MindCraft: Psionics

Written by a Homophone of MM's Author

 Forward
And so you come to the last of my published works. They are not many, but they

are some of the best. If you know Prime, The Fair, Under Thin Ice, Wonder

Weapon, Mene, Mene, Dekel, and Invisible Impression then I think you can

consider yourself to be an entertaining, impromptu thought reader.

For once I seem to be at a loss for words. What more can I say? Bon Apetit.
 Table of Contents
Mene, Mene, Dekel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A “writing on the wall” effect wherein the spectator writes a two digit number in

the air without you looking, and then you are able to name it.

Time Warp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Think of a virtually impromptu PK time effect.

To and Fro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Forcing words was never this fun.

Going the Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

A ridiculously fair book test in which one spectator chooses a page number and

the other thinks of the word.

Fair CAAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Your spectator names a card and number. The card is found at the number.

Prime v2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

An ethocentric version of Prime that can be used better on Americans.

Go Ahead, Think for Yourself . . . . . . . .24

On spectator chooses a card, writes its name, shows it to another spectator, and

then you show the card to yet another spectator. They all think of different cards.

Invisible Impression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Read the minds of your spectators by getting invisible impressions from a pad.

Parting Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Alas, every good thing must come to an end.

 Mene, Mene, Dekel
Description:

A spectator thinks of a number. He/she then write it with their finger in the air,

while the mentalist looks away. The mentalist then names the number the

spectator is thinking of. This will take a little work to get down, but when you do

you should start to get a hit rate of near 95% with it. No peeks, of any sort are

used. No cameras, stooges, mirrors, contact, pendulums, blindfolds, glances, dual

reality, nothing. They are not forced. No pre-show. The spectator never names

their number. No billets, or writing of any kind. No gaffs or gimmicks of any sort

are used. You will need nothing other than yourself to perform this effect. The

spectator sees everything that happens. PINs are also possible to reveal.

Explanation:

To perform this effect, you need practice, guts, and most of all superb spectator

management. Position your hands like the picture to the right.

That invisible rectangle is going to be your wall that your

spectator will write on. The larger you make it the more

accurate your “air reading” will be. You could say something

along the lines of the following:

Performer: “Can you see the rectangle formed by my fingers?”

Spectator: “That? Yeah.”

Performer: “I've only told a few people this, but I have the ability to see things a

few seconds after they've happened. Optic signals take longer for my brain to

decode then they do in other people. To show you how this works, do me a favor

and think of a number from 1 to 100 that has two even digits. Do that right now.”

Spectator: “[pause] OK, I got one.”

Performer: “Great, now I'm going to turn my head in just a second, and I want you

to draw the first digit of your number in the rectangle formed by my hand. Make it

big, because it's already hard enough to see an air drawn number, let alone a tiny

one, but don't touch my hands while your doing it. When you're done, just keep

you finger where you finished drawing and say 'Done'. By holding the end position

for a few seconds it helps me pick out the motion. Here, let me show you.”

At this point draw a random digit in the air. Make it large, pause for a few seconds

at the end as you say done. This will cement the pause at the end in their mind.

Performer: “You got it?”

Spectator: “Yes.”

Performer: “[turns head far away] Alright, go ahead.”

Spectator: “[draws first digit] Done.”

Performer: “[turns head back] Perfect, now for the second digit. Do exactly what

you just did for the second digit.”

Spectator: “[draws second digit] Done.”

Performer: “Great. I may be wrong because it's sometimes hard to tell numbers

apart, but I think I saw the number 64. Is that right?”

Spectator: “Yes!”

Now that you've heard the performance, here's the method: all you're doing is

watching where there finger tip ends. Even though people write some numbers

differently (most notably 8), and some numbers have the same ending location

(like the way some people can write 1, 7, 9, and 4, or 3, 5, and 7, among other

combinations), if you choose only even numbers, you can still give them a wide

range of numbers to choose (22, 24, 26, 28, 42, 44, 46, 48, 62, 64, 66, 68, 82, 84,

86, and 88) from. 16 in all, in a way that won't make them mess up like limiting

them to the classic force of numbers from 50-100 with only two different even

numbers might. The choice seems wide and fair, is easy to come up with, and not

too hard to discover. Plus, worst case you can just blame their “handwriting” if

you get a digit wrong; and it's pretty hard to get them wrong since there are only

4 digits they could be writing.

Here is the diagram that shows you the possible locations that they could end on:

As you can see, I flipped the image so that you

can see what it will look like from your side

(because the audience's writing will be mirrored

to you). As you can see, 4 will end somewhere

around the middle, maybe a little to the left of it.

8 can be in the very center if you write them like

I do, or anywhere in the top section if you write

like most people. 6 will always be on the right

center, and 2 will always be in the bottom left corner. Thus, as long as you get

them to hold their finger after they finish the drawing, and get them to draw large

enough (both of which you reinforce by a quick demonstration), you will always

be able to tell what digit they wrote. You can always change the size of the box if

you are having difficulty.

An interesting technique you can use for many other applications then just

“proving” the little story I concocted. The nice thing about it is that you never

need props of any kind. The effect might seem transparent, but it is not.

Book Test

As you would guess, you can use this for a book test; memorize 16 words (it's not

that hard), ask them to think of the number, write it in the air, have them flip to

that page, and then read their mind. Quite convenient as it can be done

anywhere, impromptu, as long as you have a trained memory. You can easily find

some form of peg system online or make one of your own to memorize the 16

words. If you don't want to look one up, try memorizing these images:

(1) A tree. The number one looks like a tree.

(2) A swan. The number two looks like a swan.

(3) A stool. A stool has three legs.

(4) A car. A car has four wheels.

(5) A glove. A glove has five fingers.

 (6) Dice. Dice have six sides.

(7) A golf club. A golf club looks like the number 7.

(8) A snow man. A snow man looks like the number eight.

(9) A balloon. A balloon looks like the number 9.

(10) A basketball hoop. From the top, the number 10 looks like a

basketball hoop.

(11) A soccer/football goal. The two posts look like the number 11.

(12) An egg. Eggs come in a dozen (12).

(13) A black cat. 13 is an unlucky number.

(14) A gold ring. 14 karat gold.

(15) A body builder lifting weights. Lifting rhymes with 15.

(16) A teenage girl. Sweet sixteen.

Whenever you read one of the words, just peg it to the image, and then when you

get their number, convert it into a number from 1-16. One way is by putting it into

one of these brackets:

(1-4): 22, 24, 26, 28

(5-8): 42, 44, 46, 48

(9-12): 62, 64, 66, 68

(13-16): 82, 84, 86, 88

You divide the first digit by 2 to find the bracket, and then just dividing the second

digit by two to see which one of the four it is. This sounds like a lot of work, but in
practice it takes almost no time.

For instance, they think of the number 82. I jump to 13, know that 82 is the first of

the bracket, see a black cat because 13 is an “unlucky number”, see the cat is

sitting down, and then say the word “sat”.

Regardless of how you choose to do it, there is no rush in adding the words, or

getting the number/word, you are reading their mind, it shouldn't be instant

anyways. Here's some more examples, shorter then before.

You get the number 28. First bracket, fourth value. You see a car, and in the

driver's set you see a window. You say “window”.

You get the number 64, third bracket (6/2=3), second number (4/2=3). 9-12

bracket. 9, 10, 11. You see a soccer goal, and in it is a mailman (male man). You

say “he”.

With a very little practice you will have this down and be able to perform an

impromptu book test anywhere.

PIN Revelation

In this version, just ask your spectator to think up a four digit PIN composed solely

of even digits, and then run through the process. Your excuse for having them

make one up (with even numbers)? You wouldn't want to steal their real one.
 Time Warp
Description:

A spectator begins by writing a number from 1 to 60 in the air. The mentalist then

places a watch face down on a table. The mentalist has the spectator choose an

hour. Then he concentrates, pushing the time back and back, hour by hour,

minute by minute, and then asks the spectator to flip over the watch. The time is

the same as the one as thought of by the spectator.

From the time the mentalist places the watch on the table, to the time when it is

flipped over, he never touches the watch.

Explanation:

This method hinges on a few methods. The first is Mene, Mene, Dekel, as you've

probably guessed. The second is a short but clever equivoque technique that

forces the hour. The last factor is a delay that I created to give you time to set the

minute.

So to begin, set your (analog) watch to the hour 5:30, and keep the time changing

pin out. This will make it easy and quick when you start your performance. Next,

ask your spectator to think of a number from 1 to 60 with two even digits. After

they write the first digit (for sake of example I will say that it is 4), tell them to

stand back to back with you and just try to think the number to you. While they
do this, of course, slide out your watch and set it the the tens of the digit they just

signed +5 ones. This sounds complicated but it's quite easy. In my case, their first

digit is 4, so just twitch the dial a little bit until it gets to 5:45. Now as your

spectator to turn back around, and place the watch down. Then run through the

force below:

Performer: “Pretend that I have two clock faces here, floating in the air, side by

side. This one on the left [points] is AM, and this one on the right [points] is PM.

Which of the two faces do you want me to take down? AM or PM?”

Spectator: “AM.”

Performer: “Alright, let me take that down and toss it to the side [physically does

so].” If they say PM, take it down and pretend to hold the clock face in both

hands, like a plate, and continue.

Performer: “Of the PM times, we have afternoon, from about 1 to 6 on the right,

and night, from about 7 to 12 on the left. Which side do you want me to break off,

afternoon, or night?”

Spectator: “Night.”

Performer: “Fair enough. Let me break that away [pretends to break off half of a

clock face or imaginary plate and tosses the half to the side].” If they choose

afternoon, then break off the afternoon, lift it up, and continue.

Performer: “[lifts up the afternoon segment and places it so that it looks like a

semicircle of a sunset or a protractor, its face facing the spectator] Of the

afternoon, we have early afternoon, about 1 to 4ish, and the time when work gets

out, from about 5 to 6 or so. [as he says this, the performer pulls his finger along
an invisible edge of the half circle]. Do me a favor and blow on one of them. The

afternoon [points], or rush hour. [points]”

Spectator: “[blows on rush hour]”

Performer: “Alright, rush hour starts at about 5. What was the number you wrote

in the air just a second ago, from 1 to 60?”

Spectator: “42.”

Performer: “5:42. Give me a second. [concentrates on the watch] Alright, I think I

got that. Let's have a look. [points towards watch]”

So there it is. The spectator turns over the watch and you call out the time (you

can fudge it by a minute or so to make it sound closer) mentioning something

about concentrating to hard.

 To and Fro
Description:

The mentalist hands a spectator a piece of paper and a pencil, and asks him to jot

down 20 random words, and then write numbers over top of each word. He then

turns around and asks the spectator to place their finger on any word and slide

their finger to and fro over the list of words, eventually settling on one. He then is

able to name the word.

This effect can also be used to force a cards, or a word from your own list, or to

force a word on a page in book test. It can also be performed over the phone.

Explanation:

Ask your spectator to write 20 random words in a horizontal row, and then

number them 1-20 from left to right, writing the numbers over top of the words.

Now turn around and have a look at their list, saying that you are “checking to

see if they have the write number of words”, or something like that. Memorize

word number 9. Ask your spectator to put their finger on any of the words from 5

to 15. Now continue along with the patter below. I have assumed that the number

they chose to start on is 13

Performer: “Alright, now that you have your finger on a word, remember the

number of your word.”

Spectator: “Alright, got it.”

Performer: “Great. Now let me get used to telling you how to move your finger

back and forth over the list. Start by moving your finger 3 words to the right.”

Spectator: “OK.” (Spectator is now at word 16)

Performer: “Now let's go 7 words to the left.”

Spectator: “OK.” (Spectator is now at word 9)

Performer: “Now let's go 10 words to the right.”

Spectator: “Yep.” (Spectator is now at word 19)

Performer: “Now go left the number of your original word.”

Spectator: “One second... OK.” (Spectator is now at word 6)

Performer: “Good. Now go right 3.”

Spectator: “Got it.” (Spectator is now at word 9)

Performer: “Now I want you to look at the word, and visualize it in your mind.

Close your eyes and see that word. It seems large... It can fly... Are you thinking of

the word, dragon?”

Spectator: “Yes!”

This is a simple mathematical trick, but the math of it is lost on the spectator

because they are moving by words, not numbers. If you memorize the sequence

of moves above, you will always end at 9, because they start at x, and then you

tell them to move: x+3-7+10-x+3 = (x-x)+(3-7)+(10+3) = 0 - 4 + 13 = 9.

You can also perform this effect using your own list of words; I normally do so. It's

quite simple, and they will always end on the word you want.
Book Test

This method is simple. Go to your force page(s), and memorize the 9th word, and

then continue with the effect. You can adapt the numbers and the “padding”

(forcing them to choose a number from 5-15, so that you can go to the left or

right without running out of words), to force any number, and then slide back and

forth as necessary. The one major difference is that they will have to count from

left to right to the word they want to start on in order to remember the number,

because the words aren't numbered. But this way actually makes it more

powerful because there aren't numbers for them to keep track of on the page.

Yet another handling for the book test (that I normally use), is to do the force not

only on a single line, but to select the line vertically, and then to go through

with the horizontal selection. You still only have to memorize one word on the

page, but the impossibility seems to skyrocket.

Cards

Using this on cards just makes sense. Deal of a row of cards from left to right,

memorize the 9th, and then run through the process, and reveal as you like.

Alternatively, your spectator does not have to use their finger. When using cards, I

tend to put a whole set of a suit, from Ace to King, so that they can keep track of

numbers easily.
 Going the Distance
Description:

You call up a spectator, and have them think of a number from 1 to 300. You then

hand them an index card and have them write it down, and fold it into quarters.

You place the paper on the ground about 5-10 feet away from you where

everyone can see it, thank the volunteer, and ask them to sit down. You then

continue on with your show, and at the very end, call up another spectator. You

ask them to choose any of the books. You then point to the paper on the ground,

and ask them to flip to the specified number in their chosen book, and look at the

first word on the page. They do so. You go on to name the word in whatever way

you like.

No equivoque is used, no peeks, no stooges, no gaffed books, and no memorizing

of 1500 words.

Explanation:

The method is short and simple. You call up a spectator, have them think of their

number and write it down. You then take it from them so that you can place it out

of your reach. As you do so, you switch it. I'm not going to go greatly indepth of

the switches you can use. You can fake palm it and switch it from hand to hand,

you can place their billet in a hand where you already have another, and then
take out your billet; it doesn't matter. If you are reading this book and you don't

already know how to switch a billet, you probably shouldn't be reading MindCraft,

and should be reading SwitchCraft.

Simply go to each of however many books you are using and flip to some fixed

page number. Memorize the first word on the page. Switch the billets. Ask another

spectator to read the word. Reveal as you like.

Prediction

This is so simple it almost doesn't need explaining, but you could do this effect

with one book, or a few and use equivoque, or switch out the covers of a few

identical books, however you like. However you do it, use the method to force one

word, and have a prediction of any sort around. Have the spectator show the

revelation.

Additional Note:

Instead of limiting yourself to just a page number, you could ask them to write a

page number, followed by a comma and then a line number, followed by another

comma and a word number.

Another method I've used, if you don't mind doing a bit of work, is printing out

100 business cards all labeled with numbers from 1 to 100, folding them all in
half, and placing them all in neat rows on a table so that their numbers are visible

(it doesn't take as long as it sounds, and you can do it before the show). You then

ask a spectator to inspect them, then asking them to scoop the whole lot into a

hat that they have also examined, mix them up, close their eyes, and pick one

out. You then perform the switch with another card, and place it off to the side. Go

through your routine. Additionally, on your table the entire time are however

many books you like. At the end of your performance, just have your volunteer

read the card, flip to that page in any of the books, and the rest is obvious.

Two benefits to this version: you only need one spectator, and they can name the

number aloud if they choose (or not).

 Fair CAAN
Description:

The performer hands a spectator a pack of cards. The spectator names a card,

and then freely names any number from 1-52. The mentalist deals down to the

number, and the named card is found at that number. No card switches or other

sleights of hand are used. The spectator has the deck before the effect begins,

and the card they deal to is their card.

Explanation:

I'm including this primarily because I think I somehow I missed this wonderful

application of the Fair in my previous books. In case you don't know what the Fair

is, I will go over it briefly here, if you want a more thorough version of it, get a

copy of MindCraft: Perceptions.

The Fair is essentially a very quick and simple way to force a card using

equivoque in just three choices. No actual cards are used, and you can do it

literally in seconds. Here is how it works:

1. Tell your spectator that you are holding an invisible deck. Tell them that it

includes number cards and picture cards. Ask which ones they want you to

remove from the pack. If they say number cards, physically take out a
 packet and toss it away. If they say picture cards, pretend to slide out a

packet and....

2. Split the packet apart and place the two halves in the air. Tell them that

there are male cards or female cards, pointing to each half. Ask them which

ones they want you to take down. If they say male cards, take them down

and toss them away. If they say female cards, take them down and....

3. Split the female packet in half and place them before you, face down. Point

to them saying that there are red and black queens. Ask them to visualize

one of the two disappearing. If they say black, then say that they have

selected a red queen. If they say red, ask them to imagine the card

disappearing from the air and reappearing in the deck.

Congratulations, you have just forced a red queen (the Queen of Hearts in our

case, they won't care if it's hearts or diamonds as long as its a red queen. Now to

the dealing of the cards.

You have already prepared your Queen of Hearts, and placed it at position 17.

Why 17? There's a fair chance (pun intended) that they will name 17 right off the

bat, and if not, there is also a good chance that they will name a lower number as

opposed to a higher one both statistically, and thinking of time.

What was the preparation you did to the Queen? You rounded its corners a bit

shorter, thats what. This way you can easily cut to it whenever you need to (and

you will need to).

So, after your spectator names their number, whatever it is, deal off the number

of cards, and when you get to their number, put the card off to the side and begin

to patter about the impossibility of the feat or some story about how this came to

be, etc. While you are doing this, put the deck back together and cut the Queen

to the top. Now you have two choices. You could keep talking and do a top

change, or you could place the card on the table back on top of the deck and do a

double lift. I normally opt for the top change, but if you feel more comfortable

with the double lift, go right ahead; that's why you only rounded the corners.

An alternative version is simply to use a one way, Queen of Hearts forcing deck.

This method would allow your spectator to deal the cards by themselves to any

number that they merely think of.

 Prime v2
Description:

A spectator thinks of a word. Any word. You have them change their mind 1-3

times, and then name what they are thinking of. This takes all of 20 seconds.

Essentially it's a new version of Prime for the ethnocentric.

Explanation:

If you are familiar with Prime from MindCraft: Perceptions, or Thought Chunnel by

Joshua Quinn, then you will understand this very easily. The one draw back is that

it will only work for U.S. citizens. If you want roughly the same thing that will work

in other languages, get a copy of MindCraft: Perceptions. Now onto the effect.

While using Prime, I ran into some annoyances. Many (but not all) people here in

the U.S. are very ethnocentric. Thus they know very little about the rest of the

world, and other countries in the world. I was blessed to grow up in a multicultural

family and have been to 13 different countries, but many of my spectators have

not. Thus they got hung up with coming up with the names of certain countries.

My solution? Use the U.S. states. Thus I have created a very clean and concise

rehash of Prime for my fellow Americans. Here is an example of what a routine

using this new version of Prime might look like:

Performer: “Please think of a word.”

Spectator: “[pause] OK, got one.”

Performer: “Now think of a state that begins with the last vowel of your word.”

Spectator: “[pause] OK.”

Performer: “Great, now think of a fruit that begins with the last vowel of your

state.”

Spectator: “[pause] Got it.”

Performer: “Perfect. Now finally, I want you to think of an animal that begins with

the last letter of your fruit.”

Spectator: “OK.”

Performer: “Alright, now picture it in your mind's eye... It's large, and gray, it has

big, floppy ears... Are you thinking of an elephant?”

Spectator: “Yes!”

Now that you've seen how it looks, here's how it works:

The beauty of this system is that it is short, simple, and easy to follow for

Americans. Furthermore, the chances of them getting down the letter E are almost

100%, with a very small portion of people choosing the state Illinois being the only

exception to this rule.

 Go Ahead, Think for Yourself
Description:

One spectator chooses a card. He then writes its name down on a notepad. You

then sign his name under it and pass it off to another spectator, who remembers

the card. You then ask yet another spectator to look at the top card, and then

shuffle the deck. You then stand in front of each of the spectators and read their

mind. They are all thinking of a different card, but you get all of them correct. No

switching of the notepad is involved; the second spectator sees the same card the

first spectator wrote. Additionally, no dual reality is involved; the spectators can

compare their experiences/cards with each other or other spectators freely; they

really are thinking of totally different cards.

Explanation:

I've read many, many of these sorts of effects and decided that I wanted to do

one of my own. I wanted it to have three parts, and make a spectator write the

same card that they saw. I wanted every single one of the spectators to be willing

to swear that they saw what they saw. And then I came up with this.

Pick up a deck of cards. I know you have one. Now remove the six of hearts, and

put it second from the top card. Get yourself a notepad and a pencil/pen. You are

now ready to perform an amazing feat of mind manipulation.

Grab a group of people, and get your spectator. Do any force you like, as long as

the top two cards stay in place. I'm not going to go in depth into the many card

forces, but I normally stick with the classic Criss Cross force. Just ask your

spectator to cut off about half the deck and place it to the side. Then get eye

contact with them while saying something about the deck having 52 cards, and

then say you are going to mark their cut. As you say this, put the bottom half of

the pack on top of the top half that they just lifted off at a 90 degree angle so

the two halves form a cross. They will never catch what you did.

When you're done with your five second talk, pick up the top part of the cross and

place it to the side, saying something about showing them the card they cut to.

Now double lift the top two cards as one and show them to your spectator. They

see the six of hearts because you put it second from the top, memorizing the top

card. For sake of example I will call this card the King of Spades.

Now put the two cards back on the deck and deal off the top card, which is,

incidentally, not the six of hearts, but some other the King of Spades card. Leave

that card there and hand the notepad (held longways) to your spectator, asking

him to write the number of the card and draw it's suit. When they have completed

this, take the notepad, reaching your hand across and taking it from him directly

across from him so that you receive the notepad upside down.

Ask your spectator's name, and write it above his drawing the six of hearts, also

upside down and backwards. It might take a little practice writing things upside
down (and backwards), but you'll soon get the hang of it, and it's well worth it.

Optionally you can draw a line above their name for extra emphasis but it won't

be necessary. Then, to finish off, draw a little upwards stem from the center of the

upside down heart, to turn it into a spade when it is reversed.

Now place the notepad on the table and call for another spectator if you haven't

already done so, then shove it over to him so that when he flips it up he reads it

upside down. Even if it's flipped, he will naturally orient it by the name you wrote,

and clearly read the 9 of spades. Once he has memorized the card, take the pad

back, crumple/tear the paper and ditch it. Now ask a third spectator to look at the

card on the table (the King of Spades) without showing anyone else, and then ask

him/her to stick it in the pack and shuffle it thoroughly.

Finally get all of your spectators to stand up, facing the audience, and, looking

each of them in the eyes, name the cards that they are thinking of, one at a time,

making clear which of them you are talking to. You will naturally be correct, and

your spectators will all affirm, and even name the cards they were thinking of.

So now you are not only a mind reader, but a mind manipulator.
 Invisible Impression
Description:

Imagine giving a spectator a book, or a list of words, and then him to write down

a number on a pad of paper. You then ask your spectator to flip to that page in the

book, or memorize the word on the list. You then ask your spectator one question,

demonstrate that you already knew what the answer would be, and then name

the word.

Explanation:

The first time I performed this effect, while I was still experimenting with it, I

actually told my volunteer how I did it, and he still asked how I did it, assuming I

was lying. The simple secret is that you listen to what they write. Pencil reading

is also a nice way to accomplish it, and I often pencil read out of the corner of my

eye while listening, but you can do it without.

How can you listen to what they write every time? I tried listening to pencils and

pens before without the reliability necessary to pull off the effect I wanted. Then I

tried an erasable board marker. Try it out yourself. Some numbers, like 9 or 6, will

be hard to distinguish, so choose a restriction: all even numbers or all odd

numbers, preferably odd. I've personally discovered that 1, 3, 7, and 9 are very

easy to distinguish. You also need them to write somewhat big, so I recommend

drawing a box about 4-6 inches in height/width and asking them to write there.
You can justify this by saying that you are going to have them show their number

to the audience afterwards so it should be large enough for them to see.

By keeping your spectator concentrating on what they have to do next, they

won't have time to think of what you are doing. Ask them to think of a number

from 1-50 with two different, odd digits if you want an easy task, or a number

from 1-100 with any two odd digits for a bit more of a challenge. Hand your

spectator a list or book before hand and instruct them what to do before you ask

them to write; this will keep their mind on the next step.

On the next page is a list of words that you can print out to perform the effect,

but feel free to make up your own.

1. word 34. brother 67. foot
2. letter 35. sister 68. feet
3. number 36. world 69. book
4. person 37. head 70. science
5. pen 38. page 71. room
6. class 39. country 72. friend
7. people 40. question 73. idea
8. sound 41. answer 74. fish
9. water 42. school 75. mountain
10. side 43. plant 76. horse
11. place 44. food 77. watch
12. man 45. sun 78. color
13. men 46. state 79. face
14. woman 47. eye 80. wood
15. women 48. city 81. list
16. boy 49. tree 82. bird
17. girl 50. farm 83. body
18. year 51. story 84. dog
19. day 52. sea 85. family
20. week 53. night 86. song
21. month 54. day 87. door
22. name 55. life 88. product
23. sentence 56. north 89. wind
24. line 57. south 90. ship
25. air 58. east 91. area
26. land 59. west 92. rock
27. home 60. child 93. order
28. hand 61. children 94. fire
29. house 62. example 95. problem
30. picture 63. paper 96. piece
31. animal 64. music 97. top
32. mother 65. river 98. bottom
33. father 66. car 99. king
You will only have to remember 8-25 words depending on which method you

choose, and you can use the method detailed in Mene, Mene, Dekel to aid your

memorization.

You can memorize words from this list, or a book, and then simply listen to what

they write, and then ask them this question, making clear that the question has

some bearing on the success of the effect:

“Can you relate your word to a family member?”

In many cases they will say yes. I often have the word “Yes” written on my palm

to show them in this case. Whatever they say doesn't really matter; it just adds to

the mystery of the effect. Spectators love to see the mentalist using a process

that they can witness, thus it aids your credibility to have one. I've used this

effect with much success, and you can have your spectator examine everything.

Drawing Duplication

An effect I've performed several times, in addition to a list or book test, you can

ask them to draw the object they are thinking of (in a box that you so helpfully

provided just below their number box with the same dimensions). You also have a

pad and easily draw the same object. For some reason I found that by extending

the routine, my audience is more impressed then if I just reveal the number or

word directly; it builds up anticipation as the effect seems to get more and more

impossible, when in reality it's all based upon one principle.

 Parting Words
I'd like to give some credit to 13 Steps for some material that I reinvented and

then was like “blast, someone already thought of this decades ago”. Thanks to

Amira and Dick Christian for pointing some of this out. The two effects are

“Invisible Impression”, and “Going the Distance”. My methods and uses were

slightly different but still fairly close. If you want to know more about those styles

of effects, read Annemann or 13 Steps, although honestly I'd be surprised if you

haven't already. Additionally thanks to jaybest for help working out an alternative

handling for Fair ACAAN. That said...

Thank you for reading my work and putting up with my painful style of writing. If

you've enjoyed reading the effects half as much as I've enjoyed creating them,

and have enjoy performing them twice as much as you enjoyed reading them,

then we've both enjoyed ourselves just as much, which is a very nice place to be.

If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, feel free to email me at

bill.dekel@yahoo.com. In MindCraft: Perceptions, I asked, “Let's Enjoy this Shall

We?” Now I say, “I Hope You've Enjoyed This With Me.” It's been nice to know you.

This has been the very last book in the MindCraft trilogy. Use the information

contained within well, have fun, don't reveal it, and, as I've said before in the first

book: blow minds.