Psuedo-psychometry
Psuedo-psychometry is an eftect popularized
by Theodore Annemann, who presented it with
great success in his shows. Through the years
many magicians and mentalists have explored
the possibilities inherent in this effect. Dozens
of versions are available on the market, hundreds
are in the literature.
The effect, as I'm sure you know, is that several
spectators receive an envelope (or some other
type of container) from the mentalist. They
are asked to put a personal object into it.
The envelopes are mixed by another spectator
and returned to the performer. As he removes
the objects from the envelopes one by one, the
performer senses the personal vibrations of
the owner and returns the objects to the correct
person.
The secret is simple and functional: The envelopes
are secretly marked and are distributed in a
known order. Thus, their markings automatically
identify the owners of their contents.
This effect has become a classic, but as far
as I'm concerned its no longer suitable for
today's audiences. Let me explain. If Pseudo-psychometry
is presented as a genuine feat of psychometry,
in which you give each lender of an object a
cold reading, the effect becomes too long-winded
for modern audiences seeking entertainment (which
mine are). And if the presentation is stripped
down to a simple test of what belongs to whom,
it becomes a mere puzzle with a solution that
is not terribly difficult to guess.
There is another flaw, as I see it, in the
idea of using Pseudo- psychometry as a platform
for cold readings: In the context of theater
corporate and banquet shows it is seldom believable.
In these venues you do not receive many family
heirlooms and long-held personal items. Instead
you get lipsticks, combs, mascaras, purse mirrors,
pills, lighters, coins and other incidental
items. (I have even received condoms and tampons,
and if you perform Pseudo-psychometry for long,
you will too. Be prepared to deal with them.)
Few thinking persons will actually believe that
such transitory items can carry meaningful psychometric
vibrations that could provide you with deep
insights into the lender's history and personality.
Of course, if a truly interesting item comes
my way, I will certainly capitalize on it -
but most of the time the objects are going to
be trivial.
Over the years I have developed a presentation
based on one by Tony Griffith,(1) which discards
cold reading while it dresses up - and therefore
conceals - the identification of the owners
of the lent objects. I have five objects collected.
More would make the routine repetitious. For
the first test I take one of the objects and
pass it before each of the five lenders, watching
their expressions. From "tiny subconscious responses"
I determine the owner of the object. For the
second test, I have each of the four remaining
subjects say the name of the object. Subtle
inflections in their voices tell me the owner
of this item. For the third test, I have each
of the remaining lenders say "No" after which
I detect the individual who has lied. This brings
me to the last two items. To avoid the pitfall
of having the last item become anti-climactic,
I take the remaining objects, one in each hand,
and ask their owners to look at them. Then,
from their gazes I am able to divine which object
belongs to whom.
This series of varied presentation premises
keep things interesting and entertaining--as
long as the pace is brisk and a bit of humor
is applied. While I feel that this flurry of
presentation ploys misdirects strongly from
the simple method behind it all, over the years
I have sought for better ways to conceal the
identification method, making it impossible
for even a critical audience to discover the
secret. Spectators know more about magic and
are much shrewder than they once were. Many
intelligent people who take the time after the
performance to think about the Pseudo-psychometry
effect can arrive at the correct solution -
and that's a pity. Here I offer two easy, yet
very deceptive methods that have worked extremely
well for me.
TECHNICOLOR GRAPHOLOGY
Here we employ a presentational plot by L.
Vosburgh Lyons, in which graphology rather than
psychometry is represented as the operative
phenomenon.(2)
EFFECT
The performer holds a small basket (like a
simple bread-basket), which contains at least
fifty correspondence cards and envelopes. These
are not neatly arranged, but lie scattered in
the basket. Five felt-tip pens are attached
by their clips to the outer rim of the basket.
Five spectators, preferably women, are each
asked to remove from the basket a card, a pen
and an envelope. (The envelopes are of the self-sealing
type, for considerations of hygiene and convenience.)
The performer humorously compares the selections
to a lottery, emphasizing that the spectators
can remove any card, any envelope and any pen
they wish; and he holds the basket in a way
that makes it easy for them to do so.
Each of the five spectators is asked to write
a few words on her card, then insert the card
into the envelope and seal it. Another spectator
is recruited to collect the envelopes and bring
them to the performer on stage. Once there he
is asked to mix them.
The performer now opens one envelope after
another, studies the different handwritings
and, through his graphological knowledge, dramatically
reveals various characteristics about each of
the five persons, eventually identifying each
individual from her handwriting!
PREPARATION AND PERFORMANCE
This handling would seem to leave no possibility
for identification through secret marks on the
cards or envelopes, and has been designed to
deceive well-posted magicians as well as the
public. The method is uncomplicated and utterly
simple: Neither the cards nor the envelopes
are prepared - but the pens are.
They look identical but each has a different
color of ink! Certain brands of felt-tip pens
can be found whose caps and cartridge tips alone
indicate the color of ink they contain. The
bodies of the pens are identical. With a black
permanent marker, color the caps and cartridge
tips to match. There is now only one way to
tell the pens apart: by writing with them. Fasten
these prepared pens around the mouth of the
basket in a known order, such as red, green,
blue, purple and black.
As you will quickly understand, this method
is suitable only for a large group, as the spectators
you use must be widely separated. This prevents
the secret of the different colored inks from
being accidentally discovered. Of course the
spectators can select any pen, since you know
the order of the pens and can mentally link
the colors with the spectators. Such memory
word is not difficult, but if it seems so, you
can hold the pens in a known order against the
side of the basket, and hand them to the spectators
in that order. That may seem a bit bold, but
I assure you, no one will think a thing about
it.
Of course the cards must not be returned to
the spectators afterward. Instead, casually
pocket them after you have done each psychometric
reading.
Variant presentations are possible using this
method. For instance, one can use Gene Gloye's
Doodles theme,(3) having the spectators draw
simple pictures or scribbles on the cards, which
you then relate to the proper spectator. You
cannot, of course, display the doodles as you
analyze them, for reasons of both size and secret.
However, you can duplicate them on a large sketch
pad as you talk about them.
CIMMERIAN PSYCHOMETRY
In this version we return to the principle
of marked envelopes - but even the best-informed
onlooker will swear that marks could not account
for what they have seen. The result is a method
that will convince any audience that you are
truly gifted.
EFFECT
Each of five spectators seated in the audience
freely takes a normal, self-sealing, padded
mailer from the ten to fifteen offered by the
performer. They are then asked to insert some
personal object into their mailer and seal it.
The mailers are mixed by yet another spectator
and brought on stage. This spectator proceeds
to blindfold the performer thoroughly, after
which the volunteer opens the mailers and puts
their contents on a tray. The performer does
not touch the objects. Nevertheless, as he passes
his fingertips over each item, sensing the vibrations
it emits, he describes the object and its owner!
PERFORMANCE
The mailers are unmarked, so it doesn't matter
which of them are selected. However, I have
forgotten to mention one detail of the procedure,
a detail that the audience fails to remember
as well: You helpfully gather the mailers from
the spectators in the audience and hand them
to the sixth spectator for mixing. It is crucial
that this be done with an air of innocent helpfulness;
that is, in an entirely unsuspicious fashion--for
it is this polite gesture on your part that
provides the cover under which you mark the
mailers, after the fact. On your thumb you have
a thumb tip to which you have securely glued
the tip from a darning needle. This piece of
needle should be less than a quarter of an inch
long.
In collecting the mailers you take them from
left to right, thinking of them as one through
five. Remember as many details as possible about
each spectator as you take his or her sealed
mailer, and use the thumb tip to mark the mailers
with an invisible line at their bottom ends,
which are quite thick due to the folded and
glued end seam. Each mark is placed in a different
location along the bottom, and must be heavy
enough to allow you to identify it by touch.
You need mark only four of the five mailers.
The absence of a mark identifies the fifth one
for you.
The blindfold the spectator you is faked to
permit you to see. Whatever type you use,it
should be convincing. I use and recommend Richard
Blindfold(4) in combination with the Band-Aid
preparation explained in the instructions that
accompany this prop.
As has been remarked by several psychometry
presentations offen suffers from one weakness:
When you reach the last object, the identification
of the final spectator is too obvious, creating
an anticlimax when you wish to intensify the
effect. He problem in this context:
After you have been blindfolded, pick up the
first of the mixed mailers and hand it to your
helper. It is at this instant that you feel
the mark and identify the spectator to whom
the sealed object belongs. Have your helper
open the mailer and place its contents on a
tray. You should try to be some distance from
him at this time, yet dose enough to recognize
the object and remember as many details about
it as possible. You must manage this in an instant.
(One reason I use the Osterlind blindfold is
that it enables you to glimpse the object with
a sidewise glance, without turning your head.)
Immediately upon recognizing the object, turn
your back to your helper. Next extend one hand
behind you and hold it over the object, pretending
to sense its vibrational pattem. Then proceed
to describe the item and its owner. When you
have gone as far as you can with your reading,
have your helper return the object to its lender.
Hand your helper the next mailer and have him
open it and place its contents on the tray.
As this is done, secretly read the mark on the
mailer and glimpse the object. Pretend to strain
for some sense of the item, but after an apparent
effort admit that the aura of the object is
too strong and confused for you to get anything
meaningful from it. Ask your helper to replace
the item in its mailer, seal it shut and put
it aside for the moment.
Continue with the remaining three items, having
the spectator place each on the tray for you
to read it, then returning it to its owner.
One mailer remains: that with which you experienced
difficulty. Ask your helper to take this last
mailer (which is still closed) to its owner
in the audience, then to take his seat again
with your thanks. You, now alone on stage, ask
the person to concentrate on his object without
taking it from the mailer - and you proceed
to describe the person and the object correctly.
Removing your blindfold, request that the spectator
take the object from the mailer and hold it
high in the air, so that everyone can see that
you have successfully solved this difficult
final challenge!
So much has occurred between the time the second
object was placed on the tray and the time you
correctly identify it, the audience will most
often forget that it was ever out of the mailer,
or that the mailer was in your hands.
If you practice this experiment well and present
it correctly, I promise you that it can be one
of the strongest effects in your program.
(1) See "Pseudo Psychometry" in Griff on Close-up
(1967), pp. 35-40.
(2) See The Jinx, No. 74, Jan. 6, 1940, p.
493.
(3) Published in Linking Ring, Vol. 36, No.
11, Jan. 1957, p. 76.
(4) Distributed by Jeff Busby in the United
States.
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