_----------------------ook
~ '9;
T hr ee Routines
This book has three very strong
mental routines that will get you noticed
whenever and for whomever you perform.
Want to be in total control ofyour audience?
Then these routines are for you.
The Nostrum Newspaper Test
What sets this newspaper test apart from all
others is its impromptu nature.
Imagine an ef-
fect where a participant
freely selects a page
from any newspaper,
tears it into small slips,
chooses a word from
one of the torn scraps
and you reveal the word
without ever seeing,
touching or 'coming near the paper!
You can perform this trick on stage
or on a train. Everything is borrowed. You
don't haw anything to get ready because it's
Real Time Mcntalismt-'. And once you un-
dcrstuud the simple' psychology of the
method involved, you '11 laugh at how easy it
is to do. Plus, there's the bonus that nothing
can go wrong, EVER!
21'1 Century Svengali
The second effect is an excellent
version or the Koran newspaper test per-
formed with a magazine. But this presenta-
tion takes it out of the theater and puts it in
[he real world.
With this new and startling
suutugcrn, you will be able to predict a word
chosen by a spectator, but you will accom-
plish very much more. You will look at the
most beautiful woman at the table, extend
Doee Co. - P.O. Box 546022 Bal Harbour. FL 33154 - doec@docchilford.com
~
3 incredible routines in one book
4u~"'O
1 n One Book
you open hand and she'll smile and leave
with you!
I know it must sound like an ad in
the back of a comic book, but it's true. If
you're married, you can use this hypnotic
control to get a fellow to buy you the
cocktail of your choice. You will end up
with complete control of the subject.
,./
n
Caged Love
And last in the trio is an effect that
will literally get gasps from your audience.
We often tried to create magickal
effects that will scramble the minds of
those who see them. This is one of those
effects. After performing this, you'll either
have an adoring fan for life, or someone
who will be disturbed every time she hears
your name. Not that there's anything offen-
sive in the routine, but it's just so damned
strong!
Through the power of thought,
you're able to transform a small object into
something of great importance to the spec-
tator. She'll be amazed when she finds her
personal item locked in a newspaper vend-
ing machine down the block! '
Everyone of these effects have 9 e t c u t e
been tested and performed before real.audi-
ences. any one of them can make a reputa-
9 r I s
tion for the mentalist. free d r i n k s
and
h i 9 h e r
fee s !
docc hilford
docc hilford

Copyright© 2005 Docc Hilford
First printing Docctober, 2005
No portion of this book or original illustrations can be reproduced in any
manner without written permission of the copyright owner.
Docc Co.
p.a.Box 546022 Bal Harbour, FL 33154
docc@docchilford.com
2
What is Real Time Mentalism?
Mentalistic effects are only entertaining if they're shown
to someone. There are hundreds of fine effects designed for
stage, stand-up or close-up situations, but few that can be
performed without the necessity of any special props or set-ups.
Swami gimmicks, nail writers and peek wallets can be forgot-
ten on the dresser and our best pieces never get seen by anyone.
An unprepared performer cannot perform most of the effects
available, and so, often doesn't perform at all.
If an effect is Real Time, it doesn't require any gimmicks.
Of course, gimmicked methods may be slightly easier to use,
but Real Time Mentalism'?" provides alternate techniques. It is
left up to the performer whether he or she will use a special
gimmick he or she has ready, or entertain with nothing more
than borrowed items 'at hand. Real Time Mentalism is truly
100% impromptu. This is great for those who want to read
minds, influence thought or generally chill any audience at a
simple request.
This series of effects that I'm releasing as Real Time
Mentalismw include several tricks that can be preformed "on
the fly", that is, without special preparation or special gim-
micks. Some require more than one spectator or a few bor-
rowed items, but all are designed for use in everyday situations.
They're all tested in front of real people by myself as well as a
handful of professional mentalists before they're released to
you.
As with all of the effects I publish, these are original and
strong. I hope you use these effects. That's what they're meant
for.
Docc Hilford
3
 Introduction
This book contains, not only one of the hottest Real Time
Mentalism" newspaper test around today, but also a two
bonus tricks, 21g Century Svengali and Caged Love where the
effect on the audience is rriany times greater than the tricks
themselves. Use with prudence.
Words are extremely magicaL Hundreds of millions of
people around the word believe that God spoke the universe
into existence. Others believe that words can change the path of
natural elements. Words can hurt or heaL It's only natural that
words should be at the control of the mentalist.
Years ago I believed that word tests were boring. Later,
that attitude grew to a belief that mentalism itself was inher-
ently boring. I quit performing mental shows and performed a
mix of magical mentalism such as my "Think-a-Drink" show.
For the past couple of years, with the help of some top enter-
tainers in the mental field such as my friends Jon Stetson and
Banachek, I have rediscovered the excitement of good mental-
ism. I now believe that word tests are a necessity to the modem
mentalist.
There are several types of word effects available to
performers of mentalism. The most popular are written word
tests, book tests and newspaper tests. All three types involve
common items and are easily understood by the audience.
Newspaper tests are almost ubiquitous. Their numbers,
legion. Newspapers offer the performer a variety of presenta-
tional options. One can use classified ads, display ads, person-
als, sports, weather, headlines or even obituaries. (See the
book, Band of the Hand for a chilling presentation utilizing the
obituary section.) There are a couple of directions one can take

5
4
 The second effect, 21~ Century Svengali, is an excellent
when performing a standard newspaper test. A randomly se- version of the Koran newspaper test performed with a maga-
lected word either is revealed in an interesting manner, or has zine. However, this presentation takes it out of the theater and
been previously predicted. Chosen words or ads can be pre- puts it in the real world.
dicted during performance, or headlines of papers may be With this new and startling stratagem, you will be able to
predicted weeks in advance. predict a word chosen by a spectator, but you will accomplish
The Nostrum Newspaper Test is the title piece. It's a very much more. You will look at the most beautiful woman at
simple revelation. However, I didn't conceive another newspa- the table, extend you open hand and she'll smile and leave with
per test simply to add to the cornucopia; rather I had a need for you!
a specific effect. The Nostrum Newspaper Test is my Real 1 know it must sound like an ad in the back of a comic
Time Mentalism" version of the classic effect. It's the result book, but it's true. If you're married, you can use this hypnotic
of a dream I had after a night of studying David Berglas' control to get a fellow to buy you the cocktail of your choice.
Ultimate Newspaper Prediction. I love David's presentation, You will end up with complete control of the subject.
but I wanted a simple newspaper test that could be performed .
And last in the trio is Caged Love. We often try to create
on the fly; in real time, that is that it could be performed at any
magickal effects that will scramble the minds of those who see
time with any unprepared newspaper. I wanted a simple proce-
them. This is one of those effects. After performing this, you'll
dure wherein nothing was written and with a revelation that
either have an adoring fan for life, or someone who will be
was interesting. The method had to be clever enough to baffle
disturbed every time she hears your name. Not that there's
spectators under almost test conditions. This is not meant to be
anything offensive in the routine, but it's just so damned
a replacement for the Berglas test, or any other, but instead an
strong!
addition to your real time arsenal.
All three effects are strong, theatrical mentalism. I know
Imagine an effect where a participant freely selects a page
you'll be glad you acquired them.
from any newspaper, tears it into small slips, chooses a word
from one of the tom scraps and without ever seeing, touching or .
coming near the paper, you reveal the word. You can perform Enjoy.
this trick on stage or on a train. Everything is borrowed. You
don't have anything to get ready because it's Real Time Men-
talism™. Moreover, once you understand the simple psychol- Docc Hilford - Docctober, 2005
ogy of the method involved, you laugh at how easy it is to do.
Plus, there's the bonus that nothing can go wrong, EVER!
As in all of my published effects, I have used this
presentation repeatedly in my own performances. I use this
piece on a regular basis today. It kills in a booker's office or on
a picnic. I'm sharing it now with the hopes that you'll amaze
your friends, audiences and clients as much as I have.
7
6

Nostrum
Newspaper Test
Imagine that you're at a friend's home and have had a
wonderful dinner. The host asks you to perform one of your
amazing telepathic stunts. You don't have any secret gimmicks
on you, but there is the daily newspaper handy as well as a pen.
You can now shock the rest of the dinner guests with an
extraordinary demonstration of mind reading.
The following description is exactly what the audience
sees. As in all good mentalism, many of the bits of business
will not be remembered after your performance and other bits,
that didn't actually take place, will mysteriously be included in
their memories.
Effeot
You ask a woman to help you in your demonstration.
She's handed the newspaper and told to remove any double
sheet that has a lot of text. The classified section is always a
good choice, but she's certainly not restricted to it. The woman
is instructed to tear the sheet of newspaper in half and discard
8
one half. Following your further instructions, she folds the half
sheet in half, tears it in two and discards half. The quarter sheet
is folded and tom in half with half being discarded. The
remaining eighth sheet is folded and tom in half, in halfagain
'and finally in half again. This creates eight equally sized pieces,
i'
I
i
approximately 3"x3".
You explain that the pieces need to be folded once each
.,\ way so no one can see the contents of the slips of newspaper.
This is illustrated with one of the pieces. You unfold the slip
and suggest that the spectator also choose which side of the
pieces will be hidden in the inside. She is to be certain that the
side with the most print is hidden, as it is with your illustrative
piece.
The eight folded pieces are put in a pile on a coffee table.
The woman divides the eight folded slips into two groups of
four. One group is discarded. She separates the remaining four
slips into two pairs with a pair being discarded. One of the two
remaining folded slips is discarded and her chosen slip is kept
out of your sight. Then, with a discarded slip, you illustrate how
a single word is to be chosen. A line is drawn from one corner
of the unfolded slip to the diagonal corner. This is repeated
with the opposite comers and the closest large word where the
lines intersect is circled. The slip you use to illustrate the
procedure is folded and torn to pieces, then thrown away.
While the participant chooses a word from her selected
slip, you take the discarded slips and tear them to tiny pieces,
throwing them in the waste basket. When she's finished cir-
cling the chosen word, her slip is re-folded and held tightly in
her fist..
Now, with the randomly chosen word held safely out of
sight, you begin to work. From the full sized sheets of newspa-
per, you tear out letters from the headlines and lay them on the
table. You ask if the chosen word has seven letters. The woman
9

, After witnessing a great demonstration of mentalism, they will
'"
admits that you're correct. You set the same number of letters
torn from the headlines on the table.
As you re-arrange the letters in order to form a word, you
come- very close to the chosen word, for example, you spell out
MINED. So close, but not entirely correct, you're forced to ask
the word. When the woman says, "MIXED", in a manner of
defiance, you turn the "N" over to disclose the correct letter
"X" on the other side. Everyone is taken aback because you
have accurately spelled out the chosen word with the tiny
scraps of paper!
Method
Annemann published a fine newspaper test in the Jinx no.
6 and later in Practical Mental Effects entitled Two Mindread-
ing Publicity Effects. It was Real Time Mentalism" and was
one of the seeds for this routine. The trick was simply to tear a
slip from a newspaper, let someone circle a word on it and fold
it up. The mentalist tore the paper, secretly performed the
center tear maneuver and read the circled word while the pieces
were burned.
This was, and remains, a great trick. Spectators are
always amazed. The only improvement might be if the partici-
10
pant was allowed to keep the folded paper rather than tearing it
up. It could be done with an impression clipboard, as suggested
by Dr. Jaks in The Phoenix, but could it be done in real time?
Well, that's what this effect is; a real time version of
Annemann's test where the paper doesn't have to be torn.
The mind of a spectator is complicated, but predictable.
intellectually seek the simplest explanation. In the case of The
Nostrum Newspaper Test, in it's not mind reading, then the
explanation must be one of two methods: either the word
forced or the mentalist saw it after it was chosen.
In order to hide the correct explanation from the intellect
of the spectator, we use both methods. However, we reverse
them. That is, we're looking at the chosen word when he's
watching for a force and forcing the word when he watching for
us to peek.
Part One
Every choice in Part One is free. The paper, which sheet,
which half, all the way to where we have eight 3"x3" pieces on
the table are free choices.
Now, we peek at what will become the force word. When
you demonstrate how the papers are folded, you pick up one
with a good sized (in word length, not font size) word in the
center and .fold the slip once each way. Explain that, "You'll
fold all of the slips exactly like this. Keeping the corners neatly
together, so we can't see any of the words inside." As you
speak, you illustrate the folding.
"You'll also decide which side gets folded into the inside
and which side stays on the outside. Try to put the sides with
the most words on the inside."
Now unfold the slip and note what two or three words
11

with six or more letters, fall near the cross-folds in the center of
the slip. Memorize these words, noting that one of them will lie
almost directly in the center of the slip. This is your primary
force word. Noting the surrounding words is just a precaution.
Re-fold the slip putting a crimp on a comer, so it can be
identified from the other slips later. Set it aside and let the
participant fold the other slips. (I find it speeds things up and
looks good to let anyone else near the table to help fold the
slips.)
You know what word will be "chosen". You're in com-
plete control, as you should always be. The audience has been
watching for any sneaky gambits concerning choice, but has
seen everything is above board. They let their guard down.
Part Two
Orally emphasize the importance of keeping the words
hidden from your sight. The audience's focus is on keeping you
from seeing the choice of words, NOT from controlling a
choice.
Use a very simple equivocal force. The participant di-
vides the eight slips into two sets. Don't ask which set of four
they want to use. JUST PUSH THE SET WITHOUT THE
FORCE SLIP ASIDE. Tell her to split the four slips into two
sets of. two papers and again you JUST PUSH THE SET
WITHOUT THE FORCE SLIP ASIDE. Now you simply do a
I
.~
12
two slip equivoque. Tell her to pick up a slip. If she picks up
the odd slip, take it from her and toss it aside with the others. If
she picks up the force slip, tell her to keep it out of your sight.
Nate: You may think this strategy too bold to work. I
can tell you I've NEVER had anyone think they were being
forced to select a slip. Here's why. The participant has had so
many free choices in Part One and the emphasis is completely
on something else that it seems perfectly natural to do the
eliminating for her. She got to separate the slips in two, why
does she need to decide which half stays and which halfgoes.
SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING YETI
This is not a trick about knowing which paper she would pick.
All of this is incidental to the word revelation. She hasn't
chosen a word yet. She's just getting a piece of paper to do so.
Remember the original Annemann effects discussed above? He
simply tore a slip out ofthe paper for the participant and no one
ever balked.
In addition, it all happens so quickly that later the specta-
tors remember that she merely picked up one of the eight pieces
- pieces that SHE tore and folded herself.
So don't waste a very good force by complicating it.
Pick up one of the discarded slips, open it and illustrate
your words with actions. Tell the participant to, "Take the pen
and draw a straight line from comer to comer, making a big X
on the slip. Then circle a word nearest the center of the X. But
pick a word that has more than five letters, if the X goes
through a smaller word. OK?"
You stress a six letter word because the center of the "X"
can be off from your force word. By making it a large word you
narrow the selection.
Hand her the pen and tum away from the table. Tear the
paper you just used and the discarded slips into pieces. Tear
13

them a couple times each
while the papers are still
folded and toss them in the
waste basket or ashtray. Tear
as if you were doing a center
tear. When she's finished with
her slip, she's to keep the
folded paper in her fist.
Nate: Here is a little bit
of human thinking that plays
to our advantage. Although it
doesn't matter whether a four sided shape is divided horizon-
tally and vertically or whether it's divided diagonally the center
lies at the same point. So, the fold finds the center as easily as
drawing the lines from comer to comer. Of course, this is
obvious to you, here, now, but to the participant, who doesn't
know you're looking for the center when you fold the slip, the
fact is unnoticeable.
Revelation
Revealing a chosen thought is what makes or breaks the
presentation of any mind reading demonstration. Too many
times have I read effects where the method is clever and the
presentation is too light. It's not enough to "...run your fingers
through your hair, sweat, shake and generally look as if you're
grasping at vaporous thoughts. Then reveal the word, letter by
letter." You must have some showmanship in your revelations.
for mentalism to have much audience appeal. This is one of the
many possible presentations in a newspaper word test.
Use the full sized paper and tear out letters from head-
lines. These are nice and big. Sometimes you may find a pair of
needed letters in a word. Tear them out. In any case, it's
interesting to see the process' of the mentalist trying to ascertain
14
the chosen word. So make it interesting! Tear more letters than
you need. Discard some of them. Rearrange letters as if search-
ing for possible words. Ask if her word had five letters, or how
many the force word has, this way you'll know you're on the
right track. Put the first letter of the word in front of you. Stare
at it and finally ask if her word starts with that letter. Still, you
know she picked the force word.
During all the letter tearing, find a letter from the force
word that has another letter printed on the back. This is very
easy to do. Place that letter so the chosen letter is down. Make
a word but misarrange the letters and have one letter wrong.
The audience loves this, as long as the process is interesting, it
can take several minutes. They think they're ahead of you. They
see that you have almost all the letters and are hoping you can
arrange them in the correct order. This is really creating desire
in your audience. But they see one wrong letter and know you
can't be successful as long as you're trying to use it.
Spell out the force word with the wrong letter.
(Sometimes you can find the right letters to make a different
word, like MINED and MIXED.) Even if it makes no sense as
a word, the audience sees that you would have been 100%
correct if you had the right letter in that place. Ask for the word,
act excited to have been so close, but a little disappointed, then
get a psychic flash of inspiration. Tum the wrong letter over
and the audience will burst into applause!
Special Handling
,.i I know what you're thinking. What if the spectator says
that the number of letters is wrong? On the other hand, what if
they say that the word doesn't start with your chosen letter? It
means that she selected a word that was not in the center of the
intersection. This can be caused by a crooked line drawn on the
slip or even a badly tom slip. If this happens, you pump a little
around the other large words you noted earlier. You're so far
15
ahead of the audience, there's no way they can figure your 21 at Century
method, even if it involves a little pumping.
But let's suppose that their word has none of the letters
you suggest. You're completely lost. Let's imagine that the
Svengali
circled a word with four letters and you don't know it! You
simply recover by returning to the original Annemann newspa-
per test.
Just take the slip from the participant, tear it up like you
did all the others, drop the pieces in the waste basket and read
the center. The secret read is easy behind the full sheets of the
newspaper while you're tearing letters out for the revelation.
Keep in mind that the original test is still a great trick.
Used as an out, it's one of the ultimate outs, because the out is
almost as good as the trick you're aiming for.

A Prediction
This effect can also be a prediction. False write a predic-
tion on the back of a business card, fold it up and act as if
you're putting it in a cup (or under a book, or in your wallet,
etc.). Have a pre-folded card in your pocket ready for writing
with a small pencil stub. After you see the force word, between
Part One and Part Two, pocket write the word on the card. You
have a lot of time to sneak the folded prediction into the cup.
The time delay erases any memory of you touching the cup
before the word was chosen.
Having used this effect so often, I really feel that it is one
of the most practical newspaper tests available. I admire David
Burglas' and Maurice Fogel's newspaper tests as well, but we
tend to love our own children just a little more.
Effect
You're working at a five star hotel with your blindfold
card reading act.* Relaxing in the cocktail lounge, a party of
fun-loving guests recognizes you and ask you to join them.
There are two couples and a single woman. The woman's
natural beauty makes concentration difficult, but you get fo-
cused and perform a couple of Real Time Mentalism" effects
for the group. You learn everyone's names and prove your
powers of mentalism.
Suggesting one more psychic test, you excuse yourself
T temporarily to find a magazine. Having found one in the lobby,
you return ready to go. You say you'll look into the immediate
future of Bob, one of the men who helped you with an earlier
effect. A prediction is written on the back of one of your
business cards. You fold it in quarters and lay it on the table.
"First", you explain, "I'm going to try to hypnotize and

17
16

project a thought to one of you. You, Michelle, I think. Don't
worry, you won't even realize you've been hypnotized," indi-
cating the single woman. "Don't listen to what I'm whispering
to the others." You lean near the other four people and whisper,
"My thought is, 'Do you think the prediction I just wrote will
match Bob's future selection?'." Turning back to the woman
you say, "You're about to hypnotized. You won't feel any
different, but you'll know my thoughts and do as I wish. I have
a question in mind. 1 want you to answer it. Unfold that card
and read what I wrote. Don't say what's on the card, it's a
secret. Just answer me 'yes' or 'no'." Michelle looks at the
writing on the card, looks at you and says 'yes'.
"I'll show you that you made the right decision. Look
through this magazine." You hand the periodical to the group to
examine. The prediction is handed to Bob for him to secretly
write a number from 1 to 16 on it. Bob complies and puts the
folded card back on the table with the number side down. You
take the magazine and flip through it with the request for Bob
to say, "stop". A page is ran-
II
domly selected and ripped .-------------.....,
from the magazine. The page
is torn into sixteen equally
sized pieces and held in a
stack.,
"Bob, what number did
you choose?" Bob says
twelve. You hand a torn piece
of magazine page to Bob and
count "One". This procedure
of counting pieces to Bob's
hand is repeated, "two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine... " A piece misses Bob's
hand and falls to the floor.
18
..'~
"Sorry, here, ten, eleven twelve. Take your piece and look at
the other side. Find a big word; one that's large in print and
number of letters. Do you have one? Fine.
You take a position of confidence and address Bob, "I
believe you've done exactly as I predicted. At first, you looked
at the smaller word, didn't you? But the larger word, the word
you chose is - BEAUTIFUL!" Bob admits you're correct.
Everyoneis impressed with your mind reading abilities, but you
go further.
"Remember that I wrote something on that card and you
put a freely chosen number on it, all before a page was even
chosen, let alone a part of a page," you say. "Michelle, will you
open the card and read what I wrote before we started?"
'The attractive woman giggles when she reads what was
written on the card. She reads, "Bob will choose the word
BEAUTIFUL."
Everyone applauds having been bewildered by your
demonstration, but the most powerful demonstration is yet to
come. You thank everyone, excuse yourself and extend your
hand toward Michelle. She takes your hand and without either
of you saying another word, you both walk away hand in hand.
Obviously, the woman is still under your hypnotic spell.
The Force
This is a great magazine test that can be successfully performed
on its own, but with the combination of a simple billet switch,
it becomes a killer demonstration of mind control. A single
man -- or woman for that matter -- will' discover the true
possibilities of this exciting routine. However, the demonstra-
tion is just as strong when performed by married mentalists. Of
course, the procedure is altered slightly. Instead of a woman
walking away with you at the conclusion of the effect, another
19
man will order your favorite cocktail. In fact, the participant
you choose will do almost anything you wish, within reason.
First, let's learn the magazine force. It's based on Al
Koran's newspaper force. Many mentalists have their own
approaches to' this classic force. Some use a lot of mental
calculations, while others use turning and tearing formulas to
position the force segment. The basic advanced method in-
volves locating the 1ill square of a sixteen square imaginary
grid on the magazine page. This imaginary iz" square is often
difficult to estimate accurately. You can guess the approximate
content of the area, but for me, it was tricky to get details about
what was in this square. Then, one had to mentally calculate the
number at which one wanted the force square to land and keep
track of one's actions by holding up specific fingers. Thus, one
was able to determine how to turn the stack either to the right or
left and place the torn pieces either on top or on the bottom of
each other. And this was the easiest version I could find!
I loved the effect; so much that I spent years trying to
simplify the method andimprove the presentation. Oddly, my
deliverance was in a back copy of Bascom Jones' Magick
magazine. The version I read was infinitely easier than the
formula I was using at the time. The author, Danton, had
Il
wheft, done.
.;.
~=wdi+~:
I .~;
_ 0
d,rfAtlk, W~ J'IIl,€/?
.~:' ....
20
eliminated the formula by simply noting a specific corner 0 I' a
newspaper page and keeping it on the bottom of the stack while
tearing.
Instead of having the force segment positioned at the
spectator's chosen number, he flipped the stack over just before
the last piece was dealt. Each piece was dropped on the Ilcor
and the author felt the action provided enough misdirection for
the final switch. I wanted to put the switch before the final deal.
but I didn't want to have to mentally calculate anything. I also
wanted a little stronger misdirection.
I discovered that third from the bottom is the ideal
position for the force segment, for reasons I'll explain as we
continue. I discovered a simple formula, based on a 'key'
segment, that didn't require any mental calculations.
The stronger misdirection came from E. Raymond
Carlisle. He showed me a slightly different handing of the
pieces. They were dealt to the spectator's hand and only one
piece was dropped just before the switch. The misdirection it
created was excellent.
Here is the easy-to-follow force. Procure a magazine.
Riffle through it until you find a page with a nice, large word in
the upper right corner. This will be the force segment. It only
takes a second and can be done in front of the audience.
Force the page by holding the magazine with the cover
facing you. Riffle the pages from the back to the front until you
see the force page. Here is a good place for casual patter about
the number of different words in the magazine. Your riming
through the pages looks like a minor illustration of your point.
Get a right little finger break at the force page. Hold your
right hand at the middle of the magazine's edge. Your fingers
are on the back page facing the spectator and your thumb is on
the cover facing you. Riffle the pages from back to the pinkie-
break. Ask a spectator to stop you while riffling and let the
21
pages slip by when he says, "stop". Open the magazine to the
force page and tear it out. This is a simple and standard page
force.
The force word is in the upper right hand comer, but
you'll keep your eye on the lower right hand comer; this will be
your 'key'.
You'll tear the page in half four times; each time keeping
the bottom right corner 'key' on top of the pile. After the final
tear, the 'key' goes to the bottom.
Hold the page facing you. The force word is facing you in
the upper right corner of the page; your 'key' is the lower right
corner. Tear the page horizontally and place the half with the
'key' corner on top of the other half. Tear the two pieces in two.
This, of course, makes four pieces, two in each hand. Place the
two pieces with the 'key'
(usually your right hand ,- .. _\.
pieces) on top of the other
two. Tear the four pieces into
eight. Place the halves with
the 'key' corner on top again.
-•
'FORCE
Make a final tear and place
the eight new pieces with the
KEY
'key' UNDER the stack. This
puts the force corner third
piece from the bottom.
Ask the participant the number he wrote on the predic-
tion. Mentally subtract 3 from it. Deal that many pieces onto
the hand of the spectator, but when you come to the piece three
from his number, drop it past his hand so it falls to the floor.
(This is Carlisle's idea.) When the audience's attention follows
the falling piece, flip the remaining pieces in your hand over.
Now deal the last three pieces onto his palm to bring the
number of dealt pieces up to the chosen number.
22
This works for any number except 1 and 2.
If 1 is chosen, you merely correct them by saying, "I'm
.sorry, a number BETWEEN one and sixteen." You should sec
him write the number, so you can make this correction before
the performance of the actual trick.
If 2 are chosen, flip the packet of pieces BEFORE you
begin counting and dealing. Deal two and hand him the NEXT
piece. If 3 are chosen, deal to the third piece.
th
(The force piece is 14 from the top, so if 14 is chosen,
let the participant deal the pieces without any flipping.)
It's all pretty self-explanatory if you merely subtract 3
from the chosen number.
Nate: A newspaper can be used instead of a magazine
page. The handling is slightly different and the total number of
pieces can go up to 32. All ofthis needs to be worked out by the
performer if he (you) decided to learn how to perform this
routine with a newspaper as well as a magazine.
Although a newspaper works well, experience has shown
that a magazine is preferred. The size of the page and the
weight of the paper make it easier to handle than newspaper.
The Billet Switch
The billet used switch is a standard, Annemann style. That is,
done in one hand. Finger palm a folded business card and pick
up another folded card with the same hand. Align both billets
using your thumb. The first billet is still against your fingers,
while the second billet is under your thumb. Push the second
billet forward, to the tips of your fingers and the switch is done.
23
It's really that simple. Because no one expects anything, no one
ever sees anything. (See Annemann's Practical Mental Effects
or Corinda's Thirteen Steps to Mentalism for full explanations
of billet switches.)

The Routine -~;

This is Real Time Mentalism" because you can to do it
on the fly. If you've noticed a magazine near where you're
performing, that's all that's necessary.
Before the performance, you must write on the back of a
business card the following: When I'm done, will you have a
drink with me? ** Fold the card and keep it in your right pocket
where you can get at it easily along with some unfolded
business cards.
Approach the group where you see an attractive woman
(or a man you want to get to buy you a drink). Do a few
mentalistic effects, and then offer to perform one more.
Reach into your right pocket, finger palm the folded billet
and grab an unfolded card. Write on the card's back: Rob will
choose the word REA UTIFUL. Fold the card and while doing
so, switch it for the palmed card with the drink message. Put
the billet on the table in front of the woman keeping the one
you just wrote hidden in your hand.
Note; You should have no difficulty keeping a folded billet
hidden in your hand for long periods. If you're more comfort-
able ditching it and picking it up later, that's fine. You can put
the pencil in your pocket and leave the billet there as well,
picking it back up when you retrieve the pencil in the future.
It's all about your comfort level.
Tell the party what you're going to do.
"First, I'm going to try to hypnotize and project a
tho light to one ofyou. You, Michelle, I think. Don't worry; you
"'¥.J:
'.
BEAU 'inu.
won't even realize you've been hypnotized. Don't listen (0 what
I'm whispering to the others. "
You've set up the woman by telling her she's going to
experience something that the rest of the group won't.
You lean near the other four people and whisper, "My
thought is, 'Do you think the prediction l just wrote will match
Bob's future selection? '. "
Here we use the wonderful "duel reality" ploy wherein
the rest of the group thinks one thing is about to happen and the
woman believes another.
Turning back to the woman you say, "You're about to
hypnotized. You won't feel any different, but you 'Il know 17~V
thoughts and do as I wish. I have a question in mind. J 11'W7f you
to answer it. Unfold that card and read what J wrote. Don '( ,\'(IV
what's on the card. it's a secret. Just answer me ~ves' or 'no '. "
It's very important to get her to answer 'Yes' or 'No'.
Michelle looks at the writing on the card...
She reads the request for a drink. She can answer 'Yes' if
you've sufficiently intrigued her and she wants to spend more
time with you, or 'No' if she simply wants to remain with her
friends.

24
25
 ·..looks at you and says 'Yes'.
Of course, she's answering what was asked on the card,
but the audience thinks she's answering your mental question
and simply looking at the prediction on the card.
"I'll show you that you made the right decision. "
This line confirms the fact that she'll leave with you after
the trick.
If she answers 'No' you still have a shot. Here's what you
do.
Let's say she ... looks at you and says 'No'.
Now give her a chance to change her mind later by
saying:
"I hope to change you mind injust a moment. "
Later, she can decide that she does want to join you for a
drink. We'll have to see.
Reach over, pick up the folded card Michelle just read
and switch it for the prediction. Hand the prediction to Bob.
Pick up the magazine and hand it around for inspection.
Arter it's returned to you, flip through it looking for a good
upper right comer; one with a single large-print word with a
couple of smaller words. Stick your pinkie in at the force page
and force it, man! Tear out the force page and quickly tear it
into sixteen segments. This is really easy because all you're
doing is keeping the bottom right comer on top for all four
tears. After the last tear, place the 'key' on the bottom.
Tell the spectator, Bob, to write a number between 1 and
16 on the billet. After Bob writes his number on the folded
card, have Bob push the card back over in front of Michelle.
The woman will remember that there was no way for you to
switch cards because of the number on the outside of it. You
can "go south" with the drink request card because it's not used
agam.
26
Force the segment of magazine as detailed above. When
he has it on his hand tum around. Instruct him to turn it over
,and look at the main idea on the segment. This is important for
a couple of reasons. First, the force segment is face-down on
his palm due to you flipping the stack. Second, it appears as i f
. everything has been kept from your eyes throughout the proce-
dure.
You reveal the word. It's performed a little like mind
reading, but really you're revealing your prediction, not bob's
thought.
"I believe you've done exactly as I predicted. At first,
you looked at the smaller word, didn't you? But the larger
word, the word you chose is - BEA UTIFULf "
Slowly reveal the chosen word. If there is more than one
word on the comer, you'll need to pump a little. Notice how
Bob could have actually chosen the smaller word, but you
reveal " ...the larger word is..." not necessarily his word.
Immediately you tum it into his word by saying, " ... , the lV01'd
you chose is ... " This is fine because the prediction will clean
everything up at the conclusion. Reveal the word BEAUTI-
FUL.
"Remember that I wrote something on that card and you
put a freely chosen number on it, all before a page was even
chosen, let alone a part ofa page? Michelle, will you open the
card and read what I wrote before we started?"
By grouping all the actions together, you imply that
everything was done before you touched the billet. This state-
ment makes the effect on the woman stronger.
The attractive woman giggles when she reads what was
written on the card. She reads, "Bob will choose the word
BEA UTIFUL. "
Now, if she answered 'Yes' to your query, you simply
27
thank everyone, put out your open hand, take hers and walk
away. I can't describe the shock that hits the other participants
when this comes off correctly. They're really stunned and it
seems as if you actually have the woman under your control!
However, if she answered 'No' earlier, you still have a
second shot. Ask her, "So, did I change your mind?" If she
answers that you did change her mind, the audience thinks
you're referring to the fact of the prediction matching the
selection, but the woman is answering about having a drink
with you. You put out your hand and the routine ends the same
way.
Alas, if she still wants to hang with her friends and says
that you didn't change her mind, everyone laughs. It's obvious
that your prediction did, in fact, match Bob's selection, so it
appears as if the woman is being playfully unreasonable. You
wink at her and excuse yourself still a cool as a cucumber.
Afterthoughts
Again, I know what you're thinking. What if she tells
everyone that what she read-on the first billet wasn't what was
on it later? Well, that's what you want to happen. You'll get
credit for controlling her mind anyway. The group will believe
the hypnotic thought projection bit if you play it up.
Remember that this is simply a playful way of asking a
woman for a drink. Often times women are with their friends
and don't want to be asked away in front of them. They'll agree
to join you secretly, so they'll answer 'yes', but refuse when
you put out your hand. In this case, just let her know you'll be
at the bar, or some such place, where she can meet you once she
gets away from he friends.
I've never had this little effect fail me because I've
pre-qualified the participant before I do the routine. And also
because the routine is so strong. Don't be afraid of getting a
28
'No' response. No one will know what happened except you
and the woman; and even then, she's not certain about what she
. really read! You're safe to do this repeatedly.
For The Boys
As stated earlier, you can also use this routine to get a
fellow to buy you a drink. In that case, he'll be absolutely
knocked of his chair by the billet switch. After the trick, you
merely ask if he has a desire to "do something". He'll most
often bring the wait-person over and order your drink. To
which you add, "My favorite."
In any case, it's all a lot of fun.
Finally, keep this in mind. I know there will be critics
who don't think this sort of thing is good mentalism. Imagine
for a moment that you were going to do the Koran newspaper!
magazine test. A page is tom up, one segment chosen and a
word revealed. Isn't that what you just did? But you have the
potential to leave an absolutely awe-inspiring impression on the
minds of the audience by controlling the will of one of them. So
go ahead and have some harmless fun.
*It's a Lu Lu is a complete blindfold card reading act
available from the author.
** To cause a man to buy you a drink, the message is
altered thusly: lfI'm right will you buy me a single malt scotch?
29
 Caged Love
Effect
You're out on a date with the woman you met on page
27, Michelle. After strolling along the sidewalk cafes, you offer
to exhibit perhaps the most remarkable demonstration of your
talents. You explain that playing cards ~e an ancient method of
divination. A single selected card can indicate a person's fate.
A deck of cards you carry for such a reason is mixed and the
woman takes a card. It's the Three of Hearts. You tell her that
three times she will love someone. She has known two of these
people already, but the third is very close. Three is also the
number of change. The hearts indicate a positive influence, so
the coming change is good. The future seems much brighter
that the past and she has much to look forward to.
You stress that you can't tell a lot about her future with
only a single card, but you can show her something truly
incredible with a piece of the card. You tear most of the index
corner away from the selected card, but let her finish tearing it
apart. She holds the card while you place the comer in your
cigarette case. The case is placed on the woman's palm and you
place your hand over it. Gazing deeply into her eyes, you take a
deep breath. She knows something must be happening by the
look of approval on your face. "It's done," you explain. "I made
a change for you. The comer piece is still made of paper and
ink. It's still just a comer, but it's changed. Its purpose has
changed. Just like you."
The woman opens the silver case and gasps at what's
now inside. Daintily lying on the cigarettes where the card
corner was moments before, is a comer piece of a newspaper.
It's torn in about the same shape and size as the card comer.
You're somewhat surprised as welL The change was
certain; you just didn't know what kind of a change would take
place. After a moment to gather your thoughts, you walk over
30
to the nearby newspaper vending machine. "Perhaps," you say,
"ifthis is a comer from a newspaper, we might find more about
your future on the page that matches this comer." Two-coins
. are slammed into the machine's slot and the front gate lifted to
expose the folded papers. You grab one ofthe papers and open
it to the same page indicated on the torn corner. Amazingly, the
same corner is tom from the page. Upon further examination,
it's found that the newspaper corner matches precisely the torn
spot on the paper.
But when the paper is carefully unfolded, in the pages is
the card's tom comer; and it also matches the card precisely!
The woman is dizzy with amazement when you point out
a little classified ad on the same page. It reads: To Michelle.
Change happens. Change for you as well as for the man with
you now. The Three of Hearts will be chosen this evening.
November ts", and is a cardfor new lovers - signed, Fate.
And you walk away arm in arm, deeply and madly in love
- or something close to it.
Method
I must make the claim to have only performed this for
entertainment. While some mentalists are making disclaimers
about whether or not they have real psychic abilities, I'm
making the claim that I have never seduced a woman by using
psychic trickery.
Let's take a moment to investigate the potential of such a
trick. Because of its complexity, it may fall through the cracks
of mentalism history, only to be discovered years from now by
a future reader. It may not appeal to mentalists because for
them it seems too magical. It probably won't interest magicians
because of the fortune telling aspects. And I won't personally
bring this effect much recognition because I don't perform it
often.
31
 However, there will be someone who sees the huge
potential of this trick and will become famous for doing it. It
has all the magic of Card in the Cigarette and all the mentalism
of what has become known as A Cute Publicity Stunt from the
Jinx. (Annemann admitted that the stunt was old when he
published it.) So, in order to "pitch" this effect, let's put to rest
some of the arguments against it.
We must calm any hostile feelings mentalists may have
about using playing cards. We won't go into how many profes-
sional mentalists have successfully used playing cards in their
shows, or how many outstanding card effects are available to
the contemporary mentalist. We won't discuss the audience's
lack of association of playing cards with magic tricks or that
they're common items with which everyone is familiar. We
.will simply point out that in this effect you are telling a woman
her fortune with the card AND THAT IS ALL THE REASON
YOU NEED to use playing cards!
The idea that this piece is too magical can be rejected by
reading Uri Gellar's biography. He performed some of the most
magical effects with the audience believing in things like
bi-location and transmogrification. Note how Koran performed
the linking finger rings - a magic trick that has become a
standard for mentalists - to a believing audience. Too magical?
I think the fault lies not in the trick, but in the performance. It's
either corny or believable.
Now, having gently sold you on the idea of performing
. , it should now be made clear that this is, obviously,
this effect
NOT a Real Time Mentalism" piece. You must carry a deck
of cards, a duplicate Three of Hearts and method to switch the
corner. Yau must also have a classified ad placed before the
trick. A small price to pay for such a stellar performance piece.
The switching device can be anything from pure sleight
of hand to a double envelope. Although I don't smoke, I carry a
locking cigarette case that switches small items like a card case
does. (The case is old, but I believe it's one made by Ken
Brcoke.) Any Himber wallet will work just as well.
32
Preparation
Place an ad in the local paper's classified section. If you
know for certain you'll be out on a specific day, with a specific
.person, then place the ad only for that day and include the
person's name as was done in the example above
.If you're uncertain of the participant (or participants) or
the actual date, leave out the name and date as written in the
effect. Also place the ad for several days, then you're certain to
hit it. Or, if you're lucky, you may need to use this trick for
several days in a row. In that case, your ad will read like this:
Change happens. Change for you as well as for the man with
you now. The Three of Hearts is chosen as a card for 'WH'
lovers - signed, Fate.
Spend the next few days practicing the trick. And while
doingso, practice tearing the indices off cards so they all look
alike. It's easy after a deck or two.
On the night of the date, have the deck with a duplicate
3H and your Himber wallet. Slip away from your date (or .i f
doing this for publicity, have your secret accomplice set this up.
What? That's how those guys on TV do it? Oh well.) and open
a newspaper machine. It's best to use the correct change and
not just pry it open, because you want your date to be able to
operate it later.
Take a paper out and turn to the page with your ad. or
course, you already checked it out that morning so you know
the ad's there and correct. Tear an index from one of the 3Hs
and tear the comer from the page where your ad is located.
Leave the card index on your ad. (If your accomplice is doing
this, he should use a tiny touch of post-it glue stick to hold the
card index on your ad. Otherwise, it's too much to carry
around.) Put the paper on the bottom of the stack, close and
lock the newspaper machine. The prepared newspaper is at the
bottom in case anyone wants to buy a paper before you do your
thing. This will protect you a little, but keep in mind, if you
33
perform this in the evening, many paper machines are empty or
down to their last paper or two. Set it up and perform it as soon
as you can.
Place the newspaper page comer on one side of your
Himber wallet and the tom 3H in the lower half of the deck
with the torn corner near you. Place the duplicate 3H on top and
you're ready. . things in her hands and the machine. You're clean and the real
Presentation
The rest is merely following the above outline. The only
move is a simple pass. Bring the conversation to fortune telling.
OITer to do a quick card reading. Force the 3H. Tell her all
about the three times she will be in love. Tear most of the card
index away, but let her finish. She'll remember that she tore the
card. Leave the torn three on top of the deck.
While she holds the index, riffle your thumb up the inside
of the deck to the duplicate torn 3H. The torn corner acts like a
short card. Tell her one more cold reading line about the three
and pass the duplicate to the top of the deck. This is very
elementary for she's listening and not watching for any trick-
ery, so don't make it a move. Just do a pass which switches the
torn cards. Hand her the top card, it's tom and the three so
nothing is suspect. Box the remainder of the deck and put them
away.
Make the use of a wallet seem impromptu, that is, that
you're just looking for some place to secure the index. Put the
index in the wallet and let her hold both the wallet and the tom
3H. Extend your palm over the wallet. Talk about change.
Make the change happen. Open the wallet and show the news-
paper corner. Remove the newspaper comer, hand it to her and
get rid of the wallet.
Point out that the paper comer almost fits the playing
card. She doesn't know what to think at this point. You took
her down a believable path with the reading, but now you're in
34
s~rreal territory. If you've set everything up correctly, that is
like mentalism and NOT magic, she'll be stunned. .
You must act as if this is all reality for you. Things
. change because of your thoughts every day! Suggest the ilews-
paper machine down the street. Get all her attention on the
magic is yet to happen. Make the most of it.
Put the coins in the machine and yank it open. Pull the
bottom paper out. (Often, they never notice because they're
busy studying the comer and the card.) Let her find the proper
page. When she sees the corner is missing and that the corner
she holds matches precisely, she'll freak out, GUARANTEED!
Let that set in. Then have her open the page to discover
the index. This is another mind blower.
'She'll be catching her breath when you point out her
name on the same page, and that the classified ad states that
she'll choose the 3H. It should all be too much for her.
If she doesn't fall for you, she might run away screaming.
Good luck.
Note:l've found a great time to set up the trick is immedi-
ately before dinner. When your name is on the list and you have
ten to fifteen minutes to wait for a table is ideal. You can
excuse yourself, walk outside, set up, come back inside and
bring your date outside for the performance.
It's also a great factor that ANY newspaper machine will
work. So if you didn't know what restaurant the two of you
were going to eat at, and the effect still happened, it must prove
that there could be no set up.
If you carry more than one duplicate Three of Hearts, then if
set up at one place and miss your chance to perform, you can
do it again at another paper machine.
35
Other Books by Docc Hilford
1
: . The Richey Technique Revealed $20
2. Mephisto' s Journey $20
3. Ball & Tube $20
4. Band of the Hand $25
5. The Sign of Four $25
6. The Hermit of Dreams $20
7. The Lolita System $35
8. Fern Fatal $35
9. The Star Tradeshow Act $20
10. At the Mountains of Madness $30
II. The New Cinderella Act $40
12. The Dance of Shiva $45
13. Burn, Witch Burn $15
14. The $1,000 Secret Seance $40
15. The Dark Cloak. $35
16. It's a Lu Lu $20
17. E'Voque $25
18. Cellular Mitosis $25

Other Tricks by Docc Hilford

1. The Wizard's Manual $65
2. The Cassandra Deck $25
3. Cards of Cairo ; $20
4. Million Dollar Deck $10
5. Rasputin's Secret $20
6. Raven's Slates $175
7. Assassin Card Sword $350