Introduction

First of all, thank you very much for purchasing ‘Let’s Contact The Dead’, a
deck of marked A-Z flash cards. I had originally designed these cards for use
with an effect in my recently released PDF and have included the routine
with the purchase of these decks.

In my mind, there are so many versatile ways to include these cards in your
act. Due to the nature of what they would have been used for, the
justifications for having a volunteer spell out a name or word makes sense.
And essentially that’s the simplest way of using them. Having someone think
of a word and spelling it out with the cards face down. Of course, due to
markings you will know what it is, and hence reveal it.

You can use them for drawing duplications rather easily too. Having them
shuffled then spread into a circle for example you can call on multiple
volunteers to simply ‘be drawn’ to one of those cards. Before they remove it
you’ll know what it is and can therefore go on to perform the drawing
duplication.

Two very simple ideas that can produce some strong effects. The routine I
will share with you in this PDF however does not utilise the marking system
at all. Originally I had the cards in stack and had blank backs, however, I was
asked to make them more versatile so designed the backs of the cards.

So, let’s take a look at the marking system.

When I first came up with the design I thought it was too obvious, however
after asking many magician and non-magician friends to tell me where the
marking was it seems it fly’s past. Yet, once you know what you’re looking
for you can’t not see it.

The cards around the table on the back of the card are the markings. The
face card is slightly bolder than the rest. It has a darker shade to it and it has
a thick border around it. Now of course whilst the cards are tiny replicas of
the fronts of the cards you’d still need good eyesight to make out what it
was, and my eyesight isn’t the best so I’ve utilised a key.
Card ‘A’, ‘G’, ‘N’ and ‘U’ are slightly separated from the rest of the deck and
are at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions respectively (fig.1).

This means there are 4 groups of cards. All you have to do then, is count
along the alphabet in your head from key card before the marking (on the
markings left). This way all you have to remember is A, G, N, U. You simply
count from one of those letters until you hit the marked card and you’ll
know which it is without having to make out the actual picture.

A
Key Card (G)

U 1
G
2
3

Marking
N (4)

Fig. 1 Fig.2

In Fig.2 we can see the marking so we move to the key card to its left
(counter clockwise) which in this case is ‘G’. We then count how many cards
away it is. In the example it’s the 4th card. We then simply count 4 letters
from G…H (1), I (2), J (3), K!. So, we now know the card is the ‘K’ card and
therefore the Key picture.

This is probably way over explained and you may not even the explanation
after playing with the cards, however, I feel it’s best to be thorough!

And that’s all there is to it! You’ll never have to count past 6 letters, in some
cases 5.
I really hope you enjoy the cards and have fun coming up with some
amazing routines.

Many thanks again for your purchase and your time,

Chris Mallon.

October 2020
 Let’s Contact the Dead
(A game for children ages 8 and up)

Effect/Performance
Back in the day, the psychics and mediums would perform a test to prove their
abilities. They’d have you think of a person or a possession that meant
something to you and then proceed to tell you details about what it is you
were thinking about. Now I’m going to do this a little bit differently because I
know it can be genuinely upsetting at times and that’s not what this is about.
Instead this is what I’d like everyone to do. Take a deep breath in and close
your eyes, and as you exhale, a random name will pop into your head. Just a
first name, and this won’t be anyone you know, but just go with it. I’m going
to get a few of you to write down the name that came into your head on
pieces of card, just don’t let anyone see what you’ve wrote.

Cards and pencils are handed out at random and audience members write
down the name. Someone is chosen to collect them.

If you could take the cards, keep them face down, and if you could mix them
for me. Now just choose one and have a look at the name but don’t tell anyone
just yet, we’ll come back to that later.

The person mixing the cards chooses one and keeps it secret.

Now of course this just ensures that whatever name you saw is not going to be
someone you personally know. And we’re going to have people choose some
objects now in a similar manner, we’re not going to use objects that are
personal to you, instead we’re going to use a set of Victorian alphabet cards.

The performer brings out a set of A-Z cards and begins showing them to
the audience.

You may be thinking some of the images are a little weird to be given to
children to learn their ABC’s but what’s even weirder, is that wasn’t their
primary purpose. These would have actually been given to children at the time
to play a lovely game of “Let’s contact the dead’ and cards would supposedly
spell out names etc. It does sound weird, yet it’s not quite as weird as that
today you can still buy the Hasbro Ouija board for ages 8 and up from all good
toy stores!

I’m going to need 4 people to help me out.

4 volunteers come up to the stage and are directed to stand in front of 4

chairs.

Now these cards are fairly large so I’m going to give you some each and I’d like
you to shuffle them the best you can.

Volunteers are each given cards to shuffle.

In a moment you’re each going to choose an object, and it doesn’t matter so

much if I see it or not as this isn’t what this is about, but I’d rather you kept it
to yourself.

The cards are collected by the performer and he allows each volunteer to
select a single card and asks them to either hold it to their chest or
sandwich it between their hands.

I’m going to make this as fair as possible, if you so wish you can look at each
others object and I’ll turn my back to you. If you want you can even swap
objects with each. And in fact, let’s make this even more random and put
yourselves into a different order so when I turn back round, you’re all standing
in different places in the line.

The performer turns his back and the volunteers swap objects and put
themselves into a random order all stood in a line.

You’ve likely heard people talking about psychics and mediums and they’ll
mention things like cold reading, but it’s much cleverer than that. The fact is I
don’t know what objects you’re thinking of right now, but the point is, I don’t
need to, I can make it sound like I do. And this is how it’s done…

The first thing I’m getting, is that it’s an object made of metal and something
fairly small, does that mean anything to any of you?

At this point one of the volunteers will acknowledge that it does.

And is this something you would tend to carry around with you, something
you’d likely have on you? Is it…. It’s not jewellery is it?

The volunteer will reply that it is not.

No, I didn’t think so. And that’s a line the mediums would use, so far, I’ve had
what we call ‘hits’ and I’ve been getting the information right but as soon as I
clearly got something wrong, I simply changed the words. Had you said that it
was jewellery, I would have said ‘Yes, that’s what I was getting’. So, you’ll start
to see at this point it doesn’t matter if I know what the object is or not, I’ve
likely given you enough information to convince you I do. Would you mind just
taking a seat for me. Thank you.

The first volunteer takes a seat in one of the empty chairs.

Alright the next thing I’m getting, is also an object made of metal but
something much larger, does that make sense to anyone. To you? Great. This
may sound weird, but does this object have any sort of link to water?

The volunteer will reply that it does.

And this is another popular line, because when you think about it, it has such a
strong ‘hit’ rate. Many objects could have some sort of link to water. It could
be that it’s used in water or it’s near water. It’s fairly vague yet it sounds like
something quite specific in the moment, and that’s what people remember.
Now clearly, I haven’t said what your object is but again if I were pretending to
be doing this for real it would sound like I knew. Would you also take a seat?

The volunteer then sits in another of the empty chairs and the performer
addresses the remaining two volunteers.

Right this next thing is a little trickier, so a small item, really small something
that isn’t man made, you think this could be yours? So, this is an animal it’s a
living thing, right?

The volunteer will reply it is not.

But it comes from a living thing though?

The volunteer will reply that it does!

The psychic will never be wrong! Clearly, I got something wrong and simply
used words again until it made sense why I was wrong! Please would you take
a seat.

The volunteer takes a seat.

And lastly, ok weirdly I’m not picking up on much for you. Let’s try something
different, I’m going to ask you some questions but answer them only in your
head. Is it man made? Is it a fairly big item? Would you carry it around with
you? Is it valuable? Is it something a child would use? Are you thinking of a Yo-
Yo?

The volunteer proclaims it is and the performer directs them to the

remaining empty chair.

Now of course that’s all well and good and if you’ve been following, you’ll have
a better understanding of how this stuff works. However, the thing I can’t
explain, is that you all took these cards, you mixed them up yourselves, you all
took a card. You then had the opportunity to swap with each other, and even
had the chance to change where you were standing. You then were asked to
take a seat. All very random. Here’s the thing I can’t explain, can you all please
stand up beside your chair and hold up your card to the audience so we can see
what you were thinking of.

The volunteers turn their cards around and the performer states what each
one is.

A key, an anchor, a tooth and of course the Yo-Yo, here’s the weird bit…

The performer turns around the chairs and a large picture of each of the
objects chosen is on the back of the corresponding chair where that person
chose to sit.

Oh, and one more thing, the person that looked at the name, can you shout
out what it was?
The audience member shouts out the name ‘Katy’.

Of course, we’re using alphabet cards and each card has a letter on…. K for
key, A for anchor, T for tooth and Y for Yo-Yo or Katy! Proof we have
undoubtedly made contact!

Method
I’ve always loved effects that have the power of three. I think to me anyone
that’s trying to figure things out will see the first part of the effect and be
curious as to how it was done. Then they’re hit with the second reveal and
by the time a third comes along they just give up and enjoy it and happily
admit defeat. I’ll break this down step by step to keep it easy to follow.

Firstly, the name is a force. There are numerous ways to achieve this. In
parlour I will use blank business cards and hand them out to various
audience members. When they’re collected I will put them on top of the
stack. As I’m talking I will turn the stack of cards in my hand and on the
bottom I have my forcing cards. I fan them out and ask the volunteer to
choose one, sort of like an add a number pad but with cards.
Once you have forced your chosen word or name, the alphabet cards are
brought into play. I understand most households will not happen to have a
pack of Victorian style A-Z cards lying about so I have included a pdf should
you wish to use mine. Please see the end of this routine for how to age
them.

The set-up is that the letters spelling out your chosen word or name are on
top of the deck. I find 4 letters to be enough as this equates to 4 volunteers.
You can find many sites online that will aid you in finding a word or name
that consist of 4 letters. Each letter does have to be different as the A-Z
cards only have 1 of each letter, no recurring letters basically.

With your force letters on top of the deck you can casually show they’re all
different starting with the bottom card. Thumb off the top 4 cards and give
them to one of the volunteers at the end of the row. Then nonchalantly do
the same with the remaining volunteers separating the remainder of the
deck between the 3 of them.

The cards are large tarot sized cards so mixing 4 cards will not seem odd and
you can even remark they’re fairly difficult to mix due to their size as the
reasoning for giving each volunteer a chunk of the cards. You can of course
alternatively control the 4 cards from the top of the deck to the bottom and
make a pinkie break. that way the last person you give cards to will get the
remaining 4.

I also find it can be helpful to demonstrate to the volunteers how to mix the
cards and as you do so perform a standard overhand shuffle. This stops the
possibility of the volunteers looking at the faces as they shuffle, although
this is likely being over cautious as it has yet to happen to me.

After they’re shuffled you collect the cards back making sure you collect the
person who has the 4 force cards last so they return to the top of the deck.

You then proceed to have the volunteers choose a card. There are many
ways you could force a card at this point but the point to me is to not look
like you’re doing a card trick. In that sense something like performing 4 slip
forces would not work. Instead, I use a very simple yet very devious ploy
that I first saw Luca Volpe perform and loved it. To force the top 4 cards,
you turn your back to the audience and simply deal them the top card as you
say ‘You take one, and you take one, you take one and if you can take one’.
And that’s it, sounds pretty ballsy, but trust me this slight ‘dual reality’ will
not be questioned by the volunteers on stage. Besides, they’ve supposedly
just shuffled these cards themselves. The audience however in this moment
of dual reality, thinks with your back turned that each volunteer is taking
one presumably from a fanned-out deck.

And here comes a subtlety I’ve added. As the last person takes the 4th force
card, as you’re turning back round to face the audience, casually fan the
deck out making it seem they were fanned the whole time. Your back is of
course now to the 4 volunteers who will not see this. It’s important you’re
not bringing any attention to it as you square the deck back up, it is a subtle
move but one I feel will fool anyone keeping a watchful eye in the audience.

At this point each of your volunteers has one of the 4 force cards and you
can ask them to swap with one another should they so wish, and in fact they
can even swap positions in the line they are standing in. This will affect
nothing to you as at this point we have no idea who has which but it will
make it harder to back track later on, and to me feels like a very
Berglasesque moment.

So now comes revealing the objects, and this really comes down to personal
taste. If you refer to the above script, you’ll notice I don’t actually name
what the first 3 objects are. To me it’s all about a sort of pseudo expose of
psychics and mediums. Of course, you’ll wish to customise this approach to
your own performing style.

The point now is you can simply start to describe one of the objects that are
known to you until someone acknowledges that it sounds like theirs. You
know what the objects are so describe them in the order you want the
volunteer to sit. At this point you’ll know who has it and of course what it is.
The script above uses 4 specific objects and you will have to do a certain
amount of tweaking so that your descriptions clearly separate the 4 objects
should you choose to use your own words and names.

The reveals can be in whatever way you like. You may wish to play a game of
20 questions ala Derren Brown. You may want to go down more of a direct
mind reading approach as you describe each object. The main thing is that
you make this part fun and entertaining as it is after all the body of the
routine. To stop it getting too repetitive I would suggest the 4th object
revealed is done differently from the first 3 as in the example above.

In terms of getting the volunteers to sit in the correct seats, this is a simple
matter of gesturing. Prior to the effect you will have placed duplicate
pictures of the objects either on the back or to the underside of each chair,
you may also want these to be in envelopes. Personally, I have them stuck
on the back of the chairs so I can dramatically turn the chairs around as the
volunteers are standing beside them.

So, let’s break this down, let’s presume as in the example above the force
name is ‘Katy’ and you have identified the person who has the ‘Key’ flash
card. You will know the order of the chairs has the ‘Key’ on chair number 1,
as you ask this person to take a seat you gesture with either hand down the
line and stop at the chair you mean for them to sit at. In 99% of cases they
will comply, the next person you ask to take a seat will sit next to them. And
so forth.

It’s important you’re not asking them to choose any chair. This detail should
not be important here, the audience don’t know it’s a chair test and
therefore the chairs should be treated simply as chairs. You’re simply
gesturing the first person to sit in chair number 1 and the rest should follow
compliantly. If person number 1 should not follow your gesture you would
casually just remark, ‘just that one on the end there, thank you’.

I can almost guarantee with everything going on this would not be

remembered and I can also say this will also very rarely happen. If it really
messes up, due to the nature of the effect you could just cut the whole chair
test part out entirely and simply reveal the objects they have and then the
name revelation but this is probably me setting up a contingency that will
never be seen in practice.

All going well though at this point you have revealed the objects your
volunteers are thinking of in any fashion you so wish and will also have them
sat in the correct chairs. All that is left is for you to reveal the objects they
have been thinking of to show they have been stuck to the chairs the whole
time and then for the third and final kicker you ask the person to shout out
the name which you then reveal to correspond to the letters on the cards in
your volunteers hands!
Notes
I present the script above as me telling the audience how I’m apparently
doing it, but its simultaneously proving and disproving my own theory. It
sort of makes sense but still looks impossible. It’s presented in my style and I
do implore you to take the scripting as a basis on which to write your own to
fit you and your character. The method itself doesn’t have to come across as
anything to do with mediums, you could of course use a more contemporary
pack of A-Z cards and simply demonstrate it as modern mind reading.

When I’ve used this on stage, I usually do not reveal the name at this point
and purposefully remove the letters from the images stuck on the chairs and
simply have the pictures. I then go into a ‘Talking Table’ effect where the A-Z
cards are arranged in a circle and an upturned wine glass moves to spell out
a name, in this case ‘Katy’. I do not reveal that the chairs which are still on
stage were from A-Z cards and of course spell out the name until the end of
the show.

Credits
David Berglas
Nick Richmond
Luca Volpe
Thank You.