truthfully, I'm kind of hoping
I've influenced all six of them, but if not then my next job is to subtly influence you to
pick that word:'

He is now asked to dump out all of the cards, keep them in a pile and go through them
all one at a time.

I say, "The first time through, just wonder which one you think might be in the
envelope and then ask yourself 'is that too obvious' and move on. Then once you've
been through them all, decide on one and take it out but don't let anyone see the one
you have chosen, or in fact the ones you discard:'

Then to the audience I say, "If Tim discards your card, it doesn't mean anything
personally about you. So don't worry::

Now walk away from him and to your prediction. You back is to Tim and you ask him to
stand in front of his chair once he has made his decision.

Remove the envelope from the washing line and move to the furthest stage right side
of the washing line (that is the left as the audience look at it).

Do NOT open the envelope yet. Hold it openly and fairly for all to see .
.~ "" '" ..
Now you ask Tim to reveal the word, but to make it dramatic to do so one letter at a
"",,',' time. "So please, let's see if we managed to get the first letter right...?!"

He announces the first letter. Now if the first letter is a M, A or an R (the first three letters
of the key word Marine) you continue to hold the envelope with the question-mark
. '.,',' facing out over.

If the letter is E, 5 orC (the first three letters of the keyword Escort) you very deliberately

&1
 BAIRN
turn the envelope round to display yourself opening the flap at finger-tips. Do this
with a slight sense of the melodrama and you'll be well covered.

At this point it is natural to look down into the envelope, and you do. In so doing you
can easily observe the little tape tabs you created. And since you wrote the tabs so that
the M for Marine is on the BACK of the T for Escort, you don't need to peer over the top
but to casually observe from the back as you grab that particular card and pull it out.

Now REMEMBER. I say this more to myself than to you - This is a revelation. So cue
applause. The letter is right.

While the applause dies down, it's fine to step upstage of the washing line (literally
by stepping backwards) and hang the letter on the line. This means there is no risk of
flashing the back side of the card, and there is no need for awkward movements to
cover that fact. You're already in position.

The second letter is much the same, apart from you now knowing that if the first letter
was an A, the next letter will be an I as the word can only be Airmen, due to the fact
that each of the force words starts with it's own unique letter of the alphabet.

So in the case of the second letter you can have it already between your fingers before
it is announced, which means the slickness between them announcing the letter and
you removing it are much better.

Again you clip it to the washing line as before.

Forthe third letter I reach into the envelope and pull the card up to that the black of the
card is clearly showing out of the top of the envelope before the letter is announced.
This shows a commitment and that no changing can be done.

The remaining letters I pick up considerable speed, the final two letters I actually
remove from the envelope totally before they are announced. This works well because
the on stage helper is down stage of you and is facing away.

Removing the letters and having pieces of the card showing before the letter is
announced is a vitally important element in this deception as it eliminates the idea
that different letters could be brought out in a different order to form other words. The
commitment to the letter before it is announced can be made as soon as the first letter
is known, and this is something that I feel should be taken advantage of.

There is one final piece of business to share on this, and it is a subtle throw-away line
that is just another little subtlety in throwing off any suspicions of the truth.

As the final applause dies down I say to the on stage participant, "It's a good job you
 BA\RN
didn't choose the word Mississippi isn't iU"To which they smile and agree.

Look at what is happening here: The audience are now lead to (falsely) believe that the
words on the cards were perhaps of varying lengths and maybe are distinct in the way
that Mississippi is unmistakable.

Whereas, at the same time, by hearing those same words, the volunteer is saying "Yes"
it wouldn't have been successful if one of the words had been Mississippi.

THE WASHING LINE

The washing line will not suit everyone, both in style and performing conditions.

More often than not I do work it this way, however when I get to use my own stage
set we have a magnetic strip built into it and have the cards shimmed so they adhere.

Don't add magnets to the cards, as they stick together in the envelope.

If neither of these work for you, I have on just a couple of occasions used the little
plinth along the bottom of a Flip Chart easel, and even rested them against my case
(for smaller groups where the cards didn't need to be so big).

Another recent idea from my friend Nique Tan from Singapore was to stand 2 music
stand next to each other and use them to display the letters. A brilliant idea that I am
now using.

,'~ ..... .
You can see performance clips, receive updates
...
BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,
'
" ,
previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

~. • t

84
BAIRN
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86
 BAIRN

WHO'$ GOT {HE

MON~Y1
The booker talked the big talk. It's their annual dinner. It's in a top class place.
But there is still vomit on your shoe.

Two people are fighting. Cursing, one man is on the floor taking a beating. There is
blood everywhere.

"Please get off him!"

The fight continues.

"Don't hit him with that chair!"

You can't see the guy's face for the blood.

"Please stop beating him right now, Madam!"

Cripes!

The two of them join you on stage.

"Watch your feet on the sick:'They step over the lumpy carroty bits and stand side by
side next to you.

"First of all, we're going to play with £5. I know what you are thinking, what can you
get for £57"

You look at the women, "Probably about half an hour:'

One of them takes the money, and while your back is turned they decide which one of
them will keep hold of the money.

On turning back you point out which of them you believe is holding your cash. And
you're right.

You repeat this razzing demonstration with, wait for it ... £1 O.

&1
BA\RN
You're about to do it a third time, mainly because Tarbell said something about 'the
power of 3's' with a £20 but remember you spent your last twenty on a cheese scone,
you borrow one from an audience member.

You play the game, and this time you lose. Whoops.

Later in the show you're performing an add a number and it turns out that the total
to the randomly called out numbers matches the serial number on the borrowed £20
that's been in the pocket of the lady from the beginning.

Coincidence? Pickpocketing? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. The audience are

checking out the saxophonist with the low cut top who's now playing with the band.

She's more attractive than you, and had the whole 'lips' thing going on.

THE TRUTH
The effect is one that allows a pretty good rationale and method for another. The
first was my opener, a routine where I'd guess which of two people are holding my
money, and the second was my closer where I'd be able to predict the serial number
of a borrowed bill/bank note.

I stopped performing this once the 'Who's got the money' plot became uber popular.
However, my method, although psychological, is completely different to the ones I
have read.

"People say to me, your skills are amazing, but do you ever put your money where your
mouth is?"

At this point I resist the overwhelming urge to produce cash-coloured streamers from
my mouth. That would be naughty.

"So tonight I'm going to do just that. Who'd like to play me for my money?"

This sets up the interest among the audience members. At this pOint hands shoot up.
This bit is important. You want to look for a young lady, preferably in her teens or early
twenties whose hand is NOT raised.

The perfect person will usually be dressed in an understated way, and will look really
sweet. Almost the kind of person who'd hate to be on stage.

II
 BAIRN
This is the perfect person to use for this routine. You approach her, take her by the
hand and lead her to the stage. If you've chosen the right person for this you will
feel trepidation in her as you lead toward the stage, she'll be a little resistant and be
looking back at her friends.

The second person needs to be a man of good manners. Someone who is a little bit
of a gentleman. Even though not on the surface, there is always someone there who
is perhaps politely raising their hand. Certainly you want someone who has been
attentive as this shows they have been raised to have respect.

So you now have a man and a young lady on stage. It's advantageous sometimes to
make sure the man is older than the woman. This really helps with the dynamic.

NoW you take out five pounds from your wallet.

OWe are going to playa game where you two can win my money. I am going to guess
which of you is holding the money, and if I am wrong, whoever is holding it gets to

This again pushes the 'gentleman' button in the head of the guy. The young lady feels
nervous still.

This next part is very much about character and I would say you should look within
your own character to find something that has the same result, but without being so
offensive. I get away with it, almost no one else would (you've been warned):

UFirst of all, we're going to play with £5. I know what you are thinking, what can you
get for £5:'

I look at the woman, "Probably about half an hour:'

Everyone is outraged and woman looks more uneasy than ever. The purpose of the
line is to get the woman to look more weak and the man's protective gentleman
response to be heightened.

They are both standing to my right. The woman is closest to me, and the man stands
to her right.

I take the £5 and crumple it into a ball then hand the money to the young lady and
turn my back, whilst saying:

"Now either John (the man) will take the money, or Jane will keep hold of it. Let me
know when I can turn back around"
BAlRN
At this point, due to the psychological framing and choice of the people, the young
lady will still be holding the money.

You pretend to read their body language and reveal that to be the case. Take back the
£5 and then play with £ 10.

Again hand the £10 to the young lady and turn your back.

Under these circumstances most people think that it is too obvious for the man to then
take the money. They think that is what everyone would do. So, again the young lady
will have the money.

Here is the final stage, and this is what my buddy Jeff was most excited about.

You suddenly look all super confident, even a little arrogant.

"Okay, come on then, lets play with a twenty:'

You go to your wallet. You don't have a twenty, but you do have two, tens.

"I don't have a £20 note, does anyone have one I can buy off you for two tens?"

Hands will shoot up to help out the 'performer in turmoil: You hand them the tens and
take their twenty.

In the time it takes you to move from the exchange of £20 and your tens, to getting to
the stage, you switch the £20 you borrowed for a £20 you know the serial number of.

The way I do this is;

Hold your own £20 in your left hand, all crumpled up in a little ball, take the one you
'buy'in your right hand, crumple it up and simply switch them on the way to the stage.

Now because the £5 and £10 were crumpled into balls, this makes sense. And as a
result, the condition of the original £20 and the one you switched in are identical.
There is no way of seeing any discrepancy in age or quality.

You get back to the stage, crumpled £20 in view (the audience believe it is the one you
just bought, but in reality you just switched it in).

You play the game one more time. This time just guess who has the money. You want
to aim to be wrong.

Wrong? Yes.

If you are wrong, tell the person that you will try and win it back later. They are to re-

90
 BAIRN
ke their seat and keep tight hold of the money, because it will be your job to try and
that off them when they are not looking.

verbiage results in them keeping it in sight at all times, but more importantly,
them from spending it at the bar!

are correct with your guess, simply say, "I feel a little bit bad that you kept losing,
how about you keep hold of that and I try one more time to win it at the end of the
show?"To which they will agree.

So I continue on with the show, doing all the usual things.

Then at the very end I bring out a prediction and hand it to someone. I ask members
of the audience to shout out three digit numbers and have another total them on a

The total is recorded on the flip chart then the envelope is opened. Inside the envelope
it says "Bought Money" as the prediction.

Everyone looks confused.

Then I ask the person holding the £20 that I bought of someone else, to read out the
serial number. It matches the total!

For this last phase I simply use a gaffed calculator to force the total that matches the
serial number of the £20 that I switch in right at the start of the show.

I really enjoy this because they think the effect is over and right at the start of the show
you are setting them up for something they could have absolutely no idea about.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS, on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
h. -1---------
 BAIRN

AFRAID OF DOGS
I spent a very long time trying to come up with an opener I really liked. This is
the best opener I've used and am proud to say that I am still using it. It does
take a little bit of construction, but it should be a one-time thing. That is unless
you fly a lot and airlines decide to give you a little extra prep work before some
of your gigs. Thank you Air France.

The effect is nice, simple, direct, involves the whole audience and has a nice surprise
to boot. Plus it really demonstrates you, your personality, and your skills right from the
top.

As a quick aside, my only requisites for any routine to fit into my show are 'does it
allow me to display personality?' and 'is it impossible: Displaying your personality is
something that is particularly important in the opening of your show.

There are two envelopes on stage bearing question-marks.

"One of these envelopes contains something big, and the other contains something
small. Although the biggest, it is the smallest in value - a studio photograph of me. The
smaller object is a cheque for $5,000 (I perform this mainly for American audiences).

I'd like you all to carefully decide where you think I've put the cheque. If you get it right,
you get to keep the money between you. There are around a thousand of you so that's
five bucks each ... which will get you a drink at the bar.

If you think the cheque is in this envelope to your left please applaud now:'

Some people applaud.

"And if you believe it to be in this envelope on your right please clap now:'

More people applaud.

Walking over to the 'right' envelope, that which the audience applauded most wildly
for he turns it upside down and a large photo of the mentalist drops out.

"Which means the cheque was over here the entire time:'
BAlRN
Turning it upside down too, a cheque falls out.

"I have to admit that the easiest thing to manipulate is the opinion of the crowd. Men
are easy too, but women you are much more difficult. So for the women only this time
let me mix up these two envelopes now decide where you believe the money to be:
Just before you do, in case you are the analytical type, let's just keep track of YOur
guesses ..."you say as you write the word Right on to the flip chart.

Once again, applause is asked for and a choice is made. Again the envelopes are tipped
upside down to show the mentalist managed to outsmart the women.

"To be honest the women always gets the money anyway no matter how hard we try
and keep it, so you all win in the long run!"

The mentalist makes a note of the women's choice on the flip chart directly under the
previous one.

One final time the game is played, this time with an individual.

"So far the choice has been 'right' and then 'right' again. You can continue the pattern
or change, don't let yourself be predictable:'

The man, for example, chooses to stick with 'right'.

"Interesting, not many people would have done that, but then again you are not many
people. But I did know that..:'

The right envelope is tipped up to show it contains the photo of the mentalist.

"In fact you can keep this as a souvenir of the show, well done!"

"Leaving me with my cheque safely for another night!" he says tipping it out of the
other envelope.

"Oh there is one more thing, could you go back to the microphone and read out what
has been written on the back of the picture?"

The volunteer goes to the mic and reads out, "The audience will choose the 'right'
envelope, then the women will stick with 'right' and finally the gentleman will try and
go against the grain by sticking with 'right' too. RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT"

He turns it around to show boldly written on the back the words RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT.

Everyone applauds.

94
 BAIRN

THE TRUTH
I absolutely adore this. I came up with an envelope which allows the whole thing to
happen without any funny fiddling around inside of the envelope when removing the
picture orthe cheque. In fact, you don't even go into the envelope to remove it, you tip
it up and either one will fall out, whichever one you choose.

What's more is this can be done surrounded, the back of the envelope can be shown,
there is nothing to see. Of course you'd want to be careful about exposing the back
of the photograph, so as not to spoil the surprise ending, but as far as method goes-
you're safe.

Finally, contrary to what some friends have suggested, the final prediction is not
switched in. The final prediction is written on the back of the same photo that falls out
of the envelope.

Oh, and the method is guaranteed and non-psychological at all.

Inside of both of the envelopes are 5 mini bulldog clips.

They are positioned around the edges of the envelope.

One along the bottom and then two down either side. Both
D EJ
envelopes are set up almost identically, apart from the
messages on the backs of the photos, which we will deal
with later.

El m
The grey boxes in this illustration represent the bulldog
clips. I've numbered them for reference. This is the view
from your side of the envelope (the back).
a
Remember the clips are inside the envelope and you squeeze the correct one to
release whichever item you would like to, right through the envelope.

Securing these clips was a long process of trial and error. I tried gluing them in, sewing
them in, taping them in. None of which worked. What works best for me now is to take
a thin piece of hardboard wood (which is flexible), and glue the bulldog clips to it, and
then insert it into the envelope.

I use a large padded envelope, and the photos of me are A4 size and almost fill the
envelope. This is important to give a reason for such a large envelope, when the
BA\RN
cheque is regular cheque size.

On that, it has been suggested to me to get a jumbo cheque. The reason I don't do that
is because the discrepancy in size between the cheque and the photo is another visual
confirmation to the audience at large of the difference between these two items.

Back to the set up. This goes for both envelopes. Clip the photos of you (or whatever
you will use as the Booby Prize) to clips 2,3,4 and 5. Clip the cheque into clip #1.

Throughout the first two stages of the routine you will release the picture in clip #5
when needed. The reason for this is that it is the easiest of the clips to replace the
photo in.

You always replace the cheque into clip #1.

The other three clips are only used in the final phase.

Now for the messages.

In the envelope that will be on the audience's right - we will refer to this as the right
envelope from now on. On the back of the photo placed in clip #3 you will write a
prediction to reflect the choices being Left, Right, Left. In clip #2 Right, Left Left. In #4
Left, Left, Left. And in #5 Right, Right, Left.

So here is an overview:

RIGHT ENVELOPE
#1: Cheque

#2: RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT

#3: RIGHT, LEFT, LEFT

#4: LEFT, LEFT, LEFT

#5: LEFT, LEFT, LEFT

You will notice that the last choice of everyone of these is left - that's because this
is the right envelope and we must predict the opposite as the audience is guessing
where the cheque is, not the photo with the prediction on the back.

The opposite is true of the LEFT envelope which is set up like this:

96
 BAIRN

ENVELOPE

#3: RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT

#4: RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT

#5: LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT

If the choice prior to this one was LEFT (in either case) the clip to release will be down
the left (#3 or #5 - as #1 contains the cheque) so you MOVE YOUR FINGERS TO THE LEFT.

If the very first choice was LEFT then it is the bottom of the two side clips, so you MOVE
YOUR FINGERS DOWN (to the bottom centre position #5).

However I don't like to take any chances so I write the initials of the choices on the back
of the envelopes right over each of the clips. So where you'll find clip #2 in the right
envelope I have RRL written. This just means at the all important moment of truth, I can
double check my work.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

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'11
 BAIRN

ORDERAN
AGENDER
are four chairs in a row, on each is a large plain white C4-size envelope.
On a nearby easel stands a large prediction.

There's a man dressed as Susan Boyle in the front row, but you proceed.

A lady is randomly selected using a ball and given the choice of anyone of the four
'chairs. Once she chooses a chair the chair is brought forward.

"Your choice of chair tells me a lot about how you make decisions. I have black
envelopes here, please point to the one you'd like:'

She points and is handed the envelope after an opportunity to change her mind.

"You could have chosen any chair, and any envelope. You stay in this chair.. :'You pick
up the envelope on her chair and remove a large piece of card from inside, which
boldly bears the number one (for example).

"Show everyone which envelope you have chosen ..."

The black envelope is printed with the number one on too, a perfect match!

The audience think the effect is over, but much to their disappointment, you proceed.

Three men are invited to come select any of the remaining chairs for themselves and
take a seat. During this time the order of the chairs is mixed.

The three remaining envelopes are handed to someone seated near the front for
mixing. Maybe the Susan-Boyle-alike.

Once you get them back you fan them, take them behind your back and walk along
the row of those seated on stage, asking them each to take an envelope.

Now all four people on stage have a random envelope and have sat in a random chair.
In this example let's suppose the only woman is sat in the second chair from the left
 BA\RN
as the audience see it.

You walk behind the row and take the large white envelope from behind the first man.
From inside you take out a large piece of card which has a large number two printed
on it.

Dropping the large envelope to the floor in front of the man, you place the card right
behind him on his chair. You then ask him to turn his black envelope around and show
everyone which envelope he has taken.

It bears a large number two*.

This is repeated across the row, the lady (in second chair) has a number one as
mentioned before, and the next two men have number four, then three.

They all match!

Picking up one of the large white envelopes you say, "Now perhaps I have lots of
number cards inside of each of these envelopes? That is what I'd be thinking too. Just
to make sure I went ahead and printed the numbers on the backs of these too!"

They are too shown to match the order.

"Now please would each of you open your black envelopes and take out the folded
card you have in there:'

Pointing to the first man, you ask him to read out what his card says, "I am a man:'

To the second man you ask that he do the same, "I am also a man:'

The third and final man you ask to read his out/Tonight I have come dressed as a man!"

The woman is asked to open her freely chosen envelope to read out, "Being the only
woman I will choose to sit in the second chair from the audience's left, which will be
chair number two!"

A perfect match again!

.• You continue, "I wanted to make sure you understood that I knew where you would
each sit. Please reach behind you and take the large white number card:'The men turn
theirs to reveal a 'Male' symbol** printed on blue card. And our only woman turns hers
to reveal a huge pink female symbol.
* Is it just my own 6-year-old mind who finds that phrase funny?
** I prefer to use the bathroom signs of a lady and a man, rather than the phallic symbols as they
are more universally recognised

100
 BAIRN
it's important that you chose this order.. :'you open your prediction to show a
printed number sequence of 2143!

Before you leave, you're asked to put the chairs back. You only went in for a side-table
and a fiat-pack bookshelf.

THE TRUTH
This is a routine where you get a lot of mileage from not very much at all. It plays very
strongly and leaves the audience with no doubt that you absolutely knew what would
happen in advance of each decision.

I've purposefully constructed this routine so that everything that is predicted is shown
to be so at least twice. This leaves no-one any room forthinking'maybe there is another
way he could have shown this' it la multiple outs. I want the audience to absolutely
understand it was impossible for anything else to have worked.

This is something we often overlook in mentalism. From talking with guests after
shows we know they are trying work us out, and one of the questions they often have
is 'what if they hadn't chosen that, done this or said that?:

So to that end I want to make our predictions absolutely concrete so that there is no
doubt that without our amazing skills, none of it would have worked at all.

Another problem of most chair predictions (including all of my previous ones) that I
wanted to overcome, and have done somewhat here, is that there are multiple phases
of choice, selections and 'process' and the audience is waiting, waiting and waiting
some more before a single revelation is made.

In 'Order and Agender' there is a revelation pretty early in the routine. This revelation
also acts as a scene setter for everything else that is about to come.

I think it's increasingly important for modern audiences that we 'get on with it; that we
get to a point, some point, any point - quicker. The long processes of classic mentalism
will not, for the most part, cut it in the modern world of performing. At least not in
theatre, corporate or cruise ship work that I'm familiar with anyway.

We need to make it more punchy than ever. So to that end, we should get to a nice
revelation, a moment of'wow' as quickly as possible.
 BA\RN
Let's walk through each stage of this bit by bit.

The lady is chosen at random for real. This is important as the whole thing is relYing
on her choice in the main, so the audience must know she is a randomly generated
participant making her own choices without your guidance.

Each of the chairs has a large white envelope on it. On the backs of these envelopes are
the numbers one through four. We'll come to the contents of the envelopes later, but
for the start they are placed on a chair each in the order 4321 *

When the lady points to the chair she would like, you pick up the envelope on the
chair, take a look at the number on the back of it (for example it's the number one) and
move the chair forward toward the audience and place it in position to match your
prediction. In this example with her choosing chair number one, you pick it up and
pop it down just left of centre stage (from audience perspective).

Next, we'll be having her choose a black envelope. She will have a choice of four
envelopes. We are going to do the opposite of what I used to do in my chair test
'Chairman OfThe Board' a number of years ago.

What you have, unknown to everyone, is four sets of four envelopes. One set in each of
your jacket pockets. In this case she has chosen chair number one. So I reach inside of
my inside left jacket pocket and, without showing the numbers on the front, remove
four identical envelopes. They are identical in EVERY sense. They are plain black on the
flap-side (the side you are showing them) and they all have the number one printed
on the address side (you keep this hidden) and they all contain the message'Being the
only woman, I will choose chair number one:

She is given a free choice of any of the four envelopes you are holding. Since they are
all secretly identical she can choose any and you have no work to do.

As soon as she chooses her envelope, you drop the remaining three on to your table.

Now you have a women sitting in a freely chosen chair, holding a black envelope that
matches the number of the white envelope on her chair.

"You have chosen any chair and any envelope. Let's see which envelope you have

* I have done this where I begin by having the large envelopes mixed by audience members
and then I fairly deal them on to the chairs in the order shuffled into. If the order they randomly
mix them into happens to be my 2143 order I can play up the fact that I'm dealing them fairly.
Similarly if it is my order in reverse (3412) I can deal them in the other direction across the stage.
.. This does add another randomness to the whole process that I like, but in turn adds more process
to the proceedings, and mentalism can do without adding more process to its reputation, can't it?
.' .'

102.
 BAIRN

point you are going to open the large white envelope that has been on her
ir the whole time and remove a card with the number one printed on it.

UrllAlf'velwhat the audience does not know, is that the white envelopes each contain
pieces of card. Inside of envelope #1 are two cards. On the 'front' of both of them is
bold number one. However the difference between the two cards is on the back.

the back of the card closest to the address side of the envelope is the MALE symbol.
'On the card under it, closest to the flap side, is the FEMALE symbol. (Closest to me is
Male because I am male. That's a really easy way I remember it)

There is no heat on this at all, and the audience have no idea that this gender prediction

All we need do at this point is remove the female card from the envelope, keeping the
back of it hidden and thus just revealing the number one.

Now ask her to turn around the black envelope she so fairly chose and it will be a
match.

Drop the (apparently) empty white envelope on to the floor in front of her, and stand
the card against the back of the chair, right behind her.

All of this action justifies you placing the three remaining black envelopes on your
table, perfectly. After all, you need the use of both of your hands. This is important and
we'll get to why in a moment.

Ask a man to stand and select a chair. You repeat the process of picking up the large
white envelope, looking at the number and placing the chair in the correct position to
match your prediction order (2143).

Go back to your table and pick up three envelopes. On your table you have had four
additional envelopes from the start. In number one are the words 'I am a man:' in
numbertwo:'1 am a man:in numberthree"l am also a man:'and in numberfour"l have
come dressed as a man:'

In this example, the lady took envelope number one, so from this 'Man Stack' of
envelopes pick up envelopes two, three and four. Hand these to someone near the
front to mix.

Choose two more men to come choose a seat, repeat the bold process of placing the
chair in the correct place and having them sit down.
BA\RN
Retrieve the three envelopes from the mixer. As you take them have a qUick look at
their order. You need to have them in order 243. It's highly likely they will come to
you in that order. If they do not, get them into order 243 under the guise of a casual
additional mix on your part.

With the three black envelopes now in the order 243 in your hand, fan them out the
same way you did to offer the lady the envelopes and the take them behind your back.
As they move out of sight of the audience you square them into a pile. Now behind
your back is a pile of black envelopes in the correct order.

Stand in front of the first man and, your back to him and face to the audience, hand
him the top envelope, saying, "Please just take an envelope:'

The deception here is that the audience believe he is selecting an envelope, when
really you just hand it to him.

I used to say, "Please just take an envelope. It doesn't matter which one:: However one
time in performance the person thought that since it did not matter which envelope,
he could grab one of the others that I was not offering to him. Since then, I keep it to
just, "Please take an envelope':

You move along the row of chairs, back to the on-stage volunteers, handing the men
the correct envelope.

At this point its important to re-cap in order for the men to feel that everything is fair.

"This lady had the fairest choice of aIL:' the double meaning here is to the audience
the woman had a choice of anyone offour envelopes. That is indeed the fairest choice.
To the on-stage folks, she had a genuine choice, where as the others were handed an
envelope.

Don't stop there though. Add the following to complete the illusion:

"Then the remaining envelopes were mixed up randomly by this person here in the
front row, and then the guys took an envelope each:'

"Random chairs, random envelopes and yet..:'

Now it is time to reveal the men's black and white envelopes. As before, it's important
that you reveal the contents of the large white envelope before they turn their black
envelope around. The reason for this is because the audience will focus on the thing
they see last (the Recency Effect), and we do not want them thinking too much about
the white envelopes.

104
 BAIRN
stand behind the first man. Open the white envelope, remove the card closest to
label side (with the male symbol on the back) and then have him turn his black
~n\I""lJUO:; around. Drop the white envelope on the floor in front of him on the floor and

There goes your second revelation.

NoW look at the audience as if you 'know what they're thinking' and say the bold
phrase, "Maybe I have many cards in these envelopes, each with different numbers on
them .. :'this is pure verbal misdirection. You are leading the audience into something
they probably never even considered. However, now that you've mentioned it they
will start nodding, agreeing in their minds 'yes, I was wondering that:

"I would be thinking that too, so I printed the numbers on the backs of the envelopes
themselves!"

Pick the white envelopes up and turn them over to show the corresponding number.
This is simply a case of placing the two (one male, one female) number cards inside of
an envelope and printing that same number on the outside of it.

So to set up this phase you take two cards. On both print the number one. On the back
of one print the male symbol, on the back of the other print the female symbol. Place
them both inside of a white envelope and print the number one on the address side.

Do this exact same process with the other three numbers too.

Now everything is done. You go on to have them all open their black envelopes and
read the contents. They will match their gender perfectly.

Then take each of the large white number cards (the ones from the large white
envelopes) and turn them around to show again you predicted the gender.

Then finally show your prediction to match the order 2143.

Although it is a very simple routine to perform, with no sleights or calculations along

the way, typing it out to describe the workings makes it appear significantly more
complex than it really is.

So your pre-set before the show is:

4x black envelopes with the number 1 on the outside. Containing the phrase "Being
the only woman, I will choose envelope number 1" in your left inside jacket pocket.

4x black envelopes with the number 2 on the outside. Containing the phrase "Being
 BA\RN
the only woman, I will choose envelope number 2" in your outside left jacket pocket.

4x black envelopes with the number 3 on the outside. Containing the phrase "Being
the only woman, I will choose envelope number 3" in your outside right jacket pocket.

4x black envelopes with the number 4 on the outside. Containing the phrase "Being
the only woman, I will choose envelope number 4" in your inside right jacket pocket.

4x black envelopes each printed with the numbers 1-4. In envelope #1 "I am a man': In
envelope £2 "I am a man': #3 "I am also a man" and #4 "I have come dressed as a man.
These are placed on your table.

A large white envelope with the number 1 printed boldly on the outside. Inside of
which are 2 cards. On one is the female symbol on one side, with the number 1 boldly
printed on the other side. On the other is a male symbol with the number 1 on the
other side.

A large white envelope with the number 2 printed boldly on the outside. Inside of
which are 2 cards. On one is the female symbol on one side, with the number 2 boldly
printed on the other side. On the other is a male symbol with the number 2 on the
other side.

A large white envelope with the number 3 printed boldly on the outside. Inside of
which are 2 cards. On one is the female symbol on one side, with the number 3 boldly
printed on the other side. On the other is a male symbol with the number 3 on the
other side.

A large white envelope with the number 4 printed boldly on the outside. Inside of
which are 2 cards. On one is the female symbol on one side, with the number 4 boldly
printed on the other side. On the other is a male symbol with the number 4 on the
other side.

A larger envelope containing your prediction, 2143.

I love this routine because from a small folder you can carry in your hand luggage, you
arrive at a venue, borrow some chairs and you have a large routine that lasts a good
while with multiple, increasingly impossible revelations. Oh and some built in comedy
too.

·'

·.
·.

106
 BAIRN

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
·'
 BAIRN

GAZINETEST
OF THE STARS
Ifeel like I've been doing this and teaching it to fellow performers for years. Yet
;ci,meh'DW it's not in this book yet. So I'm here at the keyboard again to fix that.

is, I came up with it by accident. Well through necessity really.

I was standing on stage in one of my early public performances, which happened to

be in a castle mid-performance of my planned magazine test and it all went ... tits up.
A technical term for that 'oh shit' moment.

THE PLAN WAS:

After a routine with a lady, send her back to her seat and use the Dunninger ploy to ask
her what star sign she was born under.

I liked the idea of using the Dunninger Ploy at the end of a routine with someone you
already have a rapport and trust with. Rather than a scared person who's about to be
put on public display. It does work a lot smoother, for me at least.

Invite another volunteer up. Open a woman's magazine to the star signs page. I'd
then planned to secretly use my nail-writer to make a cross next to the star sign of the
previous volunteer.

The next step was to hand this volunteer a pencil which I'd super-glued the end of so
it no longer writes, have her take pencil and magazine behind her back and make a
small 'x:

The pencil didn't work, so the only'x'visible was my nail written one. The fact that she'd
apparently written it behind her back explained away the nasty nail writer work.

Then reveal the star sign she'd placed her 'x' nearest was in fact that of the previous
volunteer.

Amazing!
 BA\RN

WHAT HAPPENED:
My nail writer snapped.

I went for my back up and it had fallen apart in my pocket.

I was a PPID - a Prepared Professional In Distress.

However, the way I got out of it actually created the method that I went on to Use
for every subsequent performance of this routine. What's even better is, as you can
imagine, it's totally impromptu.

Get a woman's magazine and a pen, that's all you need.

HOW I DO IT NOW:
Let's assume you know the star sign of the lady from the previous routine. I use the
Dunninger ploy of asking her for it as-if out of curiosity at the end of the previous
routine, under the applause from the audience while guiding her down the treads.

Have another person join you on stage.

I talk to her about how the research shows that, shockingly up to 70% of the readership
of women's magazines are ... ?

The audience try and call out 'men' as you're fitting them up for that ... but you reply
with "women':

This gets a small laugh.

"Which means that the remaining 30% are men, animals and other unidentified
species:'

"Do you put much faith in the stars? Star signs, for example?"

Whatever her response, just ignore it. ;)

"In a moment I want you to pop this magazine behind your back, and use this pen to
draw a little cross on the page, randomly"

It is during this moment of describing what she is to do that you actually draw a cross
right in the middle of the box that describes the star sign of the previous volunteer.

Really boldly. Right there.

110
 BAIRN
hand her the pen. No switch. And place the magazine in her hand behind her

I that's what I was wondering live on stage in that Castle that night. The answer was
actually simplicity itself.

the magazine back so that all the star signs are on one side. So when you pass it
her back, just turn the magazine over so she draws her cross, she is doing it on
the other page (the page opposite to the star signs).

When you take it back off her you bring it back around and pull all of the attention to
the page with the star signs on it.

Now, here's a subtle bit of language I use. Even though I've placed the cross right in
centre of the box for the appropriate star sign, I ask her, "It's close to a few of them,
which one would you say it's closest to?"

She is going to call out the right one, but to the audience it sounds like it might have
been on the border between two or more of them.

Now all that is left to do is reveal them.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

'\'\'\
 .. ..
..

. *

112
 BAIRN

THEOAND
CASSIDY WALK
INTO A BAR IN
OSTIN
I am exceptionally flattered that I've been asked to include this piece, by Mr
Bob Cassidy himself. Iwasn't going to, but Dr Bob can be a convincing fella.

As with almost everything I've written about (unless specifically stated) this is a real
worker for me, and I use it every cabaret and dinner party show I do. Which as I write
this is maybe 25 or so a year.

I didn't realise the power of this until a very knowledgeable mentalist came to see one
of my very few public cabaret performances and said he enjoyed the ending where'l
used the pre-show:

I laughed.

I didn't use any pre-show.

At the beginning of the show I perform Bob Cassidy's Name/Place routine. But only to
a point. I only reveal the first piece of info.

Basically the way I perform it, two people think of two separate pieces of information.
One of a Celebrity, the other of an International Location. "a country, a continent, a
town or city anywhere in the world"... are the words I say.

They write them down and a 'judge' is asked to go collect both cards, along with the
pens, "because you look like thieves".

"To make the test double safe I don't want to know which one thought I am expected
to pick up, so we're going to eliminate one of them. Mix the cards so you don't know

,\,\'.'J
BA\RN
which is which, and you cant favour one over the other. Then hand me the one you'd
like me to destroy::

He does. Now these days in most of the venues I work you can't use naked flames, so I
tear up the card - while doing an instant access centre tear. I use one taught by Richard
Busch in his book Peek Performances.

Now ask the Judge to hold the other card tight. And reveal the thought you jUst
peeked.

This is a very brief, crude summery of a masterpiece of modern mentalism. If you're not
familiar with it, check it out from Cassidy directly. I promise his materials will be among
the best you'll ever experience.

Now at this point take back the card in their hand (who's info you don't know), and
pocket it.

Perform the rest of your act.

Then at the end of the show direct attention to a large glass preserve jar that has been
standing proudly all night long. Ask someone to go fetch it from the table and bring
it centre stage.

Mention that they can see there is a card folded and suspended inside of the jar, and
they've probably been wondering what it was all night long?

Have the volunteer remove the lid of the jar, "'because I don't want to touch anything':

Hanging from the lid of the jar is a bulldog clip, inside of which is the folded card. You
pinch the bulldog clip open and allow the card to fall down, inside of the jar.

Now take the lid off the volunteer and have her reach inside the jar herself and hold
on to the card for now.

You now approach the lady whose card was eliminated at the start, whose thought
is not yet known to anyone. Hand her a pad, "You were thinking of any place on the
planet, would you please not change your mind but write big and clear what it was
you were thinking of:

To the lady on stage you ask, "would you unfold the card, and read out what I wrote
before the show ... apologies for my handwriting by the way"you grin.

"Seattle:'

"Madame, where were you thinking of?"

114
 BAIRN
She shows everyone the pad, where she has written SEATTLE big and bold!

Stop and think about this for a moment. This is insane!

What's nice is there is no pre-show, no double or secret writing from you at all, and in
fact it (almost) works itself.

The bulldog clip in the jar is an Ostin Clip. Which means it has a piece of card, identical
to that which you will hand to the volunteers later, set in it with an elastic band around
it in such a way that when the clip is opened, the card will shoot up inside of the clip -
the vanishing piece of card trick, how neat!

Hang this, with the card visible, in a large preserve or other type of clear jar.

You'll remember that at the beginning of the show, right at the end of that first Name/
Place routine you pocket the card the Judge was holding? Well that card has the place
written on it, in this example Seattle.

Point to a volunteer (anyone apart from the lady who's place you are predicting, for
reasons I'll explain in a while), and have her collect the jar, I say, "Be careful as the lid is
loose:'which is true. I've taken the spring catch off mine for ease.

As she brings it over all the focus is on her, so pop your hands in your pocket and
retrieve the card you pocketed earlier (with Seattle on it, written by the lady at the
start).

Now have the volunteer who is holding the jar remove the lid. Now in this position,
she is always away from any tables because her hands are now full. One hand holds
the jar, the other the lid. And since they are both glass you can bet she's being careful
as all heck.

My problem with the Ostin Clip was always 'what if the volunteer reaches down and
opens it?' and also, why on earth am I opening it? Usually this clever divide is worn
round the neck of a volunteer or somewhere else that is equally open to being screwed
with. This is not the case with the jar.

Their hands are full! So you reach across with your hand that is holding (not palming,
don't make this look like a flourish please) and open the clip, at the same time as
opening your hand, allowing the held-out card to drop into the jar.

Dropping the card into the jar is important because this continues the illusion that
you never touched the card, as it was always in the jar and you never put your hands
in the jar.
 BA\RN
Now all that is left to do is snatch the lid from the volunteer (also taking that naughty
Ostin Clip along with it) and having her reach inside the jar to remove the card.

When she opens it and reads the 'prediction; we'll be using a very clever idea of
Annemann's - she will be unknowingly reading the card and writing that the volunteer
wrote.

It's for this reason you never use the same woman who wrote the card to read it,
because she will surely recognise her own writing.

So there you have it. A totally free choice predicted without any secret writing, no
'.' .' assistants or expensive electronics.

•,' .' Thanks again to Bob Cassidy for encouraging me to include this, and of course for his
incredible Name/Place routine.

~" "

'-,' "

'"

'.'.,

',','

.. "
~

',','

',','

','"

.'. .
You can see performance clips, receive updates
','"

','"
BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,
previously unreleased material by visiting:
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','"

116
BAIRN
 BAIRN

CLOSEUP AND
CASUAL
Here are some of my pet close up routines. With close up I like to keep the
methods extremely simple so that I can keep the fun, humourus presentation
flowing. So you will find that I often rely on the very easiest methods to achieve
very direct direct effects.
 BAIRN

SUCKING A
SOFTY
context is everything.

So, you're in a bar. The guys are talking to a nearby table of girls. Of course it isn't long
before the ladies join you. After all, you're fascinating, aren't you?

When asked what you do, your mind flickers between brushing it off or showing them
something special. Your mind races for at least the blink of an eye lid and you decide
to do the gentlemanly thing ... and impress the pants off the chicks!

You talk about psychological studies commissioned by soft drinks companies.

They've got to spend all of our money on something, haven't they?

"One of the less boring studies showed that it's possible to predictably influence which
drink more people will buy, but that this choice can be altered by the colour of the
drinking straws offered to the customers.

Right now this might seem like a trivial thing, but imagine the impact that could have
on the drinks industry. They're banking millions of pounds on this:'

Mentioning 'millions of pounds' you remove your wallet and place it on the table.

"I don't have millions, but I do have something in here I want to show you in a minute.
Rather than all my money, let me wager my reputation on this, okay?"

"Imagine if you will, that I am holding five straws. One red, one blue, one green, one
purple and one is ... orange. Think about which one is on the counter in an imaginary
bar. But don't tell anyone, okay?

So with this in mind, imagine that colour on the bar, you walk up to the bar and look
at their range of soft drinks.

Let's imagine you can choose from Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta Orange or Sprite -
which one do you feel inclined to go with?"
BAlRN
They name Fanta Orange, for example. They could name anyone.

You comment on how interesting this choice is as you remove a bunch of 5 coloured
straws from your pocket.

"50 you've chosen to drink Fanta Orange and it felt fair. The only influencing factor
was the colour of the straw you imagined, which actually, I forgot to ask. Which colour
was it?"

"Blue:'

"Blue! Of course it was blue. If the straws on the bar are blue people do tend to buy
more Fanta Orange:'

You open your wallet and show that there is one piece of folded paper. On it is a small
print out from a computer which appears to be a cutting from a scientific report, it
reads 'yet when bartenders place blue straws at the point of sale it appears that there
is almost irrefutable proof that sales of Fanta Orange see dramatic increases:

THE TRUTH
This is a lot of fun to perform. The method has a little bit of set up, however it reads like
more trouble than it really is.

You'll need four of each coloured straw. Plus some kind of card-to-wallet or wallet with
a secret loading function.

You have four sets of coloured straws, each one contains one of each of the colours.

Each 'set' will predict a different soft drink.

You print off your predictions on small pieces of paper, roll them up into tight tubes
and then push them into the bottoms of the straws.

Place each set in a pocket upside down, so that the protruding predictions are up-
most - this stops them from falling out into your pocket - and you ending up looking
like Paris Hilton on University Challenge.

Once the drink is named, you remove that set of straws from the relevant pocket. As
you remove them your hand conceals the prediction slips.

12.2.
 BAIRN
name the colour of the straw and you place all of the others away, leaving yourself
with that one straw in your hand.

pull the prediction free from the straw and simply load it into the wallet.

An alternative to this is to reduce the number of straws required by 75%, so only 5

straws, one of each colour are required.

Of course this comes with a compromise, that is you will have to force which drink is
selected. This can easily be done with Equivoque or magician's choice.

The end effect is still very strong since the choice of straw colour is still completely
fair and without process. (Of course you'd be advised to simulate a process with this
selection so that the first Equivocal one doesn't stand out as odd or convoluted).

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B

12.4
 BAIRN

SNOrrY NOSED
The lights pulsing purple and orange to the beat of David Guetta and the
young lady opposite you sucks hard on the straw into her strawberry Mojito.

The stool she sits on makes the Sft-3 brunette, Jerry, look deceptively tall. Perception is
a skill she has mastered through the career climbing of now being a high-level public
relations manager.

"You know what really annoys me about you, Jerry?"

She chokes on her straw. Nice.

"You're one of those little bitches who everyone hates at school. (A beat) Because
you're just good at everything"

Her eyes bug out, then her head tilts. A smirk grows across her face as she finds herself
confused whether to be offended or feel complimented. Instead, she leans in, curious.

"I bet you were great at maths, and science, definitely English too. In fact if I got you to
draw something right now you'd probably hum and har over it, but eventually once
you got past your false modesty you'd draw something that at least looked like what
it was supposed to be, right?"

Her head tilts in the opposite direction. A sure sign that she is considering what you're
saying.

"But you have one down-fall. You're predictable:'

The scene is set.

"Here, at the place I was just working they had some blank card in the meeting room
and being the blatant thief I am, I picked a bunch of them up. Take one of the pieces of
card and draw something on it. Go on, be imaginative:'

You take out a bunch of blank business cards and spread them all over the table for her
to pick one to use for your little game.

As she turns her back you gather the remaining cards into a little pile and give them a
cut somewhere near the middle.

Once her drawing is complete and she confirms that she feels that she was original in
her thinking, the card with her drawing on is placed into the middle of the pile of cards
and the cards are placed on to the table.

"It's funny how you think you were super original when really, just by me saying 'you're
super predictable' actually made you even more predictable. Because most people in
this situation would think of a simple shape like a house or a tree. But..:'

You flip over the top card of the pile on the table

"... not this time. I'll draw on this card what it was I kind-of always knew you'd draw. Then
we'll see how predictable you were and whether I got it right, okay?"

You pick of the card you just took and flipped from the top of the pile, hold it in your
hand and draw something, without showing it to Jerry. She's all the more curious now.

After some dramatic pauses forthought and going back to add details (oh the tension!)
you place your card face down on the table.

"Are you ready? Maybe you need another drink?" Being the no bUlishit kind of girl she
is, she demands that you 'get on with it:

Reaching forward slowly you pick up the pile of cards, turn them over and fan through
them until you find her drawing. You smirk.

"Ha .. :'

You slam her card face up on the table.

"...so predictable!"

She springs into action to turn over your card to find that despite being beautiful and
otherwise quite perfect, her flaw really has been found.

Notes: The important thing about this effect is that in both of the methods that we'll
go into, once the volunteer's card has been returned to the packet the cards are never
shuffled or cut.

In the past I, along with other much more prolific thinkers in mentalism have published
ideas that involve cutting the cards once it is returned. For me this is a huge mistake
because it does not allow for our participant to keep track of where her card is. It could
then, for all they know be on the top of the pile.

12.6
 BAIRN
this routine (and both methods I use) the card is returned and then the pile of cards
down on the table immediately. Which allows them to see in their mind exactly
their card is. What's more, during the revelation you thumb through the cards
remove her image from that very same place.

completes what I like to call The Circle Of Deceit.

THE TRUTH
This is my preferred method of the two, and the one I have used most for that same

First of all let me just say that I am a huge fan of re-framing what would otherwise be
a mind reading effect as a prediction. I refer to it as the Post Prediction because you
make your prediction after the person has made their decision.

By this I mean in this situation you could have the person make their drawing and
then you read their mind as to what they drew. That is totally fine. However, I have
found that by changing the presentation around so that I apparently predicted what
they were going to draw, I have reduced the number of people saying 'well you must
, have somehow looked at what I wrote' down to almost zero. This is for all routines and
methods, not just this one. In fact I am almost certain that because of the conditions of
this effect I have never had anyone mention that I could have somehow taken a peek
at what they drew.

So to perform this as described you will need to gimmick one card. The bottom card
of the pile in fact. On one side of this card you will stick some of that super reflective
wrapping paper used for gifts and special occasions. Well, at least that is how I started
off and then in an art shop in Chester I found some actual mirror paper that allows for
an even more impressive reflection.

Place this 'Mirror Card' on the very bottom of the stack of cards, mirror side up-most.
This means you can openly flash the bottom of the stack because that side is exactly
the way it should be, opaque, white and boring as hell.

With this card in place, you are ready to go.

You offer your Jerry anyone of the cards and she takes one. I've never had anyone take
the bottom card. As she is making her drawing it's a simple case of taking the spread of
 BA\RN
cards and cutting the mirror card to the top. While you do this ensure you tilt the pile
toward yourself so as not to expose the reflective surface. I do this by holding the cards
in right hand Biddle position. That is between your right thumb and middle fingers,
with the bottom card facing outward, square on to the volunteer.

When she is done, have her place her card face down on the table to 'ensure none of
the ink ran through' or something (or in my case, no reason at alii just ask her to do it).

Whilst you talk, swing cut the top half of the right hand's packet into your Jeft hand,
remembering to keep it elevated to conceal the mirror card. Now move the remaining
(lower) half of the right hand's packet to the table to pick of their card by adding it to
the bottom of the pile in this hand.

Bring the entire right hand packet, now with the drawing on the face of it, up to show
the volunteer again and say something like "You think this is super original, do you?"
to which they will shrug their shoulders in hope.

Now in a continuous motion place this packet on top of those cards in your left hand.
Right on top of the mirror card. As you do so you will naturally look at where you are
placing the cards and see a reflection of the drawing in the mirror as you place the two
halves together.

Immediately and clearly place the entire packet on to the table.

As far as method goes, you are pretty much done here. However it's important that
when you take a card from the pile to write your 'prediction' on, you flip over the top
card openly to subtly say 'this is blank' - because believe it or not some people have
asked me to see that card to make sure it's not theirs. This is unequivocal proof that
; .... some people have seen far to many ambitious card routines. Now you can get on with
picking up the card and duplicating what you just peeked .
.... j.

To display her drawing, it's really nice to turn the whole pile of cards over and just
'.'
spread them. Not only does this display her image clearly, and still in the centre of the
pile of cards, but it does so whilst hiding your reflective card in plain sight (since the
. ,' reverse of it is white like the others .

~,' "

You can see performance clips, receive updates

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12.8
BAIRN
 BAIRN

NOOKEY
"Pleasure, Mr Customs Officer:' you say hoping to make it past border control
in Philadelphia. It's September, it's busy. He'll just want to get on to the next
person, right?

"Please follow me ..." he asserts, leading the way behind a blue felt screen.

It's your first time in the USA and your first time trying to get through borders and
immigration by lying. You're coming into the country to perform at a corporate dinner
the following evening but you didn't sort your visa. Now you're about to be probed by
an ex-military man who's taking a strange shine to you.

Your case lands with a thud on to the 'operating table' and the zipper, un-zipped.

"Is there anything in this case that you're going to deny knowing about once I look
through it?" Possibly the strangest question and most intimidating one, you've ever
heard.

The uniform-wearing authority seeking skinhead rifles through your case asking
"What's this?" and holding up random items of clothing, pads of paper and your laptop
before finding a deck of cards.

"What's this?"

"A deck of cards"

"Why do you have it?"

Uh oh. Deportation and Watchlist here you come. Instead of lying, You decide that a lie
based in truth is somewhat better. You're going to down play your profession.

"I'm an amateur magician, learning card tricks and things:'

He looks at you, stares you in the face with a sly smirk.

"You any good? Tell you what, show me a trick and if it's good I'll let you go:'

You're being held hostage and your only escape route is a pack of cards. Excellent.

'\~'\
 BA\RN
"Please, mix the cards, give them a shuffle until you're happy to let them go:' Yes, you're
using embedded commands because right now the stakes are high and, well why the
hell not?

He is happy and hands the cards to you.

"Okay, Sir is it okay to ask your name?"you ask ever-so nervously.

"Sure, I'm Tom:'

Another point for the persuasive process. Some rapport. You got him to step outside
of his job and become Tom.

"I'd like you to take these cards behind your back, just so that we cannot see them
and everything is fair:' More commands for his subconscious right there as you
demonstrate by turning over approximately a third of the deck and turn it face up on
top of the pack.

"Turn some over then remember this card right here"

You hand him the deck, he is now following your instructions. Look at that, you're in
control. But don't push it my friend.

You turn your back and ask him to take a look at the card that he has cut face up on to
the deck. Then to turn all the face up cards back down again. This buries his card into
some unknown location in the deck.

You ask if you are "Safe to turn around?" and Tom agrees that you are indeed.

All seems very fair indeed, yet with a quick glance through the deck you are able to
name his card in one go. Tom's face drops and you immediately compliment him on
how skilful and observant he was, after all without his amazing abilities and strong
mind you'd never have been able to do this.

THE TRUTH
I have a couple of ways of achieving this. The one I actually used in this situation I
cleverly call ...

132
 BAIRN

This method I have performed and really enjoyed. The one we'll discuss in a moment
only just came to me and I much prefer it. This method is totally impromptu, with any
deck of cards. The 2nd method is not.

What is quite nice about this routine is, well first of all let me tell you that the story is
absolutely true. Every word of that happened for real and this very routine bought me
my free passage into the USA. That coupled with some suggestions and hidden verbal
commands. And the fact he didn't find any weed in my luggage.

Secondly, what is really fascinating about this is that although it does use a key card, it
would seem impossible that this be the case.

The effect is inspired by something Paul Curry (of Out OfThis World fame) wrote about
and I thought would make for a very impressive mentalism demonstration.

The modus operandi is simplicity itself. However the staging and spectator
management is something you will need to work on.

As you demonstrate what you'd like Tom to do, you cut about one third of the deck
and turn it over on top of the rest of the face-down cards. You instruct him that he is to
remember the card that is now face up, the card that he freely cut to, and then turn all
of the face up cards back down again.

As you instruct him to turn the face up cards face down again you openly spread to
the last face up card before turning them all face down, it is this last face up card that
will be your Key.

Make eye contact with Tom and ask him if he understands. As his response leaves his
lips he will have the least amount of attention on you, so in this moment flip the top
card (the card you memorised before as your Key) and then hand him the deck behind
his back.

Now you are in a situation where Tom believes that he is holding a deck of cards, all
face down behind his back. The truth of the scenario is that all of the cards are face
down, apart from the top card, your key card.

Tom takes a bunch of cards and turns them over on top of the deck. Now after he looks
at the card he cut to (whilst your back is turned) you ask him to go through and turn all
of his cards face down again he is placing his card directly above your key card.

The rest, as they say... is 'drama:

BA\RN

METHOD TWO
The problem I have with the previous method is that it requires a lot of spectator
management so that they will not get a glimpse of the fact that the top card of the
deck is face up. It also requires that you look through the cards in order to reveal the
thought of card. In this version you do not need either of those things.

Instead, you require a 'double gimmick'That's no ordinary gimmick there son, it's
double-good. Grab hold of a double backed card that matches the declvyou're using
on both sides. Tale this double backer and shorten it. I personally just use a corner
short but I know many others prefer to cut a slither off one of the short ends of the
cards.

To begin, have the short-double-backer (SOB) on top of the deck, with all the cards
facing down.

Now have the participant cut some cards and place them face up on the other cards.
Now they note the face up card before spreading through the cards and turning all of
the face up cards back down again.

Now what is happening is something I've not come across before, that is a 'Floating
Key Card~ Since your short card is also a double backer, the participant will turn all of
the cards above it face down when they spread through. This places their selection
directly above the SOB.

Now you can locate their card by simply cutting to the card above the short card.

This method seems so classic that I would not be surprised if someone has come up
with it before somewhere, however I hope you enjoy my handling here.

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134
BAIRN
 BAIRN

ArrRAcnON
The taxi ride home is raucous and mad. Someone suggests going back to your
place to keep the party going. You think through the important things like 'did
I let the dog out' and 'have the bodies started reeking' before agreeing.

The taxi spins in the road and makes a beeline for your place. The four of you spill out
on the pavement.

After a few more hours of madness and drinking your way through a third of your
drinks cabinet the mood is subdued. Everyone is sitting around, the X-Box is playing
with itself in the background and the sun is starting to come up.

"It's a mystical time of day:' A philosophical sound emits from your mouth. Yes. You're
surprised too.

No one moves, just their eyes. And one or two eyebrows.

'~ust when the sun of a new day raises its head over the horizon, that is when strange
opportunities are at their most probable.

Take this deck of cards for example. It's not a full deck, there is one card missing. So as
I deal down through this packet, Toni you call out stop at any time that feels like the
perfect time. We're talking about opportunity here:'

You deal cards one at a time on to the table. SlOWly. Precisely.

"Stop" she calls in an almost belch-like manor. Mmmm the smell of a beer/garlic
cocktail. She's a real lady.

"Which card? The one still on the deck, or the one on the table? Which one is it? One of
them is right, the other is not"

She points to the table. At which time you pick up the tabled pile and openly and
clearly pick up that very card and place it in front of her.

"Keep the suspense. This is your opportunity:'

You bring attention to the only other thing that is on the table, besides the red stained
 BA\RN
wine glasses, An envelope. Which you turn over to show has a plastic panel window in
it, through which the back of a card can be seen.

"I said we were playing with a deck of only 51. The 52nd card has been sat here, waiting
for you"

At which point you tip out the card. Now both cards are sat overlapping each other on
the table. You tilt your head.

"Turn over the one from the envelope"They do, it's the eight of clubs.

"Now turn over your opportunity card" Mouths drop open and a euphoric bliss
descends as its the eight of spades. The perfect matching partner.

What's really nice is that at this pOint you can hand the deck outfor shuffling, inspection
and then proceed with any other effect you like. Oh and there is no palming or secret
loading of the envelope. Phew!

··
·

THE TRUTH
" .
I really love this routine because it misleads the audience on almost every level.

First of all, you are not playing with a deck of 51 cards. It is in reality a complete deck
of 52. Naughty eh?

138
 BAIRN
We'll come back to the arrangement of the deck, but first we are going to deal with the
envelope. This envelope was brought to my attention by my friend from New Zealand,
Paul Romhany.

The envelope I use is a DL size envelope, which is more than double the length of a
playing card. The window should be at one end of the envelope, which is standard
in window DL envelopes, but something that is harder to find (and in fact I make my
own) is where the DL envelope opens along the short side, not the long side. More
tricky still is to find window DLs that have the opening flap at the opposite end to the
window.

Its a simple case of making your own with some craft paper, a knife and some glue. By
simple I mean ... 1have the scars. Ask to see them when we see each other.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, the card that we see inside of the envelope never
actually leaves the envelope at all. The envelope is glued closed just inside (see the
dotted line in the illustration).

This means that when you tip the envelope up the card goes out of sight but is held
inside of the envelope by the glue that seals it inside.

In terms of construction of this, I use a cotton bud (or Q-tip) and a glue stick. Just grab
a bunch of the glue from your favourite glue stick pop it on the cotton bud and use
the cotton bud to reach inside of the envelope around half an inch, to apply the glue.

The reason for placing it a little way inside of the envelope is that when it comes to
apparently opening the envelope to tip the card out you are able to tuck the flap of
the envelope inside and you can even pop the envelope open with your fingers the
way you normally would.

Place the envelope, with the flap tucked in on to the table, window side down to start.
Mainly for dramatic reasons but also so that you don't give the game away as to where
you're headed just yet.

You could of course cloak the whole thing in tension as you say 'there is one card in this
envelope, and no matter how hard you try, you will be drawn to it; look them square in
the face and do your trademark 'Spooky Eyes'.

The deck of cards. It is a full deck and it is stacked. The stack is extremely simple. You're
going to stack them in pairs. So the ace of clubs then the ace of spades. The order of
the pairs does not matter at all, you could then go on to the seven of diamonds then
the seven of hearts. The only thing that matters for the success of this effect is that the
pairs match in colour and value. Hearts with diamonds and clubs paired with spades.
 BA\RN
You're set. Lets do this.

Remove the prepared deck from its case and talk about synchronicity, opportunity, the
apocalypse, mass genocide... or whatever makes you feel good inside.

Ask the participant you've selected for this experiment to call stop at any time as you
deal them one at a time to the table. As you're doing this all you're really doing is
counting the cards. When STOP is called you will know whether the card just dealt was
an odd or an even number. If it was an even number then it's mate is directly below
it on the dealt pile. If it is an odd number then the mate of this card is on top of the
pile still in your hand. Both situations are almost identical in handling and go totally
unappreciated by those who are watching.

Let's deal with the even number first. Say you dealt 28 cards before they said stop.
Since that is an even number you know that the card dealt to and it's matching card (in
value and colour) are on the table. You don't know what the cards are though. Which
is fine.

You table the cards you are still holding and pick up the dealt pile. Now you're ready
to proceed.

If stop is called on an odd number, then you simply pick of the dealt card and place it
back on top the pile that is still in your hand.

No matter which outcome you found yourself at, we are in the same situation. The
top card of the deck you now hold in your hand is the card stopped at, and the card
immediately below it is its matching mate.
'.

You're now going to perform something that I read in a Mick Ayres book and thought
'that will never work' but believe me I do it and it works far too well to pass it up. Just
do it.

You're going to deal a double to the table, as one card. Whaaaaat? Yes. The way I do
this is open and sneaky.

I get a break below the top two cards and say, "Look, fair as I can. Your card goes on the
table right here:'With these words falling out of my mouth I pick up the worst double
lift you've ever seen, by pinching the two cards by the inner left corner and outer right
corner between my thumb and middle finder (Biddle grip) and carefully placing it on
the table.

Since you are apparently doing this as a way of proving the test conditions of the
experiment/game, it flies by as being a justified way to handle 'this' card.

140
 BAIRN
Now the double card, which is a matching pair, is on the table. So that not too much
attention is placed on this card you immediately pick up the envelop and hold it up,
turning it so you are showing everyone the card through the window inside.

This is the perfect way to direct attention away from that tabled double because now
you're holding the 'prediction' which is where all of the heat is. Of course magicians
among the audience are expecting you to load a card or at least have one palmed.
Which you don't. Unlucky for them eh?

Now open the flap of the envelope before popping your fingers inside, then tip up
the envelope. Now the card inside slides out of view of the window in the envelope,
and simultaneously you use the flap of the envelope itself to nudge the top mate of
the double card that sits on the table. It's this combination of a card vanishing, whilst
moving and the separation of the double that makes this a very deceptive moment.

Now you are able to reveal the incredible coincidence, and then since the whole deck
is now in place, give it a quick shuffle and you can continue with any amount of further
amazing card conundrum.

CREDITS
This was inspired by Paul Romhany and his clever envelope, and Mick Ayres' routine
that uses a double card.

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BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

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•
 BAIRN

TELL THE TRUTH,

KIDDA.
The deck of cards sits oh so innocently on the table. No one has a clue what
they're about to experience. Well that was certainly the case when I introduced
this little bad-boy routine whilst dining out with some friends a few years ago.

"John, your hands look clean, give the deck a cut, take the card you cut to and
remember it. I'll turn my back, just in case:'

John took the card from the place he cut to.

"Have you done that? Now just put it back and put the part of the deck you cut off back
on top, so your card is buried once again in the middle. Then tell me when that's done
so I can turn back around?"

The instructions are simple and fair. John tells me that he has carried out his task and I
can turn back to face the table.

"Excellent. I'd like you to take the cards, give them a few cuts, some shallow, some
deep, all to your satisfaction so that I cannot estimate approximately which section of
the deck your card is hidden in:'

As he was doing this, I look around the table, engaging everyone once again with my
intense eye contact, and a little rye smile, "I am not going to find your card. Instead
you're going to tell me what it is. But not in the usual, conscious way':

Now our friends change state. From one of coherence, to a look of, "You what?!':

"Take the cards John, and I want you to look at each of the cards, just by turning each
in turn so that only you can see it. Call out the name of each card you see, BUT when
you come to your card I want you to name another card. You're going to lie right to my
face. Actually, not to my face at all. You're going to lie to me, right behind my back. I
won't be facing you. I'm going to turn around.

So please, call out the cards as you see them before placing each one face down on
BA\RN
the table. When you get to your card call out something different. I'll try and detect
your deceit. Okay?"

John sits up straight, readying himself for the challenge.

He calls out a card, and another, and continues. Then he says "Six of clubs:'you say, "No
it's not is it? That's a lie. That's your card. I won't turn around. I know that's not the six of
clubs, in reality it's the nine of diamonds, is that right?"

He slams the rest of the deck on the table, defeated.

THE TRUTH
What I really love about this demonstration is that it catches most of my peer
performers totally unaware and leaves them just as clueless as the uninitiated public.

I got to wondering why that is and I suppose it's probably because they are looking for
a method, when there isn't one. There are two.

The two problems we have for ourselves are knowing when the wrong card is being
called and being able to stop the procedure at that exact moment, and then still
without turning around being able to name the true identity of that card.

You'll be using a marked deck. That's the first thing. You'll then take this marked deck
and stack it in your favourite stack, but with one important difference, you'll stack it in
reversed order.

I like the Osterlind Breakthrough Card System, so instead of having the cards follow on
from one another from the top of the face down deck toward the bottom - I stack the
order from the face of the face up deck toward to top.

In performance, the deck is on the table. You have your friend cut the deck and using
the markings of the cards you can identify which card he has cut to. Excellent. However,
in addition to that you can use the fact that the deck is stacked to calculate which card
is directly above their card. This is all you need to know.

For example, if I spy the card that is cut to, to be the 9 of diamonds, I know that the card
immediately above it (since the deck is stacked in reverse) is the nine of clubs.

In the case of Si-Stebbins, you'd peek the 9 of diamonds and know the card above it is

144
 BAIRN
the queen of clubs.

As soon as you have read the markings on the back of the card that our friendly
volunteer has cut to you turn your back. At this point have him pick up the card and
remember it before replacing it and re-assembling the deck.

You can have him cut the deck as much as he likes at this point, it doesn't effect
anything at all.

Again with your back turned, John calls out the cards on at a time. All truthfully. All we
need to do is listen out for the card that we calculated is above the selection (the next
one in our stack), wait until the next card is dealt and at that time we can state that
whatever he just called out was in fact not honest.

It is important at this point to resist the temptation to turn around and see his reaction
or claim our glory. Staying turned away we can then go on to name the real identity of
the card, which is the one we read the markings of earlier.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
 BAIRN

MIN URN
"The secret that your traditional magician won't tell you is that he's not playing
fair. He's usually got the deck set up to do his trick, so here: take the cards and
give them a good shuffle, mix them up so there in an unrecognisable order:'

The volunteer takes the card and since you're holding a Colt Magnum to her head,
does what you've said. (Magnum not necessary but if you want to hold an ice cream to
her temple you're welcome).

"The second thing they'll make you believe is that they're only using one pack of cards.
That's a lie too:'

You jiggle a second deck of identical cards at them, and grin a toothy grin.

"Now you'd take a card and the magician would find it. Well, instead I'm going to take a
card, in secret and turn it around in my packet so it's facing the wrong way:'

You take the cards below the table and you turn a card over, sight unseen by the
audience.

"Notice I do it below the table, where all of the secret stuff always goes on. Tell me,
have you ever wondered what it would be like to stand in someone else's shoes just
for a day, an hour or even a minute?

It's something a lot of us humans do. And right now you're going to get a chance to
do just that.

Keep hold of your cards and I'll keep hold of mine, please let's switch seats:'

You both walk around the table and swap chairs.

"Now you're sitting where I sat just a moment ago, imagine you are me. Think of a card,
then take the cards under the table and remove that card.

Now turn that card around in the pack so that it faces the wrong way.

Now put the cards back ... oh actually at this point I actually gave the cards another mix
so you'd better do that too. And now you can place them back in their box:'
 BA\RN
Your instructions are carried out and you offer guidance along the way should it be
required.

"Okay, so let's see how we did, let's swap packets so neither of us can cheat:'

You take her packet and she takes yours.

"Please tell everyone which card you reversed in this deck... ?"

You again jiggle the cards you are holding, her deck.

"The nine of diamonds:'

"Really? Let's make sure you didn't misremember.. :'

You say as you go through her deck, fanning until one face down card comes into view,
it is the nine of diamonds.

"This is crazy, please open up my deck and go through it:'

She goes through your deck herself until one card is seen face down.

"Please don't look at it just yet, just pop it on the table right in front of you. Now if you'd
got the colour correct that would be a pretty good hit. If you got the suit right, that
.' would be amazing. And of course if you get the number right, without the colour that
would be extremely improbable and to be honest I'd be impressed.

Let's look at how close you got?"

They turn the card over and it is the EXACT same card, the nine of diamonds.

THE TRUTH
You will notice that this routine uses a persuasive confusion pattern by totally changing
tack part way through. One moment it's about magicians and how they cheat and
then we are on a journey about sitting in someone else's place, seeing the world from
their point of view.

Readers with a psychological background will understand the multitudes of reasons

148
 BAIRN
to do this and why it's so effective. We'll not go into these here, but if you want to use
it in performance this is an example of how I do it.

The method came about from a billet routine I've been performing in my show that
was inspired by Annemann. I really like the idea of having someone read one person's
selection as if it were your prediction.

For this routine you will be using a special deck and a totally regular deck. You will be
using an Invisible Deck (as they're called these days), but in a very different way.

To begin, hand the regular deck to the volunteer and have the cards mixed. This
mixing and shuffling early on really sets the stage for the entire effect and allows them
to remember handling the cards and nothing being awkward about them. This is the
point that the magicians all harped on about and found to be a major stumbling block
for reconstructing any method.

Now introduce the identically packaged invisible deck. Take the invisible deck below
the table and pantomime removing a card and turning it around. Place the deck back
in it's box and hold the box in your left hand while you gesture with your right (if you're
left handed do the opposite).

Now go along with the theatrics of exchanging seating positions. As well as looking
nice and adding a more kinetic aesthetic element to the routine, also provides another
tripping point for would-be back-trackers.

Have your guest think of a card, the one she thinks you've reversed in your deck (again
point at your deck still in your hand), and then mimic your actions of taking them
under the table and reversing it.

It's imperative at this point you have them shuffle their cards again in order to eradicate
any discrepancies later.

Once done, they are to place their deck back into its case. It's now the only'move'ifyou
want to call it that, takes place.

You are going to swap decks with your participant, but in doing do you will perform
the Extra Sensory Switch, a creation of Bob Cassidy's that means that you end up
handing them back their same deck whilst it looks as if you handed them your deck.

It's basically a move where you un-switch a switch

Now the situation is one where you are still holding the Invisible Deck, and they are
again holding the deck they had to being with. Only they believe you've swapped
packs of cards.
 BA\RN
Now when you have the volunteer name the card out loud, pop open your invisible
deck in the correct orientation and make it so that card is the reversed one - remember
that this is NOT the revelation, it is merely confirmation of what they said. Be sure to
practice averting your 'tada' voice or as I call it 'your revelation face' because yOU are
apparently holding the deck which they reversed the thought of card in. There is no
mystery there.

Now you build up the chances in your favourite way, and then have them open up the
. deck they are holding and of course that same card is reversed. THIS is the-moment to
do your big rising voice bit.

Since you had the volunteer shuffle the cards after they've reversed it, the position of
the reversed card doesn't come into play in it's position in the invisible deck, nor the
miraculous fact that you apparently placed it in the same position in your deck. Having
her shuffle her deck under the table before boxing it up eliminates both of these loose
ends.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS, on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

150
BAIRN
 BAIRN

THE ONE SHORT

WAY TO PLAY
FAIR
You're sat with friends in the departure lounge of the airport, it's Sam and you
each have a beer in your hand. It IS beer o'clock somewhere after all, right?

Taking out a deck of cards you ask someone how well versed they are in intuition
and 'sensing: They look at you like you've had too many of those beers already so you
proceed to explain.

"Like for example, if someone was to say from this deck of cards, how far down is the ... 1
dunno, nine of clubs would you know?"

Your friend acknowledges that no, they probably wouldn't. You shuffle the cards and
then blurt out "Twelve:' Dealing a card at a time, you turn over the twelfth card and
voila, it is actually the nine of clubs.

"Now it's your turn. If someone said ...Three of diamonds, would you know?"

You cut the deck in half and riffle shuffle the two halves together.

"Go on, have a guess:'

"Twenty-two"

"Go ahead, count them down:'

They count the cards down one at a time, turning over the twenty-second card
themselves it IS the three of diamonds.

The only problem is, you were so engrossed that you all missed your flight. So you
decide to all leave and go to a naked hot tub party instead. Every cloud has a silver
lining.
 BAlRN

THE TRUTH
This is probably my favourite card mentalism routine in this book. Yay cards! My only
wish is that you got to see this before you read it. But here you go anyway.

What I want to share with you here is not a routine or original effect, but rather a
convincer I've used to throw intelligent people off the track with a standard method.

However if I just come out and say it I'm unsure if the power of this simple ruse will be
properly understood. So indulge me in a description of a routine, and trust me that at
the end there is something new going on here.

You will need a one-way forcing deck, in the example above it is of the three of
diamonds. You'll also need three other cards. One of these cards is placed on the
bottom of the deck - as usual. The next one is placed twelfth from the top for you to
predict later. You still have another indifferent card and this is what I'm getting to.

Take one of your force cards - three of diamonds and cut it short. Then place it into the
middle of the deck. Right above it, place the other indifferent card.

The routine now goes like this:

You false overhand shuffle the deck (or do a false Zarrow type thing, or whatever) so
when you say nine of clubs, you know you can count down to the twelfth position and
it will be there. You placed it there, that's fine.

The bottom card of the deck is allowed to be flashed to imply that all of the cards are
NOT the three of diamonds. The fact you do this bit with the nine of clubs helps sell
this fact immensely too. However there is one more sell, and that's what I want to share
with you.

When you come to shuffle the deck the second time, just before the volunteer names
the position they believe the force card (3 of diamonds) is at - you cut the cards above
the short card.

Now once you have table riffle shuffled them together you are able to pick them up
just before you push the two halves together and apparently display the interlacing
of the cards, in fact subtly flashing the bottoms of both halves, which because you cut
above the short force card, will both show indifferent ones, the illusion is sold all the
·.' ~
more.

, .,~

154
 BAIRN
Like I said to begin with, it's a small piece of business but it will keep the smarty-pants
off your back a little longer.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
156
 BAIRN

KNOWLEDGE
You're in the back of a London taxi, the Cabbie has never heard of you but
laughs anyway, you insist that you're a big deal. You desperately plead to per-
form a card trick. If Britain's Got Talent taught you anything, it's that pleading
really works.

A deck of cards is introduced. The performer holds them up with the face card of the
pack facing a lady. As he riffles down the right edge of the pack she calls stop freely at
any time. The performer, with his head turned away prises open the deck at the point
she called for him to stop flicking through the cards, to allow her to note the card
stopped on.

If I'm correct here, you've just had a momentary blip as you read that last paragraph,
you thought the taxi driver was a man, didn't you? You bloody sexist mentalist!

This is where the effect would normally end. Well, almost. Usually the mentalist would
look into her eyes and divine the card.

But instead he talks about 'instinct: Cabbies love instinct. Don't we all, its only natural
after all.

The lady is handed the cards and asked to deal them into two piles. Meanwhile the
performer either holds her gaze, or looks away. In either case, he is not looking at the
deck.

The cards are now in two face down piles on the table. The performer pushes one half
of the cards to one side, in so doing he says, "It's not here".

She is now directed to dot he same thing again. Picking up the pile that remains, she
deals them into two piles.

"Why the two piles, you may ask?"

"Instinct is a spiritual thing. And although I'm not usually a spiritual being, I am not
an idiot. I can see that life is split into two halves. Day, night. Life, death. And every
decision that we make, yes or no. So throughout life, to get where we want to be we
have to forsake one path to pursue another."
 BA\RN
By the time the performer has finished talking about these decisions the cards are now
in two new piles.

''I'm saying yes to this one, and therefore no to that one':

The 'no' pile is added to the previously discarded pile.

This continues until one card remains. The participant announces her card out loud
and then turns the card over herself, where she is left staring face to face with that
same card.

THE TRUTH
This is all about your ability to know much more about a situation that you appear to,
and specifically gleaning the maximum amount of information from just one'moment:

The moment we're talking about is a single peek of a playing card. But what is much
more interesting, at least to me, is where this peeked information takes us.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you a story.

I came up with this on 2nd of February while sitting about in my dressing room back
stage. There was something like thirty minutes until show time, and I was toying with
a deck of cards, and in particular wondering about a good way of revealing a card that
had been peeked.

My mind turned to wonder how much we could know about a card and its position
just by having peeked it.

. While you read the description of the effect below, please bear in mind that we are
not employing the use of a memorised deck, the cards are not marked in any way and
there is no equivocation. You just have the knowledge.

The Method for this does read somewhat complicated. However if you follow along
you will see that it is extremely logical and you can literally work this out as you go
along.

There are three parts of this.

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 BAIRN

THE STACK
THE PEEK
THE DEALING
Adding a stack to a peek allows us to know more about the card than merely its
identity. I particularly love that we are adding in a method that would otherwise seem
totally illogical. After all, why would anyone need to stack a deck if they were going to
just peek that card?

This is probably why the location of the card has thrown so many very smart people
for a loop.

The stack is a full deck stack and it is as follows:

The suits rotate in spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds order.

(Easy to remember of course because spades as one point at the top, heart has two
humps on the top, clubs is a three hump symbol and diamonds have four points).

The deck is stacked so that the top four cards of the face down deck are the four kings
in SHeD suit order, followed by the four queens, then the four jacks, four tens, etc in
descending order, so that you end up with the ace of diamonds on the face of the deck.

This simple stack may not be spread, however the routine really does not call for such
a display.

The first thing to do is have a card noted by a participant and then for you to peek that
card.

You can use any method you particularly like, I use the one described by Richard Busch
in Peek Performances.

I will assume we are now at the point where you know the card they have looked at.

We are now going to use this crude stack to divine its location.

Hand the cards to the participant, I do this the moment I have done my sneaky work to
peek their card. I want the cards out of my hands as quickly as possible.

You now have her deal the cards into two piles, starting to her left (your right if you're
 BA\RN
sitting opposite each other). If she is sitting next to me, I'll have her start dealing to the
right - that way I don't need to change my thinking on the fly, and there's less chance
of me getting confused.

I will address the remainder of this from your point of view. The first card was dealt to
YOUR right.

You have two piles in front of you now. The left pile is all of the red cards. The pile on
your right is all of the black cards.

You know which card she thought of, so you simply discard the opposite pile.
, .....,
The second time, so long as she deals to your right first, the orientation will be that the
Hearts/Clubs will be on the left and the Diamonds/Spades will be on your right.

The third time the even cards are on your left and the off cards are all in the pile on
your right.

At this point you'll have a pile of cards that you know are of the same suit and are all
either odd or even, the same as the thought-of card.

The pile is now down to five or six cards (Five cards if theirs was an odd value and six
of it was an even value.)

All you need to do now is remember that the pile is now stacked with the lowest card
on top and the highest value on the bottom. So as you deal the two new piles you can
simply keep track of exactly where there card is .
.......
This is the only point at which you actually need to think, but it's very simple to just
..... " think through the names of the cards as you deal the two piles and then eliminate all
of the cards but one. The thought-of card.
,' ....,
Here is a table to outline the piles again, for reference:

Deal right first, then left.

·,;."'l

LEFTPILE RIGHT PILE

Red Black
......' .. Hearts Diamond
Clubs Spades
Even Odd
.. ;

,.' .,

160
 BAIRN
If you are nervous about not 'knowing' your progress as you proceed through
eliminating one of the piles, you can subtly mark the cards. I have done this when
performing for fellow mentalists and magicians, only because I know that if something
is going to go wrong, then it's sod's law that it'll happen while trying to impress my
peers.

The marking system I use is just to colour the centre of the red cards in with red pen
(on a red Bicycle deck) and then to colour in the corner of the floral pattern of all the
odd cards (making them 'odd').

This has given me more confidence in performing this, for sure. But it is totally
unnecessary. You could also simply use a marked deck such as the Ted Lesley Marked
Deck or the wonderful Boris Wild Ultimate Marked Deck. Both are great, and will work
wonderfully to indicate you are headed along the correct path.

The important thing though is that you are not looking at the cards as they are dealt,
so even if they are marked, you didn't see the back of every card so could not know
where their particular card lies.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
 BAIRN

SLAPPER
The girl standing at the cocktail table with you might have a low-cut top and a
skirt shorter than Hitler's temper, but that doesn't mean she's easy.

Every time the music from the band gets loud and she mouths the words 'I want to
screw you' - THAT's what means she's easy.

But, as you want to impress her and you left your personality to be used as a bookmark
somewhere near the start of chapter three of 13 Steps - you promptly take out a deck
of cards.

After slipping the cards free of their case you casually shuffle them, over-hand style.

She's really checking you out now.

Now to really spice things up you place the cards on the table, not face down but ...
face up. A brilliant demonstration of higher value if ever there was one.

"Ahahculllahhjjjuutaaacaaa ..."you say before you interrupts with,

"WHAT?? I CAN'T HEAR YOU, THE MUSIC IS LOUD:'

You speak louder, saying, "As I cut cards in small packets, please just think of any card
that you see':

She nods. She's keen.

You take a small packet of cards from the face of the face up deck and place it on the
table, face up, then another which you place face up on top of the previous pile. You
continue until who-knows-how-many small piles of cards have been slapped on to the
table, and the deck is exhausted*.

"Have you thought of one?"

She comments that she has.

Now you look at her.

* Being slapped about like this is tiring for even the healthiest of decks.
 BAlRN
It's a Red card ...

A Heart ...

. .. Or A Diamond

It's odd in value .

.... ,... It's the three of diamonds.

She is amazed.

THE TRUTH
All that is required is something you always carry with you on a date. A fishing rod.

Because this, of course, uses fishing.

This is not new. However, what I have accidentally stumbled upon is something that I
feel disarms the fishing.

First of all, decide upon your fishing sequence for 5 cards. This is pretty simple. I use:

A picture card: (Jack of hearts)

....,.
Two other red cards of opposite suits: (Three of diamonds and nine of hearts)
; • ,J '. ~

Two black cards of opposite suits: (Four of clubs nine of spades)

.",,'
You can do whatever else you prefer, this is just what I am using. We are not, however
....... discussing fishing methods here. There are many around, some clumsier than others.

Instead, what we have here is a presentation that puts the idea of you fishing to the
back of the participant's mind. That is the fact they believe that the cards are being
...... randomly cut to.

And if they are randomly cut to, and they are seeing random cards then you could not
possibly be fishing.

What's more, you could (although I don't) do this while looking away.

When playing with fishing and the camouflage of such naughtiness, I tried disguising

164
 BAIRN
it using clever verbiage like anyone else would.

Then I started to think about how to remove the idea of fishing even more, using good
old presentation.

If you deal five cards to the table and have someone think of anyone of them, only to
go on to fish for which one, they will sense something ... shall we say 'fishy'?

Why is this? I propose it's because the cards look contrived. They look specially selected
so that you are able to do whatever it is you need to do.

So what if this was not the case?

This presentation for having a card thought of looks like the cards are totally random.

Further more, because they only get to see one card at a time, the wiser ones will have
more trouble in remembering that only one card is a picture card, only one was low
value and a red ... etc.

TO CONSTRUCT
You'll require some glue for this.

Take the deck and diVide it into six piles. On the face of each pile is one of your fishing
cards.

Now you're going to glue these little piles of cards together, so you end up with six
piles of cards. On the face of the sixth pile, stick an indifferent card (mine is a picture
card, just to add variety).

I place a two inch straight line of glue right down the centre of the card. Hold the
card portrait, and starting half an inch from the top of the card. This means you will
have cards glued together that have some realistic movement and flexibility along
the edges.

With them glued, stack these little glued packets together into one deck.

You will find you can causally overhand shuffle these piles face down as you chat.

Now turn them face up, hold them in left hand dealing grip, or place them on the table
(I do both, and have no preference). Now all you need to do is grab the top card of the
pile, which will bring the rest of its pile along too, and slap it to the table.

There is a slight strangeness to the handling as you are picking up and gripping the
top card, yet other cards come with it, so to overcome this, place all attention on the
BA\RN
cards as they are placed on the pile on the table, rather than at the pile you are dealing
from.

Repeat this until all six piles have been dropped on the table, then pick them up and
place them in their case.

You've apparently just randomly cut through the face up deck and had the onlookers
commit one of the cards to memory. In reality you have cut exactly to the cards you
desire for your pumping or fishing sequence.

Now all that needs to be done is to have them focus on a card, and then use your
fishing sequence to determine that card.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS, on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

166
BAIRN
 BAIRN

STRAIGHT FROM
THE NOTEBOOK
This section is made up of a few things that didn't really fit with the others.
Including routines that I used to do a long time ago and had almost forgotten
about, as well as subtleties, stories and other pieces that are straight from my
note book. The idea is that the ideas in this section stimulate your own ideas,
rather than being complete ideas themselves.
 BAIRN

THELADYWHO
ALMOST MADE
ME FAINT, WHO
THEN BOUGHT
MEA DRINK
The hair on my arms is standing on end, matching my hair, as I type this.

I'm performing an intimate parlour show at a large old English hall called Otterburn
Hall. It's summer and, for a change it's hot.

I've opened my show, I've got the audience in the palm of my hand and we are having
a great time.

It's time for my book test routine. At the time I was breaking in a new piece using the
'Mother Of All Book tests' from Ted Karmilovich.

I hand out the book. I made some passing comment to cover the time it takes her to
handle the book.

I ask her to think of a page number, and turn to that page in the book.

Now to think of a long interesting word that she can visualise.

She squints and confirms that she has one in mind.

I stare at her a while before gabbing my pad and pen. I scribble something on the pad
and ask her to announce the word she is thinking of.

"Bartender" comes the reply.

BA\RN
I turn the pad round to show her that I wrote the word Bartender.

The audience applauds. However as I look at the woman she seems deeply worried.

She sits. And even though seated, she continues to have a look of concern on her face
throughout the remainder of the show.

The show finishes, a brass band plays and a trapeze artist flips overhead. I leave the
stage and make for the bar.

At the bar the lady from the book test approaches me with her husband. She's late
thirties.

"I have to tell you, you were amazing:' comes the compliment, "I was so worried that
I'd messed it up for you:'

Tilting my head, I'm curious as to what she'll say next.

"You see, I don't have my spectacles and so I couldn't read the words on the page. So
I didn't think of a word from the page, I just thought of any word in my head. And you
still got it:'

My legs went weak beneath me. My throat went desert-dry, and I tried to maintain my
composure.

After a moment of staring, I managed to blurt out, "Yes, well so long as you're focused
I can usually get what I need to receive the word:'... 1think that's what I said anyway. I
can hardly remember.

So here I am brushing it off to be Business As Usual after a miracle has just happened.
And I couldn't tell her just HOW impressive it was.

I've not been able to share this amazing event with anyone yet, because they wouldn't
appreciate how amazing it was, hence I wanted to share it with you.

HOW CRAZY IS THATrn

What I did learn that day, is that experience there is how it should really look and feel
to others. Since them I'm chasing that response in all of my pieces.

172.
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FOCUSED
OPENER
You're booked to perform after dinner for around 350 people in the corporate
function room of a hotel. Snazzy. You'll be putting on your best fitting suit for
this one.

The typical set up is that there are 35 large circular tables, with 10 people seated
around each. On the stage are a drum-kit, some mic stands, a couple of guitars and
some fold-back monitor speakers.

So you're working the dance floor. Grim.

Listening to the legends of mentalism, the opening of the show should involve as
many people as possible. So we open by having everyone stand up and think of some
statistically likely thoughts such as a tree, a square and a lion. Then comes the problem.

"If you managed to receive anyone of these thoughts, please sit down"

The majority start to sit. But that's not all they do. They're so amazed and excited (and
sometimes surprised) that so many of their friends got it too, that the chatter starts to
erupt.

This is the problem that passed me by for so long. You've lost focus. And suddenly
you're transformed from the all knowing master mentalist, into a shooshing school
mistress.

You've successfully taken the focused attention that the Me worked so hard to get for
you, and stuck a fork in it. Ouch!
BA\RN

THE TRUTH
Since my first performance back in 2002 I've opened my shows the same way. Even
though I've always had a lot of success in my performances, as we grow things that
once held little importance, become strikingly obvious. Let me describe a typical
scenario and see if you've shared in any of this before (and then we'll get into how I've
changed this and made a massive improvement to my opener, which of course effects
the entire performance.)

So with this frustration having eaten away at me for ten years I set to work on how it
could be overcome, yet still have such great appeal.

Having been introduced you bound on stage emanating radiant energy that swells
right to the farthest seat.

"We're going to choose some people at random for our first game tonight. Whoever
catches this paper ball on the third throw, it's going to be you':

The paper ball is tossed into the audience (I use a ball made from a sheet of flip chart
paper as it makes it a much larger, less feeble looking thing than one made from
standard A4) and thrown about three times, per your instructions.

During this time you have picked up your pad and hold it under your arm. I'm using a
spiral bound A3 artist's pad. This is not essential, however your pad should be identical
on both sides so that the audience will be unaware whether you're opening the front
of the pad or the back. (One of my favourite principals ever right there by the way!).

When the ball is caught by the third person, have them stand and ask them their name.
It has nothing to do with the effect, but it's polite. Smile :)

I next ask them a question, and the way I do this is important as I've found it increases
accuracy and creates urgency without looking like you're rushing the volunteer;

"Carol, it's lovely to meet you. I have something for you up here:'

You tap the pad that's under your arm.

"Please would you call out the name of a simple ... colour?"

You burst the word 'colour' out quite sharply but this long 'thinking pause' allows you
to take your time with the preceding instructions.

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Whatever her response reply, "absolutely perfect! Please join me up here, a round of
peer pressure for Carol please!" The audience applauds - which is great to have so
early on in your presentation, not only for the guests to enjoy the applause but for the
booker to hear.

Once on stage with you, ask 'Carol' if she had a free choice of any colour at all, which
she will of course agree to. Should 'Carol' have said 'Blue' you flip open your pad and
show your amazing skills of influence. Should she have said 'Red; have her open up the
paper ball that she is still holding to show the words 'RED' written big and bold.

You take the ball of paper off'Carol' and pop it in your case, or some convenient place.
Now give her some instructions for your next routine.

But it's not over yet. You need a second person. Here comes the fun part. You toss out
the ball of paper again ...this time you want the closest man (this is just for visual variety
so ifthe person who is on stage with you now is a man however, you might like to ask
for the closest woman, just for visual variety).

The person who catches the ball on the third throw again is asked to stand. You, still
with your pad under your arm tap your pad as you say, "We have a different game we
are going to play with you when you get up here.

"But to make sure you're right for this, imagine if you would that you look out of the
window, name something you see .. :'

Again congratulate him and ask him to join you on stage. He might have said either
Car or Tree. There are a few different ways you can take this which depend on both
what he said (Car or Tree), and what the previous lady said (Red or Blue). Here are the
permutations:

Red /Car Tonight is all about perception. You might be thinking I threw
out the same paper ball as I did for Carol, that's not true. I
misdirected your minds so that you'd think of Car, please open
up the ball of paper in your hand sir.

Red /Tree Carol named Red (you hold up the paper ball before placing it in
your case), and I said we had something for you here (tap your
pad again) and we do. You open your pad to the second side, to
show the word "Tree"

Blue/Car Carol named Blue, but you sir are the one holding the paper ball,
please unfold it and show everyone what is printed on it! When
he does, it has the word Car printed boldly.
BA\RN
Blue I Tree Carol named Blue, and just like there are two sides to every
story, there are two sides to this pad. You saw anything outside
anything at all, and named a TREE! (open the pad to the back) ,

This is a multiple outs routine constructed so that the audience is only ever aware of
those things that they should be made aware of. I've made it really simple for me to
remember where each out is too, the three letter words (car and red) are on the paper
balls, and the four letter words (tree and blue) are in the pad.

Let's tie up some loose ends. If any of the people involved miss the words~altogether,
i.e. they don't go for red, blue, car or tree you dismiss the response as far less important
and continue with the next effect.

What about the fact you've now drawn attention to the pad twice, but if Red and Car
are named you've not used it at all? Well, that's where act structure comes into play,
and I use the pad to reveal thoughts in the next routine. So everything makes sense.

What we now have is a great use of extremely direct mentalism, an all encompassing
opener that involves the audience in feeling involved through the tossing of the paper
balls, and a selection process that is not idol, but an effect itself. Oh and you don't lose
the attention of the audience with their chatter, like I did in the good old days.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSI on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

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SEANCEFROM
THE PAST
Although they're big and strong, the two rugby-players seated around the
table are about to have the scare of their life. They have no idea, but you're
armed and ready for a night of spectacular spiritualism.

Everyone has gathered at Jo's dorm for the freak (that's you by the way, that's what
they call you behind your back) to do his 'thing:

"The spirits;' and with those opening words, the girls take their eyes off the muscles
bulging around the table and are pinned to you, "can communicate with us in our
world through the medium of the Ouija::

One of the guys tries to correct your pronunciation, you throw goat's blood in his face
and he melts into a pUlp.

No one else messes with you for the rest of the night.

After some more build up, talk and ritual stuff around the spirit world, you show a
pile of blank cards (I was using plain white business card stock that I could get at the
stationary shop where I lived), on one side of which you have written the letters of the
alphabet, you spread through them causally as you talk about these being prepared
by people for centuries, for hosting seances "like this one':

The girls' eyes dart around the room at each other. Then at the door. The door is closed.
It's bolted.

Turning the pile of cards down, you deal them into a circle on the polished wooden
table, avoiding the stains of a semester-long addiction Chicken Tikka Masala.

Ritualistically, and with your best serious face, you place an upturned wine glass in the
middle. Have the folks around the table place their fingers on the glass. Somehow the
mood goes from 'bullshit' to a little bit scared.

All you can hear is breathing and then suddenly the glass begins to move. Around and

'&'
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around and then it touches one of the cards.

You collect the card that was 'touched by the spirits' in your left hand.

After a number of the cards have been selected by the'glass'you hand them to one of
the guests, requesting they turn them over.

The letters spell out the name of one of your guests.

The girls become your slaves and the one surviving jock turns into an Dverweight
female singer and is doomed to record James Bond theme songs for all eternity.

THE TRUTH
What a strange title. The reason for the title is that I had totally forgotten about this
seance piece that I used to perform. That was until I was watching a John Denver
tribute act this evening, and it popped back into my head (John Denver = Seance,
please forward your psycho-analysis to me at the usual address).

In case you don't know my story, when I was sixteen I learned to hypnotise people, and
because I was a twisted little shit, I was less interested in making people pretend to be
Elvis Presley, and found more fun in scaring the living hell out of people.

So coupled this new-found skill in hypnotism, with my long-running interest in

spiritualism (I'd been reading the tarot since I was fourteen, and been interested in the
weird for as long as I could remember even then). Particularly, in seances.

Of course there is a switch ofthe letters, but it's a little more secret and subtle than that.
The main reason being that back then I didn't have the confidence or the experience
to employ a more 'sleighty' method. However, if you don't want to get caught, this is a
cracking modus operandi for just that.

To begin, you have a pile of cards, there are actually 51 cards in your hand, only half of
them are dealt into the circle.

It all starts with the choice of the name. The important thing is a short name with no
repeat letters - or else the circle becomes too big. Often it's possible to do it with the
name of someone present, but when it's not the effect is still strong - the fact that the
random cards perfectly spell a name is quite startling.

182.
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Let's say we are going to work with the name Chloe. An interesting name that is not
too simple, with no repeating letters.

Make 26 cards, each bearing a letter of the alphabet. Take out the letters of your force
name (Chloe) and place them on top of the pile of alphabet cards. So now from the
top of your pile down, you have C, H, L, 0, E, followed by the remaining letters of the
alphabet, mixed into a random order.

Take the remaining 25 cards and write the first letter of the name, (C) on all of them.
Place this pile of C cards on top of CHLOE.

So your final set up is 26 C cards, the letters H,L,O,E, and ten the rest of the alphabet in
a random shuffled order. Now you're ready to do it.

Flip the pile face up. Casually fan through the letter cards as you explain what they are.
You are showing all different, randomly mixed letters ofthe alphabet.

Flip the pile face down and deal 26 face-down cards into a circle. These will be 26 face-
down C cards (or whichever is the first letter of the force name).

Hold the rest of the cards in Biddle grip in your right hand.

Do the usual stuff to get the ideomotor response of the group working to move the
glass. When a card is landed on, have it placed on your left hand in dealing position (for
Christ's sake don't refer to it as that though!).

Once enough cards have been chosen to leave just one more letter remaining you will
execute the switch. This is what is key to this effect. The switch happens before the
final choice (I'm even more pleased with this now I think than I was then!).

So in this case, when four cards have been placed face down in my left hand I am going
to do the switch. Some mentalist's ignorance here, I have no idea if this is an official
switch, its very bold and simple and it goes like this.

Throughout the effect I've held a break with my thumb under the top 4 cards of the
right hand packet (the H,L,O,E cards}. I bring my left hand under the right hand's packet
and take its cards, adding them on to the face of the right hand's pile, and in a smooth,
constant movement move my right hand away picking up the four cards at the break,
leaving the random alphabet cards behind in my left hand.

The situation is now that my left hand are the random alphabet cards with the 4
selected C cards on the face.

In my right hand, still in Biddle grip are the H,L,O and E cards that were previously on
BA\RN
the top of the packet.

I place the H,L,O and E cards on to the table.

During all of this, which in real-time take a moment, everyone's attention and focus is
on the glass moving around the table. Whichever card the glass lands on you leave the
glass on and scoop up the rest of the face down circle of cards.

Now have someone else pick up the glass and turn over the card. It's a C. Have them
turn the top card of the pile of switched in (they believe selected) cards, to show an H.

One of the (many) things I can't be sure of on trying to recollect this, is whether the
name is spelt forwards like I've described, with the first letter being under the glass at
the end, or if it was in fact backwards, leaving that letter under the glass until the very
end.

In my mind this latter idea is stronger as it means the 'spirit' would have spelt the
name forwards, rather than backwards and also allows the dramatic tension of that
letter being turned over last - not to mention the time misdirection from you having
scooped up all the other letters. If I was to do it again now, I'd do it in reverse with the
fore cards being the last letter, rather than the first.

Something that has struck me now too is that if you wanted to turn this into more of a
prediction-style routine, something I've not seen done before that would be very nice
for this particular routine would be to place a small ball of paper under the upturned
glass, on which you could predict the name. This is more of an effect than a seance
piece but its strength is very much in the fact that the prediction is very much out
of your control, is absolutely the centre of attention at all times, and yet no funny-
business is done with it - again misdirecting away from the letter packet-switch.

The one thing that strikes me as so very strong with this effect is the final letter. This
final letter really sells the fact that there could not have been a switch.

This is something I've not thought about for years, never mind used for a long time,
and it really doesn't fit my style right now but I hope that it is of use to someone
reading this. I'm sure you can appreciate the startling effect it has.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
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184
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DINOSAUR
SUBTLETY
I love a good pterodactyl of a morning. Lightly salted with brioche. But the
crowd don't care. They're busy wondering how you managed to predict which
one of them will get divorced first, and now await your next miracle.

You hand out a book. It's amazing. It's page after bound page of words collected
in numerical order, the words weave a wonderful story about a bartender who
works in a drugstore, and his addiction to watching videocassettes of jackhammer
documentaries. It's a real tear-jerker. Handkerchief included.

You hand the book to a man nearby, his name is Riggs.

Me: Please tell everyone how many pages are in the book?

Riggs: 422

Me: Great, 422 you say. Look right at me. I know it's painful but I was born this
way - saying that I always feel like Lady Gaga.

I stretch my right hand out in front of himself, toward the volunteer.

Me: Anyway... in your mind please think of any number between 1 and 422.
Now. Do you have one?

Riggs: Yes.

Me: And you feel like you could have thought of anyone?

Riggs: Errr...yes.

Me: You could have even thought of number 1, or 25, 99 ... but you didn't. Let's
not say which number it is you thought of and spoil it, but you thought of
a 3-digit number didn't you?

Riggs: (Smiling) Yes!

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Me: Turn to that page and think of the first word on that page. Now it's time for
your revenge.

The performer pauses for a feeling of the macabre to descend.

Me: Please hand this book to someone else. Someone you find mildly attractive

Everyone laughs, but eventually, they do so.

Me: I'd like you to think of a different number between 1 and 422. Do you have
one? Brilliant. Again you could have thought of any page number, however
you thought of a 2-digit number didn't you?

The person bursts into laughter, nodding their head in agreement. He then proceeds
to read one of their minds as to which word they were thinking of.

Me: Now how does this work? Well first of all men and women read pages
differently so I needed to ensure that you would be of the opposite gender.
Which I did by saying "someone you find mildly attractive':

Now I have you both thinking of different pages I control you both under
pressure because men tend to skim-read in what is known as the 'E'
formation ...along the top, a little in the middle and along the bottom, and
women read in an 'F' formation, along the top a little in the middle and
then down the left side.

So using that knowledge and fact you were both under pressure I can
make it look like I'm reading you mind. So if all things have worked out,
you are thinking of the word, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

The performer reveals the thought-of word.

If you present a book or magazine routine here's a lovely little bit of business that really
'proves'the psychological mind-games that are taking place.

I'm massively guilty of overlooking the subtle bits and 'minor effects' that create the
big effect in the end. Banachek's books 'Psychological Subtleties' are full of these gems
and I'm sure all of our performances will be a helluva lot more convincing and strong if
we include more of these kinds of things in the processes of our effects.

This is one of those psychological 'bits'that has elevated the way I do my book routine
from being 'perhaps psychological' into being credible.

As you can see there are a few things going on here. This scripting allows you to give

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a very insightful faux explanation of how you achieve your miracles. First of all let me
just admit that the 'E' and 'F' formation are based on truth but for the most part totally
fictional, especially in this context. It does sound really neat though.

This wording about the "mildly attractive" genuinely does almost guarantee they hand
itto someone of the opposite sex.

Finally, and the big one is the numbers. The first person under the guidance to think
of any number between 1 and 422 (or any large 3-digit number) will generally think
of a three digit number. However if you expose this fact out loud, the second person
will try and go against that and almost always go with a 2-digit number. Both of these
minor revelations act as 'proof of your powers:

Not a complete routine, I know, but something I hope you can use in what you're
already performing.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
 BAIRN

THOUGHTS AND
SUBTLETIES ON
ADD A NUMBER
Lying in a bathtub of vanilla ice cream, you realise you're missing raspberry
sauce, so turning to the man next to you, you ask him to think of a four-digit
number and scribble it on to a pad of paper, then hand it to two more people
to do the same.

A fourth person is asked to total the numbers while doing an impression of a saxophone
doing the sax solo from Baker Street.

He does a good job, and the total he comes to is found predicted in Hundreds and
Thousands/Sprinkles on the surface of the bath.

I've been closing my show with a large prediction that is based on the Add A Number
effect - three people think of numbers, write them on a pad, the total of the numbers
matches your prediction. That old chestnut.

When I first started out using the add a number I was excited because I knew my big
finale finish to the show was going to get great reactions. And it did.

Then I took some old wisdom and sat around listening to people de-constructing
what they had seen, only to be horrified that they thought the numbers totalled to
match my prediction, were not the ones written by the volunteers.

Gosh!

They were on to me.

So what follows is my thought process and some ideas I've created that throw people
off the track. This is for you if you're currently performing such a routine, are considering
it, or in fact are afraid to for this very reason.
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The problem with the standard add a number, as is described in so many places, is
that there is no what Cassidy would call, 'Logical Disconnect' from the actual method.

That is, there is nothing there saying 'I am not switching the numbers; rather, magicians
and mentalists have just relied on hoping the audience won't think of that.

Unlucky. They do. They have. And they're after our blood.

Here are some solutions I've not only created but have performed. I'll explain what I
am doing now too, in a bit. It is one (if not a combo) of some of these.

IDEA.#1
ADDANEIN
(The German reference in the title is just for my giggles).

It would look like this if three people were to write numbers:

Person 1 writes their number

You hand the pad to person 2

Person 2 writes their number

You hand the pad to person 3

Person 3 writes their number and immediately totals the numbers.

What I've done here is move the switch. Let's imagine we are using a simple pad that
we turn over and open at the other side which has our numbers written on that total
our desired outcome.

Usually the switch occurs after person number 3 writes their numbers, and while you
hand the pad to a fourth person to total the numbers.

I got to thinking, 'what if the third person adds their number to the total:That would
seem a lot more real. After all, why would you have a further (fourth) person in play just
to total the numbers? Aren't we saying to person #3, 'You look far too bloody stupid to
be trusted with simple addition!'.

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To describe my method, let's assume the people are writing four-digit numbers, and
our total is a five-digit number. The target is 13,876 - for example.

On my switched-in side I'd pre-write the four-digit number 3877 (I'll explain why this
number in just a moment, it will change depending on your target total that you'd like
to predict).

Now with this preparation, the order of events is:

You open your pad to the non prepared side - which is a blank page. You ask the first
person to focus on a four-digit number and write it down.

You ask a second person to do the same thing, think of a four-digit number and write
them down directly under the previous person's number. Have them close the pad and
hand it back to you.

Ask for a third volunteer, before you approach him ask him to think of a four-digit
number that is important to him.

On your way to the stage you have the sound engineer mute your mic and use the
Dunninger Ploy, which is ever so popular among us modern mentalists. That is, under
the cover of the audience's applause ask him what four-digit number he is thinking of.

You are now in a situation where you, unknown to the audience at large, know this
third gentleman's four-digit number.

Once at the stage you open up the pad to the 'switched in' side - the side with your
already written four-digit number (in our example it is 3877).

Turn to the gentleman and ask him not to change his mind as in a second you will ask
him to note down his four-digits under these other two and then do something else.

During this patter, I boldly write a second four-digit number right above the one I've
pre-written. The number I write ... well before I tell you what it is, let's do an example.

Let's say that on his way to the stage, our gentleman friend tells me his number is 3817.

I open the pad to the switched-in side. As I chat to him about not changing his mind
and what he is to do next, I write 6182 above the number I've previously written.

Why do I do this? In case you've not noticed yet this number I write is his number
(3817) subtracted from 9999.9999-3817=6182

This is easy to do as you just minus 9 off each of the individual digits.
 BA\RN
The reason I put this number above my previous number is pure paranoia on my part.
I want to create as much obscuration of the fact this number and his number total the
magic 9999.

This is done bold as brass, as if I am just gesturing and describing what it is he is to do.
For those of you who know about my magazine test with the star signs*, this thinking
grew out of that.

So now our person number 3 can write in his number and then immediately total the
." numbers and will reach our predicted total! "

.' For clarity's sake I want to just describe how to make this work for any total. Even a
2-digit number (which for reasons I'll describe later I recommend against).

If you're using 3 digit numbers, for example all you need do is take 9999 (three digit
numbers logically generate a 4-digit total, 5 digit numbers a 6 digit total etc etc) from
your desired total, and whatever that outcome is, that will be your pre-written number
on the switch-in side of your pad.

IDEA #2
FINALE 165
On watching back some DVDs of my friend, comedy magician John Archer it struck
me that the old 165 force could also be used in the add a number. In fact, any force of
another number could be added in at the final stage to achieve an additional layer of
deception.

My thinking was that we'd get the total arrived to on the switching pad, and write it
on the flip chart (or wherever), and then add more numbers to it publicly, in front of
everyone so they can all see the math(s) going on.

This would make it appear a lot more fair, and I'd think that later some people might
recall it as every number having been added up publicly like this.

The example I used was just before the final revelation, as the final routine I had three

* see Magazine Test OfThe Stars in this book

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people come join me on stage. I'd hand each of them three number cards.

"Each card bears a different digit between one and nine:'We'd then eliminate one of
these people and their cards would be discarded and not used in the following game.

The other two people are asked to callout their single digits, person A is asked whether
he'd like his digits to be the 'tens' or'units' of the numbers we are about to create.

He freely chooses.

He calls out anyone of his digits and hands the card over to me, for example it's a three.
He's decided he wants to be in the units column so under the current total we have
written on the flip chart I write his 'three' under the final digit.

Now I'd ask the other guy to call out anyone of his digits. He says 'three'

"So we have 63:'

We repeat it. The first guy calls out '1' and the second one '15: So we get 15. And write
this number right below the other two-digit number.

They have one card left each. The numbers give us, for example 87.

These numbers are factored into the total and this total matches your prediction.

This is simplicity as this age-old process guarantees the numbers created will total the
number 165. So all we need do is make the numbers in our switched-in side of our pad
equal our total less 165.

This is just one example of course.

I did consider too, that these created numbers could be written down on the switched-
in side of the pad by the volunteer before he totals them, rather than on the flip chart.

I think both scenarios have merit.

BA\RN

IDEA #3
WORDS NOT METHODS
I am still closing my shows on Add A Number. Yet I've not done either of the above
things.

I decided to set myself the challenge of fixing the problem without altering the
method at all. To see if I could fix it with subtlety and words alone.

And I believe I have.

My routine now plays like this:

To person 1 I say:"1 want you to please think of a four-digit number. However, I'm going
to make this less easy on you. I want this number to mean absolutely nothing to you. In
fact when you think of a four-digit number and realise it does mean something to you
I want you to change it right away.

Do you have one? Please write it down:'

She does.

I continue with another effect. This is important to me, I use the add a number as a
running theme forthe show and (as well as more things that I will come to momentarily)
helps each person forget, or at least lose their faith in accurately recalling their number.

Aside: one of my fears is that people go back to the office the next week and find each
other, ask each other their numbers and do the maths right to find I cheated. I'm doing
alii can to help them forget what their numbers were.

Back to the action ...

The second person comes up,"I'd like you to allow a four-digit number to pop into your
mind. However it must be a number you are creating right now on this spot. It must
mean nothing to you, and each of the digits must be different:'

The reason for the 'different digits' bit of business not only looks like nice process, but
also I've had a LOT of people write down numbers like 4404. This is easy for them to
remember. Far easier than a random chain of four unique digits that's for sure.

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NoW with the third person I hand them the pad (I'm using a Kozar pad by the way,
which I think may be the best available right now), and have her look at me. I say, "In
a second I want a single digit between one and nine to come into your mind. Now.

Do you have it? Okay, please write it on the pad under the other one.

Now this time I am going to ask you to do the same thing again, but only when I click
my fingers. No. You have a number in mind already don't you? Yes. I could see that. Not
that one. That won't work. Wait for the click:'

I click my fingers.

"THAT one. Pop it down on there next to your other one.

The third one, this will come into your head when my finger touches your forehead:'

I lift my index finger and make a slow motion toward her and suddenly tap her
forehead.

"Write it down:'

"The same again. Wait for the finger:'

I do the same again.

"Write that one down ... oh wait no. Stop. Sorry. Not whatever that one is ..." she hasn't
written anything yet, "watch my finger again ... pop. There that one. Go with that one
instead:'

She writes it down.

"Please close the pad yourself. Now this is important, because people think I might do
something funny. Those numbers just came into your head and you wrote them there
in the pad on that very first page, didn't you?"

She agrees.

"Please hand the pad and pen to this gentleman here'; I pOintto a spectator seated near
the front, "Sir take the pad, open it up and would you please total tonight's numbers:'

I go back and dismiss the lady.

"Sir have you reached a total? Can you please confirm that the numbers you added
were indeed on that first page of the pad, and I did not touch it, in fact Marie ..." or
whatever volunteer #3's name happened to be, "handed it to you, and you have
BA\RN
genuinely reached a total of tonight's numbers that were written by these people?"

He will agree!

This routining continues to serve me very well and I am no longer hearing people talk
about switching or swapping the numbers.

There are, however some further considerations for the add a number that may be
worth sharing too.

CONSIDERAnON#3
SHARPIE IS TOO SHARP (OR BIRO
ALL THE WAY)
In one performance I am sure the switching of the numbers was blown because during
a previous routine I hadn't realised that my second volunteer had moved seats.

I had the pad handed to a gentleman for the totalling only to look up and see the
second volunteer now sat directly behind him, looking over his shoulder and then
whispering to her husband.

There are a few ways around this. First of all, I have the man doing the totalling stand
up and come to the front of the stage to do the totalling, using the front of the stage
to rest on.

Secondly, I reduce the visibility of the numbers from any kind of distance. I was using
a Sharpie marker for them to write their numbers with. These things are visible for the
first few rows and maybe even from the balcony. So instead, I use a thin blue Biro pen.

The white glare off the pad will usually white-wash any view of the pad from even a
short distance, and rid you of this problem further.

198
 BAIRN

CONSIDERATION#2
VISIBLE CTHANK YOU JON
ARMSTRONG)
I was excited to see Hollywood's Magic Castle's Jon Armstrong in my audience recently,
and I was lucky enough to be able to hang out with him afterwards (and see him work!).

Jon had 'just two notes: One was about where I place my table, and the other was
about keeping the Add A Number pad on clear display at all times.

This is very important. Otherwise smart audience members may easily jump to the
conclusion that you're switching pads.

CONSIDERATION #3
FORGET THE NUMBERS
I really want the volunteers who have written numbers to at LEAST doubt their
numbers they've written, if not forget them altogether.

Some things I do along the way to encourage this is ask for people to tell me things
about themselves that include numbers. 'How many years have you been married?;
'What is your house number?' and also include numerical facts throughout the
performance myself to.

Well there you have it. A whole section of my thoughts on Add A Number that I've
mused and worked over the past few years. Some more successfully than others.
Truthfully though, I do enjoy using Idea #1 - Add A Nein when I know there's a few
magicians in the room as it has a nice moment of them leaning forward and asking
some questions afterwards.

I rarely perform for magicians though in truth.

BA\RN
Otherwise, I just rely on the words in Idea #3.

I hope this has been useful and/or interesting for you, and that perhaps you'll be able
to add some of this subtle stuff to your routines. Even if it's not add a number, any
other routine where you switch something, it's certainly worth considering how We
can abolish any thoughts of that people possible.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSI on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
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2.00
BAIRN
B
 BAIRN

HEADLINES IN
BLACK AND
WHITE
In 2012 my ruddy-cheeked Scottish friend Colin McLeod came to me asking for
ideas on predicting headlines for use on a TV performance he was booked to
give. He gets all the good gigs. That'll be down to the good looks and muscles
and facial hair he's donned in recent years. That's the key to success there folks.

Anyway, this is the idea I came up with him.

The effect is simple.

You're on telly. You have the host open an envelope to see that you predicted in
advance which girl has her boobs out on page three of the Sun newspaper. Or else a
natural disaster, or something happy like that.

It's your five minutes of fame - touch the hearts of the nation why don't you?

Then no-one believes that you really predicted it. They shrug their shoulders and pull
your thumb-tip off. Only then you show them that you have a copy of the newspaper
from a number of weeks ago, where you placed a personal ad with the prediction
intoo.

Their laughs turn to tears. They weep. You laugh in their face.

This is not really a method for predicting the headlines, I've shared my own method for
this elsewhere in my book Future Visions (available from www.mentalunderground.
com) but this is something that overcomes any idea that a switch was made, especially
when it was (as is more often than not the case).

The problem with headline predictions is that there is always a tiny amount of suspicion
that some kind of switch or exchange has been made. Perhaps not on the part of the
person who has had the thing in his possession the whole time, but for the rest of the
BA\RN
audience. So my little grey cells got to postulating a solution to this.

Use this with any standard headline prediction and you'll be a miracle worker.

Imagine that on the day of the performance you ask the person who has had the
envelope in their possession for the past 4 weeks to join you on stage. They confirm
they have been holding on to that envelope the entire time and it's never left them,
been borrowed or opened.

They open it up and inside your prediction is seen to be true. That's where most will
end. However imagine;

As the applause dies down the performer goes to his case and removes a large
envelope. Handing it to the on stage volunteer, he asks that they remove the contents.

Inside is found a folded newspaper. Not an entire newspaper, but the front cover of
one, and a single inside page. The cover is the News OfThe World and the date reads
that of four weeks ago (as if!). They are not directed to open up the cover and see that
you've also kept one page from that day's newspaper and taken the time to circle a
single personal ad.

They read it out and it predicts the events that happened today. Proving that you
certainly knew all those months ago about the things you predicted.

As you can see, this eliminates thoughts of a switch.

One thing I should mention is that this method could well stand up on it's own, but it
certainly nowhere near as powerful as when combined with a switch method.

THE TRUTH
On the day you send your prediction to the person, go out and buy a newspaper and
keep the front cover.

Find one of those companies who print novelty newspaper pages for special occasions.
Usually they'll put the face and details of a friend or family member on to a page as a
special gift and send you it printed on to news sheet. The company I've used is called
Your Name In Headlines, but there are many around the world.

Call them and tell them that you're a performer and what you'd like them to do is have

2.04
 BAIRN
a mock up page of the newspaper with the same date as the cover you've kept. On the
page you create, have it made to look like the personals page and in one of the adverts
on that page write whatever it is you are predicting.

Luckily, the company I use are close to where I live so on the morning of the show I call
them up, tell them what that little area of the page is to say, they print it and I go collect
it before heading to my show.

NoW you have a genuine front cover from a day many weeks ago, plus a fictitious fake
inside. Seal them together in an envelope and head to your show.

Proceed as before - do your switch or whatever other method you use to make the
normal prediction, and then introduce this envelope as a final kicker.

The good news is that, unless you're performing for the newspaper themselves, no
one can easily put their hands on a specific edition of a newspaper from four weeks
ago, so they will just have to take your word from it.

More than that, for some crazy reason, members of the audience who read this
particular paper, when asked after the show if they remembered seeing this strange
personal when they flicked through, have said they recall seeing something and not
thinking much of it.

Which is strange, because we know that was never the case. It is however a good case
for the human imagination.

Of course better still is to have this newspaper from four weeks ago as the prediction
itself. So you switch this in as your prediction. Jim Steinmeyer has the ideal method for
this that he published in Magic Magazine some time ago.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

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2.06
 BAIRN

ANDTHESTAR
SAyS....
You walk out on stage, the theatre holds 2000 people. Your big-wig promoter
from Ipswich has packed the place with sixty five people.

You voice echoes around the theatre as you try and fight through your embarrassment
to 'get on with it'

You have one lady stand. Only to realise she might not be. A lady.

"I'm one of his mates in 17"

Translated from pleb-speak you suppose he means that he knows your skilful
promoter. You press on.

You ask him to think which star sign he was born under.

Half expecting him to say 'The North Star' or The Daily Star; which would have been
'hilarious: You proceed to ask one question before naming his star sign.

"Yeah man I'm a Scorpion, in 17"

Yes sir, yes you are. A "Scorpion':

The crowd erupts, throws you on their shoulders and marches you to the centre of
down chanting your name.

The next day - you change your name.

In my first ever mentalism performance, and for the year proceeding it I worked in
a routine of Ted Kamilovich's where one could apparently reveal the star signs of
three members of the audience. For details on Ted's method get hold of his No Prop
Nightclub Act.

Later my friend Alain Nu came out with his approach to the same thing, which I
enjoyed playing with too.
BA\RN
I remember too that my closest friend, Colin McLeod, spent some time obsessing over
the use of progressive anagrams to reveal star signs and has some significant thoughts
on it that again I'd urge you to read.

In early 2012 I came up with my version of the Tossed Out Deck, calling it Passed Out
Deck (mainly because I particularly dislike the tossing part of these routines), which
eliminated the ambiguity of who had which card.

This started my thinking in reducing ambiguity in other routines. A flash back to my

performances sharing the platform with Alex Crow and Alan Hudson in a (what we
agree was a terrible) show called Beyond Belief where I was still performing Ted K's
routine.

Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to tell three perfect strangers their star signs with
minimal questions?

At the beginning of your program you're talking to the audience about compatibility,
"Some people are compatible and some ... well some are not. In fact 62% of all marriages
end in divorce. So it'd seem that more people are not compatible than are. How many
of us are married?

Around 100 of you I'd hazard a guess at. Guess what? 62 of you are going to end up
divorced! Place your bets on who .. .I'm joking. That's cruel.

But how do you know if you're compatible? How many of us were born in the summer?
See you're warm blooded people. You're fair weather people too. That means you'll do
things when the going is good, but when it gets tough you're quick to abandon them.

How many of us are spiritual in any way at all? That might be that you believe in life
after death, you are dedicated to a faith or even if you've had some kind of 'experience'?

Let's see how compatible our minds are. Would you please stand sir, and you madam,
and madam you also:'

Three people are now standing. You ask them to concentrate on their star signs. "How
many of you have an animal in mind? I'm getting a letter 0 from you too. There are 12
different star signs, and so it would not be uncommon to find two of you being in sync
with one another, sharing the same star sign:'

You point to the first man, "You are a Cancerian, correct?" he smiles and nods his head.
To the first woman, "You too are a Cancerian:' She nods and sits down. "But you are
different, you're a Virgo, right?" and she agrees too.

With two questions "is it an animal" and "does it contain the letter O"you know exactly

1.08
 BAIRN
which star sign each of these people are.

The advantage of this over your regular old progressive anagrams is that all of the
clues are not out in the open for the audience at large to guess along with you. An
animal that does not have a letter 0 in it could be Pisces, Libra and others. So we've
removed the explanation of logical deduction from this, even though that's exactly
what it is.

The one stage the audience at large has missed out on is the innocent surveying of
them all in the beginning. During the second question asked of the audience you ask
for a show of hands for everyone born in the summer. Later when you ask three people
to stand for this effect, you have remembered three people who raised their hands as
being 'summer' and have them stand.

The summer months are made up of three star signs, Cancer, Leo and Virgo. So the
three people you now have standing belong to these star signs. The two questions
about the animal and presence of the letter 0 when the word is spelled tell you exactly
which one.

What I particularly enjoy about these two criteria (0 and animal) is that they are not
related. One is to do with the visual element of that star sign, and the other is related
to the spelling. This means it is easier to disguise the tiny pumping sequence that is
necessary.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSI on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
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 BAIRN

CALLEDOUT
THOUGHTS
IIWhat your stage act is missing is a card trick'~ says the agent on the other end
of the phone. You're excited. You love card tricks!

The effect is simple and direct; you point to an envelope that has been suspended
from a bulldog clip since before anyone even entered the room.

Taking it down from the clip you remove a large playing card. This is what has been
kept safely inside the envelope during the evening's proceedings. The envelope is
discarded and the single card is replaced in the bulldog clip, to keep it in sight.

You point to someone near the front and ask if they know what the card is, without
guessing? They shake their head, "no".

"Please call out your choice of red or black:'

"Red:'

Next you point to someone else, "We are going for red, please callout your choice of
heart or diamond:'

"Diamond:'

"Finally, you sir, please call out a value, Ace through King:'

"Jack!" comes the reply.

"May I ask you please to confirm;' you address the first lady, who called out 'red; "you
said red, yes?"

Each of the three people confirm their called out choices. "So we have randomly called
out the Red Jack of Diamonds, right?"

Returning to the first lady again, "Before you called out red the first time, did you ever
write that down or select anything from a deck or anything? No? Was this purely a

'1'\'\
BA\RN
mental choice you made, just before calling it out? And did you change your mind
before making that choice?"

"Would you two also confirm all of this is true?"

Needless to say, the card is openly turned around to be the Jack of Diamonds.

THE TRUTH
The most skeptical and knowledgeable people have been thrown a curve-ball on this
one.

I created this when musing (in a hot bubble-filled bath, as is my want) over an
introductory phase to my tossed out deck routine. I use this piece as a way of showing
how making conscious choices can lead to easy manipulation of those choices,
therefore the only way to make choices truly fair is if you take a look at a card you don't
consciously choose, but that you choose by luck. From this deck.

And I go on from there with my unique presentation that I call Passed Out Deck - for
fun.

Back to the matter in hand.

The truth is nothing is ever written down, no-one selects a card, the selection of card
is totally fair and random. Yet you are still able to predict it. And there really is only one
card in play on stage.

There are however some verbal ambiguities at play here. Powerful ones at that. We are
going to be playing with the time-line of a sequence. I was prompted to think of this
when recently re-watching the TV drama 24 and the way they splice the'Previously On
24' segments to summarise the previous episodes.

You'll need a deck of jumbo playing cards, a spiral bound notebook, a bulldog clip on
a stand in full view of the audience and an envelope large enough to contain one of
the cards.

The effect comes in a number of parts. First of all let us deal with the pre-show. Yes
there is some pre-show but it will absolutely be among the easiest you ever conduct.
No impression devices or props of any sort are required. So you'll never be looking
suspect to any onlookers.
 BAIRN
Before you approach anyone it is of vital importance that the envelope be on display
already, clear for everyone to see. If not then part of the mystery for the folks you pre-
show will be diminished. In all of my performances this is not a problem as my act is
usually set before guests are admitted to dine in the banqueting room.

You will use the same approach with all three people you will involve in the routine,
find three distinctive looking people who are seated close to the front. For the sake of
easy recall later I chose a lady in a bright coloured outfit for the colour (notice the easy
recall there) a man in a suit for the suit and a woman who looks important or wealthy
(of high value) for the value.

Here is the scripting I use for each of them, I'll give you the example for if I was doing
this with the woman who will chose the colour - wearing the bold and bright colours.
The same script is used for the others, just replacing colour with suit and then value.

"As you can see up on the stage there is an envelope, inside of it is a playing card.
One of the 52 from a deck of oversized cards. Later I'd like you to call out whether you
think that card is a Red card or a Black card. I want you to think about it now, change
your mind a few times. Now. Don't write it down and I don't want you to 'pick a card,
any card' because I'm not that kind of entertainer, but after you have thought about
it, for the first time right now call out, what you think, is the card in that envelope red
or black?"

She will now say whatever she thinks. After which I ask her to remember that for later
because I'll be asking her to call it out again in front of everyone. "But please make sure
you keep an eye on the envelope, no-one is going to touch it and we'll see how right
you get this:'

Now do the same with the other two.

During the show you will be asking them to, "Call out your choice, red or black:' this is
their choice, the one they made earlier. This is the time confusion we talked about. And
then we will use time confusion again later when we ask them to stipulate the fairness
of the conditions;

"Before you called out red the first time, did you ever write that down or select anything
from a deck or anything? No? Was this purely a mental choice you made, just before
calling it out? And did you change your mind before making that choice?"

The audience believe the first time this was called out was the time when they said
Red in front of them during the show, because you then went back through the three
of them apparently to confirm their choices, asking them to call out their selections
again. In reality the 'first time' was before the show.
BA\RN
The mystery to the audience is that three people called out the three elements that
make up a playing card, and it matched the card on display.

To the three people, first of all they are not aware of each other having been prepped
before the show, and most importantly, the card was on display while they were
making their choice before the show.

About that, this is where the spiral pad and envelope come into play, along with the
deck of jumbo cards. Backstage or in your room you have the whole deck of jumbo
cards. Once the card is named you take that card from the jumbo deck and place it
inside the front cover of your spiral pad. The pad should be big enough to contain the
card. During the show open your pad as you place it on your table, leaving the card flat
on the table, back up-most.

Now the envelope has a slit cut along the address side about 3 inches from the top.
The slit is the width of the playing card plus an inch on each side (or as much as the
envelope's size will allow you).

Now, before any of the choices are called out you draw attention to the envelope and
take it off the stand. You momentarily place it on the table right on top of the playing
card. The motivation for doing this is that you do it absent-mindedly as you look for
your first'volunteer' - the person thinking of the colour. You ask her to stand.

Now go back to the table after having moved forward to shake her hand, and pick up
the envelope and the card as one. Reach into the envelope and remove the card 'from
inside; through the slit in the back. It is still back out-most.

Now there is no need to worry about this simple load, because for everyone but three
of the people in the room, nothing has been called out or choices been made. So there
is no heat at this moment.

I say, "Oh before I have you callout your choice, inside of this envelope is a playing
card, let me show you .. :' and take it out back side out. "I'm not going to show you which
one just yet, that'd spoil it:'

This gets a laugh, which goes a long way to misdirecting the only real 'moment' of
deceptive manipulation.

Now place the card on prominent display, exactly where the envelope was. There is
an important reason for placing the card where the envelope was, and that is create a
mis-remembering in the minds of the audience that it was the card that was hung up
there during dinner, in plain sight for all to see, not the envelope.

A way to further enhance this mis-reconstruction I've found is to place the same

2.14
 BAIRN
question-mark on the back of the playing card, as you have printed on the back of the
envelope. Don't mention it to anyone when you bring the card out. I've also found the
question-mark increases the laugh when the card is removed. The bigger the laugh at
this moment, the more likely they are to forget it altogether.

For me, this is the very closest I've found to exactly what this effect should look like. I
am also very much in love with the idea that we simply ask people to call things out
before the show - its so simple it feels like cheating, don't you agree?

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

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~'6
 BAIRN

REASON TO
WRITE
"Think of something. Now write it down. Press hard, and write clearly:'

The discussions are abound with 'Why do you ask them to write things down?"The
truth is, I don't tell them why, I just tell them that's what they have to do and then they
do it.

However, one consideration would be that there is a process yet to come, and the
writing down is integral to that being possible.

For example. Have five people stand. Each of them thinks of the name of a city. You
hand a business card to the first guy and he writes his city down on the card. You ask
him to hand the card to the second guy who writes his city beneath the previous one.

You repeat with all five of them so the card now bares a list of freely thought of cities.

A sixth person is asked to take the card and circle anyone of the cities.

Your job will then be to work out which one city among all of these thoughts you are
being drawn towards.

I'm not really interested in supplying a method here. Rather just a piece of thinking.

I will describe a method in a moment that I have considered for this. It's not a regular
method for a book like this, just a mental exercise and I've never performed it. Although
I am considering it.

The main crux of this thinking is that in order for the presentation to work at all, things
absolutely must be written down. Making a list is only possible by writing things one
under the other.

A way that I do this when doing a centre tear routine (I actually use Richard Busch's
Zen Billet Tear) is to draw the box for the peek area and then leave the space below it
empty.
BA\RN
Hand the card to someone and talk about creativity. One exercise in creativity is that
you need to think of at least thirty different ideas before you'll start to really get your
mind to the creative ones.

Of course you don't have time for them to write thirty or more ideas down so five
would be just fine. Have them write the names of five celebrities on the card under
the box.

Now speak to someone else or do something else while this is being done. Once
enough time has passed you return to the lady and ask her to look at the 5 name; she's
selected, and to select one in her mind.

Your reasoning is that you don't want this to be just the first one that comes to mind,
as that might be seen as an obvious or common choice.

Once she has one in mind she is to write the one she is going to focus on into the box
at the top of the card.

Now she folds the card, you take it and have your wicked way with it.

A perfect rationale.

Something that just struck me upon writing this down is that you could have the card
be blank apart from five lines on the card.

They write their first thought at the top, their next one on the line below etc. etc. You
could then talk about how by the time you get to the fifth thought it's a lot more
obscure than perhaps the first one.

Now retrieve the card and perform the tear in such a way that you will have to read
their writing upside down - or else slightly modify the tear. Worth considering though
I feel.

I mentioned a presentation right at the start of this, for which I said I'd come back to a
method. So ... one way I've considered doing this is with one of those clever electronic
gizmos that tell you which of four zones someone has written in - Alone 4D is one such
thing.

So you'd need a pad that is set up like an add-a-number switching pad. One that can
open on either side.

You'd have the four people write their things down in one side and then hand the
pad to a fifth person. When he opens it, he will be seeing places you have previously
written.

218
 BAIRN
Of course the problem here is that the other people will know that none of those
places was on the list when they wrote their place.

No problem.

When writing, the people each write on a separate page, rather than in a list*. So once
they have written their place, they turn their page 'so as not to influence the next
person:

NoW in your switched in side, each of your force places are written on separate pages,
but at different heights on each page. For example the first page has Istanbul written
one quarter of the way down.

The second page has Barbados written at the very bottom.

The third page has Paris written at the very top.

The forth page has Newcastle written 2/4th of the way down.

In the back of this side of the pad is the Alone 4D technology, so when the fifth person
circles one of the places you still get to know (by means of this fabulous tool) which
one was circled.

That's all theory, and I've no idea if it'd actually work. I do fancy playing with it though.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
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* Thanks to my buddy Colin McLeod for the idea of writing on different pages in an add a num-
ber pad. Clever sod.
 BAIRN

THE DISTANT BET

A person is glad to join you on stage. What? Isn't that the most amazing effect
ever? Okay...so once they get there you show three large match boxes.

You explain that you got them from a museum and they are the old fashioned way to
light a cigarette, before lighters were invented. They're to save you burning your face
off when lighting your fag (Cigarette - for our American friends) on the gas stove.

The crowd look at you awkwardly.

You put on your trousers and continue.

Now since your volunteer already agreed to bring with her a pound coin, you tell her
that we will risk this pound coin on the following game. A pound is not to be sniffed
at, but the prize is greater still.

"I will walk over to the other side of the stage and will turn my back. Once I do I'd like
you to mentally decide upon one of the three match boxes. Do not touch them at all,
just focus on the one box that you decide you want to go for.

There! You see already while I am looking at you, your eyes darted to this box here:'
you point to one of the boxes, "you were thinking about that one. Please make your
mental choice only once my back is turned and once you have, just let me know you
have decided':

You turn your back and after just a moment the volunteer informs you that she has
made her decision.

"Great;' you continue, "you are not allowed to change your mind, so I hope you are
happy with that selection, and please pick up that box you decided on. Once you
have, please open the drawer and take out what you find inside. You'll see that is the
wager for the game. It's not a hundred pounds or anything but it's enough to make it
interesting yes?"

From the drawer the lady takes out a £10 note.

"Once you've got the wager out, please replace it with your pound, close the drawer
and place the box back on the table from where you picked it up:'
 BA\RN
This is done and you turn around.

"We need to number the boxes for our reference. Which end would you like to start at
with number one, the end closest to me or the far end?"

She chooses number one to be furthest from you.

°
"Okay, there is £1 riding on this. I am going to stay all the way over here just because
that way I can take in your whole physical response. If I am too close then I'll only be
able to see your face or your head and shoulders and there is £10 resting on this;'you
say with your tongue wedged firmly in your cheek.

"I will ask you various questions, but remember not to give anything away about
which of the three boxes you chose to hide your coin in. If I get this wrong, that tenner
is yours:'

"In a moment I want you to call out any number, either one, two or three. Bear in mind
that you might be tempted to blurt out anyone of the two boxes that you did not
place your coin in, because your job is to avoid it and keep it from me. However you
might also try and double bluff me and call out the number where you pound really
lies. Your choice. Think about it carefully and then name any number, one, two or three:'

The tension mounts as the lady frowns and weighs up her options.

"Three" she calls out.

"Interesting. I don't think you went for number three so I think we can eliminate that
as a possibility. Now, in my mind (and I may be wrong already) we are down to one
and two. "" ask you to call out a number, either one or two and that will give away the
location of your coin. Either by telling me where it is not, or where it really is.

So think carefully and call out, which number will you say ONE or TWO?"

"Great! Really great! The first time you lead me astray and this time you try and double
back on me, so open box number two and show everyone the coin!"

She does and everyone applauds.

"Oh ... where are you going with that? If I got it wrong you were going to win the £10,
and you were happy about that weren't you? Of course, so since I won, I get to keep
you pound!"

Snatch the coin off her and drop it in your pocket with a "clink':
 BAIRN

THE TRUTH
What is new here? Weill really enjoy the presentation which is one of my own, around
having the person call things out and that apparently leading you to some kind of
strange logic that leads to the correct outcome.

Of course it's what Penn and Teller would call 'Bullshit' (technical term) but it really
plays well.

There is a lovely moment of thinking and tension as the person decides which number
to call out. You can see the audience lean in and live the decision making process with
your volunteer.

The method here is one that requires no marks of any of the apparatus, has nothing to
do with serial numbers and in fact you don't need to come anywhere near the table at
all. I have done this from across the room even without turning around. However for
this presentation I like to turn around and look.

Quite simply, each of the boxes (and this can be done with envelopes but they are little
flat and uninteresting) has a different bank note in, of a different denomination.

From left to right, the first box contains a £5 note, the second a £10 and the right-most
match box contains a £20 note.

This means the'bet'forthe correct outcome changes each night but as soon as the bet
is known you know which match box contains the pound.

You can do this with higher amounts, I originally did it with a £ 10, £20 and £50 - but
then times got hard and hair bleach prices went up. The economy eh?!

If you decide not to turn around, simple use the line, "and of course you are now
holding the wager for the correct location of your pound coin, and if I get this wrong
you'll be taking home .. :' and simply pause while the person calls it out.

When a person does not understand their cue to call it out, I simple turn around and
look at them, saying "Twenty pounds, the one you're holding!" and make a joke of it
before turning back to face the other way.

Keeping my back turned was the original way I performed this, but recently when I
picked this routine up again to include in my parlour act I prefer to turn around and
look as it's more friendly to be looking at people, than for them to be counting the
 BA\RN
creases in the back of your jacket.

Just to re-cap. If the wager for the game is £5, you know the £ 1 is in the first box, if it
happens to be £10 (as in the example given above) it's in the middle box and if the
wager is £20 it is in the right-most box.

Another idea I played with, but have never used as I think it could hint at the method,
is having slips of paper and comedy prizes written on them. For corporate performers
these prizes could be related to the company you are working for. Finally, you could
insert real miniature physical prizes. Maybe a miniature figurine of yourself, because I
really am that vain.

Do bare in mind that you shouldn't put something such as a valuable watch in as the
prize, simply because the presentation is that there is the same thing in every single
box, and this is not as logical with a valuable watch.

I prefer the money out of all the options though as it is simple and direct (simple and
direct, sounds like something Looch would enjoy eh?).

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSl on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

2.2.4
BAIRN
~~6
 BAIRN

AS YOU DO
BOOK
It's Christmas eve. Your wife is out at work - she's a nurse. And like any good
parent, you've left the kids at home in the care of a babysitter you hardly know.

You've got a gig. Well that's what you tell the wife. You're actually at the pub with your
mates.

Your wife isn't at work. She's left you.

Christmas is a happy time of year.

Upon getting home you find the note, she's left you.

The drink starts to flow, and before you know it you're rolling around the street outside
Singing 'Hi Ho Silver Lining:

It all goes dark.

Then you wake up.

It's obviously been a busy night down at the station, because you're sharing a cell with
what looks like a guy, wearing a tutu.

Under your head you feel something hard below the pillow. It's a book.

You open it randomly somewhere near the middle.

"Hey, Billy Elliott ..."

The tutu-wearing fella on the other bed rolls over and grunts.

"What?"

You smile and show him your Jazz Hands, "This book. Is it yours?"

"It is:'
 BA\RN
"Right, well I've thought of a word from one of the pages. What do you think it is? Here,
take that note pad and write what you think It is on a scrap of paper"

Mr Ballerina looks confused.

"Alright, I'll give you a clue. It's got more than six letters:'

"What?"

You can hear the guard outside the door giggling. He's a good audience.

"Okay, it starts with the letter M. That's all you're getting. Think about it and write it
down. Once you've written it, tear it out and fold it in half:'

This is done, Mr Ballerina looks like he might puke.

"Great, my turn now. It's not that easy is it this mind reading thing?"you jest.

"You take the book, flip to any page you like and like me, think of any word with more
than 6 letters. 7 or more:'

"Now I did give you a clue, so you do the same. The first letter of my word was M, what's
the first letter of yours?"

"e" comes the reply.

You scribble down an answer on to another piece of scrap paper.

"So which word did you think of from the book?"

"Candlestick:' he says with apathy.

You unfold your piece of paper to show you wrote 'Candlestick:

The audience outside the door has grown. You can hear at least eight guards
applauding like crazy.

"So you tried to guess my word, didn't you?"

"I was thinking of the word "Milestone" what did you get?"

Ballerina looks amazed and has to be reminded to unfold his paper and show you that
he figured you out, he wrote MILESTONE!

2.2.8
 BAIRN

THE TRUTH
I've never been in a police cell. This account is based on what I learned by watching
The Bill as a kid.

This is a really fantastic piece of mentalism that plays equally as strong close up as it
does on stage.

I came up with this piece when asked to do an additional show and I was lying in the
bath (as usual) pondering over the illusive book test. I quickly got the things together
to perform this and the response that night was so strong that it's now a contender to
be added into my main show, and will often make an appearance in it if I fancy spicing
it up for my own enjoyment.

You may have worked this out, but what we have here is an interesting presentation for
the 'Mother Of All BookTests' (the pocket version currently available through all magic
dealers is the one I'm using right now, but this can also be done with 'Economicon' or
any test where the key to the word is in the first letter).

I won't go into detail about how MOABT works, however any book test will work and
I'll even give you a method for one you can simply make yourself at the end of this
section.

Let's go through the important steps of this routine that help bust the method as being
even remotely possible, and support each other into a fully justified performance
piece.

You open the book first, before introducing the clipboard or pen (in close-up you can
use a business card) and pantomime thinking of a word.

Now you give instructions that the volunteer is to try and work out your word.

Pause for effect.

To assist him from his frozen state of panic, you offer him a clue, "I'll give you a clue. It's
got 7 letters or more.. :'

Of course this is not much help at all.

"And it begins with the letter M" - you can say any letter here, but do remember to be
kind, yet not too obvious. An 'X' would obviously yield the response 'Xylophone' or
 BA\RN
'X-ray' which is not the outcome we want.

Now hand the volunteer your clipboard or whatever impression device you use (I
personally favour an idea by Paul Brook on his handling of the 'Buma Board; or the
improvement on same by Chris Rawlins) along with a pen. Now he is to write the Word
down.

Here we're going to use a bit of real life psychology - Robert Cialidini's Reciprocity.

Do NOT ask for the board back. This implies that you need it in order to do something.

Rather, say something like, "Now it's my turn, here, take the book:' with one hand pass
the book, and have the other hand in a gripping gesture that non verbally says 'gimme
the clipboard'.

Now you have the clipboard but do not look at it yet. Peeking is all about timing, and
right now the timing is awful.

Instruct him to open the book to any page, and just as you did, to think of a long
interesting word.

Now I request the first letter, the way I gave it to him. Using the MOABT this now gives
me everything I need to know about his word so I look bemused as if it doesn't help
much at all.

Pause and do a bit of thinking. Then suddenly as if a flash of inspiration has just hit un-
cap the pen. Now look down at the board and get your peek*.

Write the word you know he must be thinking of (due to the book test method you've
used) and you're all done.

The revelation of this is very important and it's something I mused back and forth on
for a while before deciding which way round is best.

I find a better theatrical presentation is for you to reveal you got the volunteer's word
first, even though you just wrote it. And then announce the word you peeked him
writing, pretend it's the word you looked at in the book and have him reveal that's
what he wrote, second.

Additional Ideas

Tru Test - A great idea by Nathan Kranzo was to use the MOABT principal and apply it
* If using the Buma Board and the Rawlins idea, you will have already done the peek long ago.

2.30
 BAIRN
to a page from a magazine.

Grab this and you'll have a very sweet word-test routine, without the books.

Take the special page Kranzo provides you with and paste it into a magazine.

To begin with hand the magazine to the volunteer and ask him how many pages are in
the magazine. He turns to the last page and calls it out. For example it's 65.

"I'm going to think of a word from one of these pages, please turn to any page and
then hand the magazine to me:'

He does so. You now feign thinking of a word.

Proceed as per the above routine, peeking the words he writes etc.

Then you will do the same, you turn to a page in the magazine and hand it to him to
think of a word from. Of course the page you turn to is the special Tru Test page.

CHEAPO BOOKTEST
If you don't own one of the book tests that I've mentioned, remember anyone that
allows you to know which word someone is thinking of works perfectly, then you can
have a go at this classic and simple method.

Get a paperback book. Flick through until you find an interesting word at the very top
of one of the pages.

Take the pages that come after it and cut them short (I cut 6 pages short because I
don't want to take any chances). Now you can hold the book, riffle through the pages
and have someone call stop. The short pages allow you to stop on the force page
which you know the first word on.

Have them think of the first word on that page.

Now you know their word and can do the routine above.

This is the original way I did this routine when I came up with it in the bath, because
my MOABT was at home. Handy eh?
 BA\RN

NO BOOKS
It struck me while writing this out that in fact you could do this without books at all
and just peek both bits of information. I'll leave it down to your creativity to work on
an exact handling, but it's possible.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSl on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

2.32.
BAIRN
134
 BAIRN

BREAKING NEWS
I've been fortunate to be asked on to a local commercial radio station with
some degree of regularity. Metro Radio is the most listened to radio station
in the North East of England and presenters Stu and Kelly took a shine to me
after I revealed intimate details of Stu's first kiss the first time Ijoined them on
their show.

As with anything of this nature, with each appearance comes an expectation to

perform something more amazing, impossible and surprising.

I decided to perform a headline-style prediction, but one with a really nice little twist
that makes the concept of a switch (appear) impossible.

Here is how it looks and sounds on air:

A week or so ago Kennedy, the freaky mind reader guy sent presenter Kelly a parcel in
the mail. Inside was a DL size window envelope. Through the window she could see
there was a second envelope, probably pay-size and completely opaque.

She brings this with her on the day of the show.

"Kelly, I called you to make sure you had the envelope, and where were you when we
spoke?"

"I was at home."

"Great and you confirmed that you had indeed received the envelope and I told you to
bring it with you to the studio on the day we were scheduled to do this?"

"That's right:'

"I also asked you to tear open the envelope and take the smaller one, sign it and seal it
into a larger envelope, to make sure no-one could do anything sneaky with it, and you
have that envelope with you now, yes?"

She agrees.

"Please tear open the large envelope and take out the small envelope. Can you place
BA\RN
confirm your signature is still on that envelope it hasn't been tampered with and it has
never left your possession?"

Agreed.

"Now just before you do open the envelope, Stu, has the Newcastle Vs Sunderland
match finished yet?"

Stu looks and says, "It's just a minute to go:'

"Brilliant:' you reply, "Lets wait until it's just Full Time before we open this envelope.
Keep hold of it Kelly. I'll stay over here and get a pair of scissors out ready.. :'

Stu looks up, "Right it's Full Time and Newcastle won:' - a miracle there in and of itself.

"Okay Kelly, look at this envelope you cannot see through it and have no idea what is
inside. It's been with you for 7 or 8 days now, your signature is all over it. I don't want to
let my hands go anywhere near it so let me snip open the end of the envelope. There,
the envelope has fallen to the table and I do not want to touch it so please pick it up,
reach inside yourself and remove the card that I put inside:'

Kelly begins to read, "Newcastle just won the match a moment ago.. :' her face is a
picture of disbelief, her jaw is open and her eyes are wide, "the front page of today's
Chronicle will deal with a local person doing work for charity, someone in a pink t-shirt
will be holding a flower and the word 'Breath' will be important':

Stu grabs the front page of that day's Chronicle and confirms there is a child doing a
charity run for Breast Cancer has raised £10,000 for the charity, she is in a pink t-shirt
and is holding a balloon made into the shape of a flower. The headline is 'Sarah Just
Catching Her Breath:

THE TRUTH
This is a really interesting and exciting piece for me because it combines a few methods,
it combines some dual reality double-speak with a switch and then a multiple out.
Which together go a long way toward disguising the truth.

I must credit Richard Himber, who I think had the idea for this type of two-way out.
The good news is that there is only one piece of card in the envelope, the volunteer
removes it from the envelope herself and can keep the card and the envelope from

2.36
 8AIRN
which it came.

First of all let's jump back to what really happened. Basically the card in the envelope
on the day of the revelation was switched in just before the show. But it has been done
in a very calculated way.

First of all, take a small pay envelope, seal a piece of card in it and in turn seal that
inside of a DL-size window envelope. I mail this to Kelly.

I call Kelly on her mobile phone at a time I know she will be at her home. I ask if she
received it and she confirms she has. I tell her to keep it in a safe place.

Now what you don't know is that on the morning of the radio performance I buy that
day's newspapers and look for a suitable set of aspects to predict. I think it's important
to predict elements of the front page and not the whole thing. So: a word from the
headline, perhaps something about a picture, but making it obscure - are all good
things.

I write the prediction and seal it inside of an identical pay-size envelope to the one I
sent to Kelly.

I ask Kelly to meet me outside of the studio building thirty minutes before show-time
and it's out there that I do the work. I ask her to open the DL envelope and take out
the small pay envelope. I explain that I don't want to get accused of switching it later
so want to make it bigger so less easy to do anything 'funny'with. So ask her to drop it
inside of this large (5 size envelope.

Of course this is when the switch happens. I use a flapless envelope and a 5haxon
Flap envelope to allow her to drop the envelope inside the (5 and then hand her the
envelope with the now switched-in small envelope inside.

Now as an after-thought I ask her to hold her hand out while I tip the envelope out,
and say, "In fact how about you sign it?"

Hand her a pen, and as she signs it I turn the pile of (5 envelopes over so I now have a
totally normal (5 envelope on top of the pile. I hand her the normal (5 envelope and
have her seal this now signed pay-envelope inside of the (5 one herself.

Now a few things have happened. Physically, we have switched the dummy envelope
that we sent a week ago for one we wrote this morning containing today's headlines,
now psychologically Kelly is committed to the fact that this is the same envelope. How
is she committed? In the self same way we commit to anything important and binding,
with her Signature.
 BA\RN
Finally, the step of having her seal it into the larger envelope herself sells the fact that
she is in complete control of every single element of it.

She now has the envelope and you never touch it again.

In the studio we can now say, that she's had the envelope a week, she signed it and
sealed the small envelope inside of a larger one herself. And since you make a big
point of'standing a good distance away at all times so I am no-where near you' you can
also have her agree that you were nowhere near her while all this occurred.

So the main headlines for that day are taken care of. However the most beautiful part of
all of this, that really sells the fine accuracy of your predictive abilities is the prediction
of the football (soccer) match that literally happens while you're in the studio.

The card inside of the small pay envelope that you've switched in actually reads like
this:

TEAM A JUST WON THE

MATCH A MOMENT AGO

the front page of

today's Chronicle will

deal with a local person

doing work for charity,

someone in a pink t-shirt

will be holding a flower

and the word Breathe will

be important

ANDTEAM BJUSTWON

THE MATCH A MOMENT AGO

I hope you can see that this can be read in two ways. The first is starting at paragraph
one and ending at the end of paragraph two. The second is starting at paragraph two
and ending at the end of paragraph three.

Basically if you cut off paragraph three, you will predict Team A being the winners. If

138
 BAIRN
you cut off paragraph 1 you will predict Team B being the winners. And this is exactly
what you will do.

When you snip open the envelope with the scissors, you will do so in such a way that
cuts off the irrelevant prediction and only leaves the accurate one.

The way to do this is take the card with the prediction written on it and insert it into
the envelope. It should be cut to a size where it will slide up and down inside of the
envelope easily.

Now I hold the envelope up so that the card inside falls to the bottom. Open the
envelope so you can see where you'd want to make a cut to remove the bottom
prediction, and simply make a pencil dot at that point on the back of the envelope.

Now turn the envelope the other way up and let the card slide the other way and mark
the envelope again.

In performance, if the outcome you want is Team A to win you hold the envelope
up the right way and allow the card inside to fall to the bottom. Now pinch the card
through the envelope as your turn it over. Now you shake the envelope as if causing
the card to fall down, when in fact you're pinching it to the top through the envelope.

Take the scissors and cut along where you made your pencil mark.

If you want Team B to show as having won you turn the envelope upside down,
allowing the card to fall inside, then pinch it again, turn it the right way up again
pantomime shaking the card to the bottom of the envelope while maintaining your
grip on it through the envelope and then snip along your mark.

It reads fairly complicated but believe me it is this tiny subtle 50/50 choice that
happens a moment before the prediction is opened that throws them off the scent of
it being anything other than real. It really gives credence to the rest of the prediction
and makes everything utterly unfathomable.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSl on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
1.40
 BAIRN

TOSSEDOUT
DEATH
You're running through woodland. Puffing and panting. You struggle to
breathe, but you're running for your life.

As you turn your head you can see the masked men are gaining on you. You've got to
find the energy to speed ahead.

You turn to look where you're going only to your horror you come face to face with
one of them.

Frozen with fright, the others catch up and surround you.

"One limb at a time. We'll tear you apart:'

"What do you want, I'll do anything!"

"Limb by limb, piece by piece:'

"Tell me what I can do, just let me go?!"

"There is only one thing that can save you:'

You hold your breath.

"Show us a card trick!"

Cards in mentalism. There are a few instances I use cards, and many of my ideas are
here in this book. What do I feel about the use of cards in mentalism?

Quite simple really.

So long as they are used as cards, with a context of cards then I am cool with it. I am
radically against the '52 different objects' presentation. If you wanted to present 52
different objects, I'd hope you could be more imaginative than a deck of bloody cards.

I present card mentalism as memory - memorising a deck of cards, that seems logical
BAlRN
because in order to memorise a deck of cards, you need a ... deck of cards.

I talk about playing poker and wouldn't it be good if I could work out which card you
are thinking of, willing to be dealt next?

I even talk about magicians and their tricks, and how I can use my skills against them
and their sneaky sleight of hand. Oooerr.

Like many performers, I've performed a version of ' Tossed Out Deck' in my act for a
while now. While I do have my own unique method for this routine, what I want to
share here is not mechanics, but rather rationales and scripting to have aUdience
members do what we need them to do.

The biggest fears when performing a Tossed Out Deck'that uses a bank of force cards
is the person who you 'toss'the deck to flicks through the cards and sees that they are
all the same.

Like so many, I worried about this for a long time before strapping on a pair of balls
and performing the thing. Since then I have developed two very different strategies
for pushing the volunteer into just prizing open the deck at one place. One is for your
general mentalism performance, the other is if you prefer a darker style - which I
sometimes perform too upon request. I love each of these equally and hope they will
be of use to you.

Before reading on, I do hope that you understand the subtlety from this and that I'm
able to communicate with you the ways in which the little elements stack together in a
way that has allowed me to enjoy a great many successful performances of my'Tossed
Out Deck' (J call mine 'Passed Out Deck; for reference).

We will start with the general mentalism approach. That is I have just performed a
mentalism piece that display my credentials.

"Now please give me a wave if you play any sort of Poker, okay any card game? Give
me a wave if you have ever been outside of your own house before? Ha. That's it. Great:'

I now choose three people from the front row and ask them to stand. Note that I do
NOT have the deck of cards in my hands at this point. That is important.

"I'm going to have the three of you think of playing cards in a minute. However I realise
if you get a playing card in your mind right now, you may be likely to be influenced and
consider the Ace of Spades and the Queen of Hearts. Yes, yes don't worry:'

This scripting is not only suggesting that having people merely make up a card is unfair,
but goes some way to proving it. Look at the language, I literally say'get a playing card

242
 BAIRN
in mind right now'which acts as a description but also begins their minds into carrying
out the action of thinking of a playing card.

I then announce the two common cards, and use a very old dodge where I look
between people as I apparently get confirmation from them, saying 'yes, yes don't
worry: This proves it to everyone that this is NOT a fair way of having people think of
things.

"So to make it is really fair, I'm going to have you thinkof one single card from an entire
deck. But we are going to do it in the fairest way. You will not take your card out of the
deck, you will just prize the deck open and take a peek at one card. Just like this, take
the deck open it up somewhere and think of that one card you can see:'

You say this as you demonstrate. Now the important part.

"Now, for your own sake do NOT flick through and see a bunch of cards, because in
a moment when I ask you to focus on one card you'll get confused and be unsure of
which one to focus on and I don't want you to feel like that. If you just see one card and
think of that one card then you can't get confused, does that make sense?"

The three people nod.

This is it. This is my little, simple and subtle discovery. Rather than make the reason
for them doing things my way for my benefit, I make it for THEIR benefit. I do this by
appealing to something that is a greater fear inside of them. Especially in a mentalism
show. That is, their fear of looking stupid in front of a room full of people.

TOSSED OUT DEATH

This section was named after this concept, and I really quite like it and it always plays
very well when I've used it, which admittedly has been less than the scenario I just
shared.

During a more macabre performance, or moment in your performance you begin to

talk about your lurid interest in death. In particular in murder. One particular set of
murders that interest you is the unsolved Jack The Ripper murders that happened in
the Whitechapel area of London.

"As time went on and Jack not having been caught the British police starting
 BAIRN
considering what we might consider to be desperate measures to find the notorious
serial killer.

One such area of interest was that perhaps an image of Jack's face may have been the
very last thing these women saw, and so could it be possible that this image would
have been burned on to the retinas of these women before they died.

I want to impress an image on the retinas of three of you tonight. The image of a single
playing card. When I hand you the deck, please just open it to one place so you see one
image, allow that one image to burn on to your eyes and then immediately close your
eyes before closing up the deck. Keep your eyes closed so that we don't contaminate
or smudge the image:'

This is a really chilling presentational angle on the tossed out deck, and as ever the
justifications for some of the more unusual moments in the routine are covered by
presentations so are never questioned.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

244
--
BAIRN
 •

2.46
 •
BAIRN

STACKED,
BORROWED,
REMEMBERED
Ladies and Gentlemen, Stevie Wonder!

On the subject on discovering something new while 'on the spot' here's a situation I
managed to wriggle free of.

One night I'm in the bar of the hotel I was working at, I'd flown in a day early, and being
the consummate show-off, once someone found out what I do, the demonstrations
began.

Of course I'm a professional. I was prepared. I had my trusty deck of cards stacked into
my favourite order (Richard Osterlind's Breakthrough Card System) in my pocket.

So after a short while of wowing people with the miracles that are possible with a
stacked deck, I retired to my room.

The following night I do my show and afterwards I find myself in the same bar in that
same hotel, having what you might call 'an after-show skinful:

Lo and behold, those same people I'd seen the previous night were there too. Along
with some other friends they'd met that day.

"This is Kennedy:' I'm introduced, shake hands and kiss cheeks, "He's a mind reader. You
wouldn't want to play him in a casino. Show them that thing you did last night with
the cards:'

Well after a show I have emptied my pockets and am sitting there with nothing of any
use on me, let alone cards.

"I'm sorry, I just got off stage and don't have my cards with me". I declined.
 BA\RN
But that wasn't enough for these keen, enthusiastic folks.

"It's okay, we've just been playing bridge, here do it with these:'

Shit.

Well. .. not to worry, these are lay-people what do they know. I can do some'other' stuff.

So I ploughed through various mental card effects and they were blown away. I'd
dodged it. ,

Wrong.

"Do that one where they look at the cards and you know which ones they're looking at,
and the one with the pockets - that's amazing that one is!"

5hitty shit.

I had a half-baked idea ofwhat'might'work.

"Okay:' I started.

"I don't know if your friends told you, but what I do is read people, remember details
about them and then use them to my own advantage. A nice advantage though of
course.

So my memory is pretty good.

In fact let me show you this.

Call out any card at all, we'll make that as the starting point for this next thing"

"5 of clubs"

"Okay, take it out of your deck and place it face up on the table.

What I'm going to do is call out every card in the deck, in a random order, which
keeping track of them all so I never repeat one and I won't leave any out. So when I call
out a card, just find it and place it face up on to the previous one on the table in a pile.

If they're in a pile it means I can't see all of them so I'll have to just rely on memorising
what I've done and what I haven't:'

I did it. And they applauded wildly.

Then I went on to go right into my stacked deck routines.

248
-
BAIRN

HOW?
Because the order I called out, starting with their freely named card, WAS my stack. So
as the volunteer is placing the cards on top of each other to prove I got them right, and
so I cant see the previous ones, they were actually stacking the deck for me.

How cool is that?

So that's a nice little bit to have in mind if you're ever caught short and want to perform
your stacked deck material, but don't want to have to sneak off to set up.*

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUSl on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

* Since writing this up and sharing it with some friends, trust Francis Moretti to rain on my pa-
rade by telling me that Jean Hugard came up with something similar and published it in his work
on the Nikola system. However since I've not heard anyone talking about this before, I've kept it
in this book to bring it to the attention of more people, in the hope that it will help more of us
out of sticky situations. I hope it serves you well. Proof that great minds think alike? Maybe. More
likely that I am vastly under-read in the world of card magic.
2.50
 BAIRN

AN ACTVS
A STRING OF
TRICKS
We've all read and heard people talk about having an act rather than just a
trick then a trick and then another trick. But how on earth do you do that?

I've broken it down, for myself into the following components; a theme, a story, a
thread, a target.

I think having those four things to a greater or lesser degree will give your audience
a real feeling that they are enjoying a show, not just someone doing a string of tricks
they like.

A THEME
What is your show about? That's it really. This is still something I am constantly playing
with. One of my acts is very much about testing my abilities under increasingly difficult
conditions, with tougher targets.

Which leads us on to ...

A STORY
I was lucky enough to spend time with multi award-winning writer Cherie Steinkeller
(TV show Cheers and musical Sister Act), and she taught me that the show has to 'go
somewhere: There must be progress.

It needs to get tougher, or more stringent, or bigger, or maybe the progression is not
about difficulty but about the story, what happens to the character or characters?

A THREAD
There should be, what I call a 'constant' or a thread. There should be something
BAlRN
happening, or back-referenced throughout the show that ties it together.

This might be a prediction that is on display. It could be some choice you are having
people make between most of the routines. How about a prop. A drink. A game. A
joke. A tag line.

A TARGET
We need to know where it's all going. In grand illusion, we go to see Copperfield and
sit through the show eager to see him fly. We love the journey, but that's because we
know where it's going.

If an audience doesn't know where they are going they can disengage. It's like waiting
and not knowing when the waiting will end.

A simple device to do this is to have a prediction on display from the start. The audience
will figure out that the show is leading to that prediction matching something.

The target also locks people in through curiosity. Or at least it can. With a prediction
they want to know what it's all about. So they pay close attention to see when you get
to it. Will it be now? How about now? I'm excited!

Of course character can also create a show. My research on character, even as a trained
actor, is still not yet complete enough to offer an insight just yet. I'm working on it
though.

In closing. An act is not a string of tricks. Instead it moves from one place to another
with purpose, with intent and one thing builds upon another. The effects, while not all
intertwined are related, and together build a picture. That picture may be of a theme,
a statement, a belief or of a person. However you do it, at the end the audience think
and/or feel differently about something or someone than before you started.

They're talking about the show ... not the tricks.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

151
BAIRN
2.54
 ..
BAIRN

CROWD
CONTROL
You bound on stage, just as if you're wearing an Easter bunny costume, talking
about your interest in crowd psychology. As a student you played the popular
game of having your group of friends all look up at the same time, to see if
passers by will follow.

"... And they do.

We all tend to follow the crowd, or at least trust it's judgement almost without
questioning.

That is what this first experiment is about. In a moment I'm going to playa short piece
of music. During that time some of you may decide that you are one of the people it is
almost 'speaking' to, and that you should stand up:'

You playa twenty second clip of some classical music.

"If you feel like it might just be you, then please stand up now:'

From the small group, you count out loud and everyone can clearly see that there are
eight people standing.

You tear open the top of the envelope you've been holding and have someone near
the front remove the card from inside before joining you on stage.

They read out what you wrote on the cardjust before the show started,"lfthe dynamics
of the group tonight are conducive, approximately eight people will feel the impulse
to stand. If this is the case, then we are in for a fantastic night!"
BA\RN

THE TRUTH
Ever since I started in mentalism I've had a fascination with one particular method and
'type' of effect. I've spent a lot of time thinking through presentational approaches to
it, the first of which appeared in my first release to our community under the name
'Taxi:

Since then, I'm flattered to have been told that UK magic legend, Paul Daniels
recommends 'Taxi' as the best routine of it's type.

'Crowd Control' is something that is much more fitting with my style and interest in
performance now, a number of years since that release. I've also added some further
deception on one very important element of the routine.

I perform Crowd Control for dinner party and cabaret-size events of up to perhaps
forty or so people.

It's simply a nail-writer effect. But to me, this really sets the tone of what is to come for
those of us who perform as psychological mentalists.

The card is pre-written with all of the information, apart from the number (8 in this
example), which you nail write in afterwards.

One thing I have done is to play around a lot with the envelope and the best way to
handle this for cleanest deception, but also for steadiest nail writing to be executed.

What I'm working with now, and have been possibly for a couple of years at this pOint
(I'm sure I recall lecturing this for Newcastle Magic Circle at least two years ago), is as
follows:

I use a pay-size envelope.

On the address side, holding the envelope portrait, I cut a slit across the entire width,
at about 1/4 of the way from the top.

My prediction card is folded into quarters so that the area where the number is to be
written is on the outside.

It is then hooked over the slit I just cut so that half of the card is inside the envelope
and the other half is outside.

256
 II

BAIRN
This means that the card is high up in the envelope, making the secret writing much
easier.

Once you've nail written the correct number in you simply need to tear the envelope
open at the point of the slit you cut. You'll only be tearing the non-address side of the
envelope, as the address side was already cut, but you're also destroying the evidence.
Which means you can now reach forward and ask someone seated toward the front
to remove the card from the envelope herself and there is nothing for her to discover.

Another couple of important points I've found add to this significantly. First of all, she
should be handed the envelope BEFORE she comes to join you on stage. This has the
appearance of far more isolation. I think the additional time it takes for her to come
stand next to you is not only unnecessary, but dilutes the immediacy and almost
'hands off nature you want to imply.

Secondly. I say that I made the prediction just before coming on stage. Not a week
ago. This is important because, I don't think anyone truly believes that you'll have been
writing a prediction a week before the show.

However, there is an exception. This does not fit with my 'psychology' angle, but
if you're more of a Future Seer, you could mail this gimmicked envelope, with card
poking out the back of it, inside of another envelope to someone in advance. Have
them bring it to the stage, you remove the smaller envelope, do the dirty work and
hey-presto, with no additional work at all you predicted this weeks in advance.

That final point there is not my style but it's certainly interesting to consider.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
~5&
 BAIRN

STARTING
STRONG
I was recently interviewed for a video podcast of a small magic dealer while I
was visiting Singapore.

One of the questions raised had me thinking and analysing my act and structure in a
way I never had before.

I quickly realised that the way I organise the feats in my show is very different to the
way that almost every performer I've seen does it. Yet it works fantastically for me.

The feedback from the session was that everyone who watched and attended were
blown away by this unique approach to structure. For that reason I'm writing it up
here, in the hope that it will at the very least allow you a moment to consider your act.

Whether you agree with me or not. At least you'll have thought about it.

Reading the online discussion groups, most people tend to go with the adage that
we should start off with something quick and to the point, and something not too
unbelievable.

I disagree with this completely.

In traditional magic, where you can make things appear and disappear, it's nice to do
something quick to get the audience's attention, but the speed of this opening feat is
purely to get that all important attention.

To my mind, most of the people who are reading this are unknowns, just like myself.
Before your show they have never heard of you. So there are a number of important
things that I feel we need to do for our audience. We need to answer two critical
questions that they have in their mind:

"Is this guy any good?"

"Do I like him?"

BA1RN
For this reason, when I start a show I want to start off with something that displays my
personality, as I've mentioned previously, but also something that is so impossible,
something so confounding that they are forced to sit up and think, 'Shit he is good!'
straight away.

With my character and style of presentation, if I came on stage and started off with
a one in three or one in five chance, the audience's first impression of me is that,
although mildly impressive that I did get it right, it is only a one in three chance.

I don't want anyone's first impression of me to be one of being underwhelmed.lnstead

I want them to think I'm nice and I'm good.

So how do I organise my show? Opening is my second most impossible routine, and

in it is a lot of personality. That personality lets the audience know my style, but it also
subtly shows them that I am in control and how I will react to their engagement with
me.

For example, in my case an audience learns early on that if you do decide to try and
tackle me, I will put you down and come back with a return serve. I'm experienced and
I'm not to be challenged. However, they can feel safe and comfortable that I am going
to take them on a little journey into some weird stuff that's going to be light hearted
and a lot of fun.

I then close my show in a specific way. My big closing routine is usually one of skill.
This gives credibility to all of the things they have seen previously. Then, I kick them
with one more surprise ending that they didn't see coming that is the most impossible
thing they have ever seen.

Now they leave having engaged with me, understood that all of this stuff is somehow
possible, even though impressive, and have been blown away with a surprise
revelation that just can not be explained.

You can see performance clips, receive updates

BONUS! on this and the other routines plus additional,

previously unreleased material by visiting:
www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook

2.60
BAIRN
 II

BAIRN

A DAHEA
There's a brand new Mercedes Benz dangling above your head. You're launch-
ing their new model and the only thing that will step up to the mark is a one-
ahead routine.

Grab your pad, you're ready to rock it like it's 1999!

You calm the crowd down and now have their undivided attention.

Handing a small pad of paper to someone you ask that they stand where they are, "At
the top of that first page would you write the word ... Number, please?

Great. Now on the next page, at the top would you write, 'Name"

On the next page let's have the word ....errrr 'Word' yes, 'word' will do just fine. Thank
you, and just close the pad up and hand it over here to me would you?"

You retrieve the pad and open it up to the front too.

You throw a paper ball into the audience* and have whoever happens to catch it stand.

"I'd like you to please think of a ..."you look down to check the pad, "number. Make it a
3-digit number would you please?"

You scribble something on the page before tearing it out and placing it into your
empty water glass.

"Please let me know how in-tune, or not, we are by letting me know the number you
actually thought of. Please do not change your mind at this stage, that wouldn't be fair
on me:'you gesture at the paper ball in the glass.

'824: she calls.

"Not bad at all. Okay next we have ..."you look down at the pad, "a Name. Please would
you think of the name of a celebrity, someone so famous that everyone here would
know exactly who we're talking about in a few moment's time?"

* See Focused Opener elsewhere in this book.

 BA\RN
She is thinking of one, and you focus on her.

You scribble something down on the page, before tearing it out too and adding it to
the glass, with the previous scribbling.

"And who did you decide on?"

'Alan Sugar:

"Ha, much better, Thank you. We're getting somewhere now. Okay, let's get on with the
actual test now. Here take this book, I want you to think of the first word from one of
the pages. Call stop as I flick through the pages:'

'STOP:

"As you wish. Please grab the book and think of the first word at the top of that page:'

It is done.

"Please focus on it. Okay, and miraculously you wrote Word on this page too" you say
sarcastically before writing something on the page, screwing it up and putting it into
the glass.

While the glass is still in your hand you walk over to someone sitting near the front and
tip all three papers out.

"Please straighten out all three papers. What was the number you thought of earlier?
824, what did I write?"

'842' comes the reply.

'Close. But not a bad start, just getting warmed up. Who was the celebrity you named?
II.lan Sugar. The very rich and powerful Apprentice star. Who did I guess she thought
)f?"

A.lan Sugar:

Spot on! And finally what was the word you were thinking of at random?"

)octors:

I did write the word doctors, did I not?"

(ES!'

,64
 III

BAIRN

THE TRUTH
What is new here is another subtle way of eliminating the thought of the one-ahead,
when we are using one-ahead. I use a simple add a number switching pad. I adore the
Kozar pad and recommend it unreservedly.

Prepare the pad by opening the 'Switch Out' side and on the first page, at the top I
write the word 'Word; on the second page I write 'Number' and on the third page I
write 'Name:

Notice that this is using the pad in reverse. I will start off having the switched 'in' side
passed to someone to write down the categories of the thoughts. They freely open the
pad and write the titles on each page.

It is important, in order to have maximum effect, that you appear to be making up the
categories as you go. After all, if you're just creating the titles now, you couldn't have
possibly prepared anything could you?

So you have the participant write the titles in the order Number, Name, Word, before
having the pad closed and passed back to me. You now open the pad to the locked,
'switch out' side where your own preparation has been residing this whole time.

You are now set to do a one-ahead in a fair-appearing way.

One thing I do like to do is get the last two digits of the three-digit number the wrong
way around. This just gives almost a reason for you to proceed. Of course the final
'Word' from the book is forced. I've explained elsewhere how I prefer to do this*.

I hope you agree that this little extra subtlety for the one ahead has a lot of great
potential when mixed with your other material.

Naturally, in the absence of one of these switching pads - such as when your luggage
has been delayed by British Airways, you can simply use a regular spiral-bound
notebook where you prepare the front of the note book with the words in the order
Word, Number, Name.

Now you proceed as described, just without the fancy-pants locking mechanism of
the Kozar pad. Just keep a closer eye on your volunteers to make sure they don't start
playing with your pad.

* See Bookend in this book.

 I

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=t===-====-}~
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-+===~=-=====I
-
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- -
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-

-
-

_ I
 BAIRN

CLOSING
THOUGHTS
Look, I know few people read this bit so it's the perfect place to hide a gem of
a routine. Which means I should have held something super special back from
the main book - which I didn't do. Maybe next time ey?

I would just like to thank everyone who has helped, inspired and been my friend in this
crazy stuff that is mentalism.

Forthe most part, the stories ofthese routines are fictional, ridiculous and purposefully
written to offend, upset and enrage. Which are in my top ten methods of keeping
people engaged. I hope it worked. The idea here was to write up these routines that
were less prescriptive where possible, to make it enjoyable and entertaining to read.
After all, this is all about entertaining and nothing else matters.

A person who sits and reads mentalism without performing it is no more a performer
or mentalist than someone listens to Whitney Housten albums for years is ever going
to be a real drug addict.

Please don't take any of it seriously. I'm just having fun, mainly at the expense of others.

Special thanks to Colin McLeod, Banachek, Bob Cassidy, Michael Murray and Nique
Tann for our brainstorming sessions over the years.

Thank you to Phill "The Beard"Smith of Sushi Design, for the artwork and layout of this
book. "Nobody does it better':

Additionally, I would like to thanks Steven Bridges for his tireless work editing this
book.
8A\RN