B2

A BILLET ROUTINE FOR THE WORKING MENTALIST

Introduction to B2
Within these pages you will find a routine that has served me well for the
last years. Working mostly in the realm of mentalism, this little gem (if you
allow this term) is done with billets. For quite some time now, there has
been a movement in mentalism to get away from „props“ and try to do
the so called „real thing“. Whatever the real thing is. Nobody knows how
the real stuff would look like. It is open to subjective interpretations.

I earn my living with performing and if I have to decide between some of

that „real stuff“ and my routine, I will always choose B2. The reasons for
that are very clear. Most of that „real stuff“ reads quite impressive on
paper, may work some time in situations one on one, but in most of the
cases it does not play that good on a large stage. Performing for a
paying audience there is no room for a routine that can fail to 100%. I
need material that works all the time and on all kind of stages and
different venues. For this case B2 could be performed surrounded too.

Regarding the use of billets - those that are arguing about using billets or
not, may stick with arguing. I go out and perform. There is nothing wrong
with billet work. At least if you have practiced and do it well.

So enjoy B2 and have fun performing.

B2 - A Working Mans Billet
Routine
Within this two phased routine you gonna read the thoughts of two
people in a fair and convincing way. Especially the second phase looks
very clean to your audience. B2 packs small, and plays big. I know this is
something we here everyday, but for B2 it is true. It is suited for stand up
as well as for stage. (Heck, you could even perform it close up if you
really wish) Without further ado let’s get down to business.

Requirements:
A large paper clip

8 index cards (for practical reasons I use cards within the dimensions of:
74mm x 52 mm).

2 Pencils for the specs to write.

1 big marker for you.

1 A3 sized notepad (sketchpad...) with (spiral) binding on the long side.

Preparation
Fold each of the index cards into quarters, than straighten them out
again. (to be specific: take the card between your hands with the short
ends left and right, and the long ones top/bottom. Now fold the left side
over to the right, crease the fold. Now fold the top downwards on the
bottom quarter. Again, crease the fold. The „open sides“ of the billet
should now be on the bottom and right. During the routine it is essential
that the assistants fold their billets this way.
So we prefold the paper to make things easy for them (and us).

With a pen draw a straight line in the middle on every card. To the left
end of the line make an: X: This will show the assistants where to write
their thoughts. See picture below.

Take one of the cards put it aside, stack the others (line side on top) and
put them together with the paperclip. Put the paperclip on a short side of
the cards. With the long side of the clip on top (the side with the X:) of
the cards.

Take the index card you put aside and write a time of your own choosing
on the line. No one will ever see it, so it really doesn’t matter. You can
leave the paper blank too, of course. Fold this card into quarters. In best
tradition we will call this billet „the dummy“. Mark the dummy on both
sides, so that you can distinguish it from a „regular, unmarked billet“.

The marking can be a little dot, a little line, clipping of corners...

whatever you are comfortable with. Don’t make it to subtle, you should
be able to see the markings fast and well on stage. Just look at mine in
the picture on the next side.
Put the dummy behind the stack of cards, fixed to the index cards with
the paper clip too. The folded sides of the dummy should be on the left
and on top.

At least if you hold the stack in your left hand, with the dummy nearest to
your fingers. For descriptive reasons I will now call the whole package
„the stack“.

Put the stack in your left outer jacket pocket. I suppose that you wear one
for performing. If not, please discover yourself the necessary pocket
work.

The two pencils are put into your right outer jacket pocket.

Put the big marker and notepad at a place where you can easily get
them. In my case, I put the marker into my left inside jacket pocket, and
the note pad is placed on a bar stool close behind, slightly right to the
center performing area on stage.

Sounds like a lot of things to do, but you will have the preparation done
in a few minutes. Nothing complicated, nothing expensive to buy, as they
say - a mentalists dream. One word on the pencils you give your helpers
to write with. I never ask to return them. I have printed my URL on it, and
I leave them with my helpers. Search the net for this great little
"souvenir".
PERFORMANCE
At the beginning you will choose two spectators from your audience. I
always use two woman. I just feel more comfortable with the opposite
sex, and as so many other performers have pointed out - they tend to
react way better. At least if you treat them right and if they are feeling
well being on stage with you.

Person A is chosen from the right side of your audience (performers

view), and person B should be seated more to the left. Just look at the
drawing - it shows what I mean.
I always try to know very soon which person(s) I will choose for which
routine. Right from the start of the show I scan my audience and classify
(silent and in my mind only) who will be a good assistant and for which
routine. Going the route of „pre choosing“ saves me a lot of nerves and
quite important - time. Anyway, back to the routine.

Make your intro speech or whatever you do to start your miracles. I give
you some (but not all) of my patter here in italics. Be advised to create
your own. It is much more fun that way, and speaking of the artistic side,
much more satisfying.

Looking over the audience, let your eyes fall on person A.:

Looking at you I have a very good feeling and I think this could work out.
So if you don’t mind... May I ask your name?

She informs you that her name is Mary.

Mary, there are moments in life that are special. Moments that you will
not forget for the rest of your time being. Moments that fill you with joy
and positive energy whenever you think of them. Please think of one of
those moments in your life.

Reach into your left outer jacket pocket and take out the clipped stack of
index cards. X: side up, dummy underneath.

Mary, you got a special moment in your mind? Yes, perfect. Now that one
thing is sure, the moment you have chosen will stay with you Mary. It will
not be spoken out loud, it is, and will be your secret.

Why do we say that? Because we want the spectator to feel at ease. At

least for the next minutes. From time to time you will find out what the
moment was (just like the real thing) and than it will come as a complete
surprise (more a shock) to them. But back on topic.

BUT Mary, in most of the cases, we do remember the time when

these moments happened. We may not remember the exact time, but
close, within a 10 Minute frame. Mary, just yes or no, do you have a time
for the moment you are thinking of too?

Regarding the „yes or no“ being used in the paragraph above. This
wording has a very good reason. We don’t want Mary to shout out the
time she has in her mind. Without the yes or no, this could happen. If she
says „No“, let her try to remember, and if she can’t, tell her to make up a
time she thinks it could have happened. In all those years it never
happened to me, but never say never…

Mary says „Yes“ - of course.

Good, because it is the time we are interested in.

Your right hand takes of the paperclip from the stack, and your left thumb
pushes the top card over to the right. The right takes it, thumb
underneath and first finger on top (still holding the paperclip) and turns
it, showing the X: side to the audience.

The dummy is resting in fingerpalm position in your left hand. It is

covered by the other index cards. Seen on the pic next side.
Mary, write down your time next to the X: and fold the paper into
quarters with the time hidden inside.

Hand Mary the paper and a pencil (from your right outside jacket pocket).
If you can’t reach her directly, or if you don’t want to leave the stage now,
hand the paper and pencil someone in the first row. Tell them to give it to
Mary. Look over your audience and announce that you also need another
willing mind. Look at person B.

Hi, whats your name? Her name is Eve. Eve, for you I got something
different. Think of a person you knew when you where still in school. It
can be anyone. A friend, a teacher, it’s up to you.

Your left thumb pushes another piece of paper to the right. It is taken
with your right hand the same way as the first one.

Eve, write down the name of the person on the paper, next to the X: and
fold it into quarters too. Just like Mary over there.

Go down from the stage and give Eve the paper and a pen. Put the
paperclip back on the rest of the index cards, but not on the dummy
which is still resting in fingerpalm position in your left hand.
The clipped stack is covering the dummy.

Go to Mary. She should have finished her task by now. Reach out with
your right hand, showing through your gesture that she should give you
her billet. Take it with your right, holding it between your thumb, first and
second fingers. The folded sides of the billet should be to the left and on
top. This will be important in a few minutes. So be sure to hold it this
way.

Here we go, we have Mary’s thought, looking at Eve, Eve how about you?

During the last sentence a few things happen at the same time. First you
will start to go back to Eve, as soon as you start doing that, you take
down your right hand with the billet, take the clipped stack of index cards
from your left - covering with it the billet in your right, taking the dummy
from fingerpalm between thumb, first and second fingers of the left hand
and holding your left away from your body, just as you would do if you
want to give Mary’s billet to Eve. This is an old switching technique.

The whole thing should be done in one fluid motion. See the following
pictures, breaking down the process.
Give the dummy (which everyone assumes to be Mary's billet) to Eve for
holding that one too.

Eve, take Mary’s thought too, close your hands around them and shake
them up inside your hands, so that you do not know which thought is
which.

For Eve’s better understanding you show her what to do. Put the stack
and Mary’s billet (which is underneath) on your left fingers.
Put your right hand cupped on top and start shaking a little.


This procedure is not only for showing Eve what to do, but also for the
replacement of Mary’s billet into your left.

As soon as Eve has shaken the two billets tell her to stand up and to
follow you up on stage.
Eve, you will be involved a little more than Mary. Please follow me up on
stage.

Turn around, and walk back onto the stage. As soon as you are up on
stage put away the stack of cards, but retain Mary’s billet in your left hand
fingerpalm. With your left hand take the notepad, fingers and Mary’s
billet underneath and thumb on top. Your right hand grabs the opposite
side of the notepad. You hold the pad like a tray, the spiral binding is the
side farthest away from you.

Tell Eve to stand on your left side and to throw the two pieces of paper
onto the pad. As soon as they hit the pad, look for the dummy.

Eve, we will work with only one thought, and coincidence will decide
which one. Please take one of the pieces up…

Depending which one of the two papers she picks up you will have to
say:

Eve picks up the dummy: …and tear it into pieces. We won’t use it
anymore.

Eve picks up her own piece: …hold on that for a moment, we don’t
need the other one anymore. Suiting your words, you take the dummy
from the pad and put it away into one of your pockets.

So we have to make sure that Eve picks up her own paper. The dummy
has fulfilled its purpose and will be destroyed/put away. Tell her to hold
her right hand palm up, putting the paper on her right palm, covering it
with her left.

Eve, for the next few seconds, you will trust your imagination. Close your
eyes.

As soon as she does close her eyes, you shift the notepad to a „cover
position“ for things coming. See the next pic (seen from audience view).
Your left is free and behind, your right holds the pad now vertically, spiral
binding on the top, right hand reaching over the pad at the audience
side and holding the pad at the bottom side. It looks like a normal
comfortable way to hold the pad.

Eve, just listen to your inner voice. What thought is written on the paper
you are holding? Is it the time, or is it the name?

It is during this talk that you open the billet behind the notepad with your
left hand.
Let the billet a little bit loose, it will spring open to tent position. Your left
thumb opens the billet with two moves. See the following pictures for a
break down.

Put your thumb between the two quarters of the billet that just popped
open due the natural tension, and push your thumb up.
This will open the billet halfway. Now slide your thumb across the billet,
catching the top short side edge of the billet, and pull your thumb back.
This opens the billet complete. Seen on the pics.
Clip the corner of the paper which is nearest to your little finger between
it and the third finger. As soon as you got it, grasp the pad with your left

hand. Your left thumb goes on top of the note pad, pressing it firmly on
your first finger. This enables you to let the pad go with your right hand.
From the front it looks like you are holding the pad just with your left
hand (which in fact you do). The pad is hanging to the floor. If you look
down, you see the time person A wrote on the paper.

Bluntly looking down isn’t something I would recommend, so here is the/

a cover for the glimpse.
Eve, what thought is it? Keep your eyes closed and trust your intuition. I
will try it for myself too.

While saying that reach across with your right hand, lay it on Eve hands
and look down. It should look like you are sensing the thought. After you
glimpsed the time, take back your right hand, again holding the note pad
at the bottom side with the spiral binding. Let go with your left thumb,
and behind the pad, fold the paper back into the billet. Your left thumb
just reverses the moves done before to open the billet.

With your thumb push the left half of the paper over onto the right, slide
up your thumb and push the upper quarters onto the lower ones. The
paper is now folded again.

The whole opening, glimpsing, refolding is a matter of seconds. After

you are finished, tell Eve to open her eyes.

Eve, what does your intuition tell you it is? The time, or the name?

Under your talking with Eve you move the pad up, so that it is parallel
with the floor. The left thumb grasps the notepad again on top, freeing
your right to open it up, bringing the top cover of the pad to the
backside. A nice white sheet of paper is now showing.

As soon as your right hand has brought the top cover back, it grasps the
whole pad on the bottom side (the side opposite the spiral binding)
holding the pad firmly, swinging the pad up, the white paper facing your
body, the back showing to the audience. Your left (with the billet) reaches
under the pad up to the top, and holds it at the spiral binding. In this
way, the billet is held against your fingers (fingerpalm) in a natural way.
Please look at the following picture for the "end position". As you will
recognize I hold the pad with my right hand not with my left as written
above.

This is due that I had to take the photo over a mirror and you see the
mirror image where left becomes right.

Meanwhile Eve will have told you what she thinks is written on the paper
she is holding. If she is right congratulate her. If she misses say: No, have
another try...

Take out your marker with your right hand, and with only one hand open
it. To do this hold it tight with your second, third and little finger, and
push of the cap with your thumb and first finger. The cap is given to your
left hand, holding it with the thumb and first finger. The other fingers
hold the pad. Just look at the pic. My left is holding the cap from the
marker and is also palming the billet.
It does look quite natural.

By now Eve will have said the correct thought, which is of course

the time. At least this is what everyone should believe.


Yep, the time. This is what I got too. This was the easy part, now

comes the fun.

Looking at person A (Mary) tell her to stand up and think on the time she
has in her mind.

Mary, do me favor. Go through your moment again. Make it bright and

colourfull. See it, feel it. Now that’s nice, do that again (whatever she just
thought, we don’t know, but it will put a smile on her face most of the
time. To the rest of the audience it looks like you start „seeing“ with her
minds eye.)

ATTENTION: Through all the years working this routine and others with a
theme of memories and time I found out that there are three main
categories women use for choosing an important memory:

If the time is something like 13:13, 14:14... it will be probably the time of
her wedding.

if the time is something like 23:17, 05:29... it will probably be the birth of
a child. Most of the time it is the first child.

If the time is something like 20.00, 21.00... it will probably be a memory

of something romantic. First date, having sex on the beach...

Just move carefully into the territory of Marys memory and go for it. You
don’t have to, but it can be a good opportunity. If you miss, who cares,
you still got the time to fall back and come out as a international man of
mystery. Just suppose that you glimpsed the time 08:17. In this case I
would go for the birth like this:

Mary, I get the feeling the moment you have choosen is very important to
you. It was a moment of great joy. But within this joy was also pain. Look
at her reactions while you talk. If she nods at the „pain“ you are home
free. Something along the line of two becoming one, and than... than
three? If she says no, just shrug your shoulders. If she agrees just look at
her and say: It was your first?! This is way stronger than: It was the birth of
your child. Believe me, it took me a long way to realize this. Every woman
in your audience will know what you are talking about.

Ok, Mary keep moving. Somewhere in your memory there will be a

watch. I just have to look for.... Please substitute to your style. My text in
this phase in my shows goes along different lines than given here.

Got it. I couldn’t see it very well, but I think I got it.

Write down the time you glimpsed but be not spot on. I am always off by
one minute. If I know the time is 13.44, I will write 13.43 or 13.45. This
serves two purposes. First it is a little convincer for the audience that you
didn’t see the time on the paper. Otherwise you would have written it
down 100% correct. At least this is the way I see it. Second, having a little
mistake in this phase makes the second one stronger where you will have
a total hit. Otherwise there is no room for the second phase playing
stronger as the first one. From a dramaturgical point of view this is
something we should avoid. Anyhow, each to his own and I don’t want to
sound like one of the thousands „know it all super duper guys“ out there.

You have written down the correct time (or the nearly correct time). Hold
your pad that Eve doesn’t see what you write. Put the pen from your right
into the cap held between your left thumb and first finger, closing the
marker. Your right takes the pad, holding it at the bottom side (opposite
of the spiral binding side), freeing your left, which takes the marker now
in full grip. The palmed billet is held against the marker and covered from
all sides.

Eve take of your left hand (supposing that her left is resting on top of her
right), I have committed myself.

Eve takes of her left hand. With your left thumb and first finger take the
billet from her hand in pinch grip (still holding the marker). Your right lays
the notepad writing side down on her right palm.

Hold onto this Eve. Now comes the moment of truth.

You unfold the billet with both hands, your left is still holding the marker
and the palmed billet. You can see Eves thought - the name. Looking at
her and than at the audience you announce that indeed it is the time.

Yep, I was right with the time. Mary (now looking at her) you thought of
XY (name the correct time you glimpsed earlier as you look down on the
paper). Turn the paper around to show it to the audience. Nobody can
see what is written on, but we get another little convincer. Seemingly
absent minded fold the paper back into the billet and hold it with your
right thumb and first finger. Make a quarter turn to Eve, look at her
saying.

Eve, sometimes I get close, sometimes very close, and sometimes I miss
total. If I did come close within a leeway of five minutes I would consider
this as success.

While you turn to her and say your line the two billets will be switched: As
you start turning to Eve, your right thumb pulls the billet down onto the
fingers, and your right hand takes the marker from the left. It is taken in
normal grip, thumb and fingers around it. The billet is covered from all
sides. At the same time your left thumb pushes the palmed billet from
fingerpalm position up, so that it is held between your thumb and first
finger.

See the pictures for a break down of the switch. This is an old technique,
known today as Bob Cassidys Mic. Switch. Looking back in our art, Paul
Rosini had his version of this switch, Alex Elmsley had a version...
Surely you will agree. Nodding your head to that statement and
gesturing a little with the billet in your left. Your right hand puts the
marker and the billet away inside your left jacket pocket. Everything is
done by now. You know both thoughts and you are clean. What a
wonderful feeling.

Eve, what time has Mary written down? Unfold the billet again, let Eve
read and announce the time.

The main purpose is to show Eve, and through Eve the audience, that it
is really the time written on the paper. Eve says the time out loud.

13:44 Pause a little 13:44, and this is what I got.

Lift the pad on Eves hand, so that only she can see the time you wrote
down. You want to play the revelation first over her reaction down to the
audience.

Eve gasps, smiles, whatever. Now turn the pad around, showing the
audience what you wrote down. After the uhhs and ahhhs have stopped
ask your audience for a big round of applause for Marry and Eve. Gesture
Eve to leave the stage. But just before she goes down the stairs hold her
back.

Eve, wait a minute. You looked a little disappointed that it wasn’t your
thought we worked with. Come back here please.

Eve comes back, she stands once again on your left side.
Eve, you were thinking of a person, do me a favor and picture him or her
in you mind…

And here we start again…You are in a wonderful position. Nothing to

hide, all the work done, a super clean revelation coming. You are free to
perform this revelation as it suits your style.

If I may advise you on one thing; do it piece by piece. Don’t just blurt out
the name. You can do that of course, it’s up to you, but you would give a
lot of mileage away. One of the best ways for the revelation is Alexander
Marsh’s „Sixth Sense Ploy“. It can be found

in his book „Hybrid Mentalism“.

Another good approach is Banachecks „Brain Game“ from his

Psychological Subtilities Vol. I. Since you know the name Eve has written
down, you also know the sex. Reveal that first. After that go into „Brain
Game“.

If it fits your persona you can incorporate some cold reading stuff like Ian
Rowlands Doppelgänger approach...

As you can see you have tons of possibilities for the second phase.
Before I forget it; within the second phase of B2, don’t mention the
paper/billet where Eve noted her thought on, anymore. People tend to
forget very quickly. At the end of B2 most of your audience will not
remember that Eve wrote something down.

At least not immediately. The picture that will be in their head is that of
pure mindreading. Don’t ruin that.
Credits:
My starting point for B2 was Barrie Richardsons „A Dessert and a First
Love“ from his book „Curtain Call“.

The note pad glimpse is an idea of Jas Jakutsch and can be found in Vol.
2 of his „Completely Mental“ Series. This series is highly recommended
for the working mentalist.