BY DR.

BILL
 6/17/10

Trybil : AKA The Multi-Bob Book is dedicated to the “Companionage

Community” of mentalists and magicians who put together and contributed
to the amazing ebook fundraiser on the behalf of myself and my family.
Without you, and of course those who responded by purchasing
Companionage and/or
Companionage and/or making a donation, it is unlikely
u nlikely Trybil would have
ever seen completion. Linda, Joni and I thank you all and want to take this
opportunity to let you know how important and meaningful your support was
to us during a very difficult time in our lives.

2
 FOREWORD
BY TONY RAZZANO

Dr. Bill is a good friend of mine, despite never having met in person.
Certainly such relationships are a product of the times within which we live
and the tremendous impact of the Internet.

I first heard of Bill not long after I bought an original Zingg wallet. In a
subsequent book of routines put out by Allen Zingg, Bill contributed an effect
that is so good and fitfi t my performance requirements and philosophy so
perfectly it became the only routine I used with the wallet from then on.

That’s when I first saw the brilliance of Bill Cushman, and I have been a fan
ever since. Our friendship grew and continues to do so through phone calls
and emails.

When Bill first mentioned that he was writing a book about Multi-Bob
pendulums, I was very interested. The pendulum is i s a tool which I use
frequently in my mentalism appearances. Everything fromf rom cabaret to close
up to house parties. They are received exceptionally well at house parties!

I also use pendulums

pendulum s in my private and group readings. There are some
very well known mentalists who use them one on one with great success.
The pendulum is a wonderful tool.

I always liked the idea

i dea of Multi-Bob pendulums as they abound with
possibilities, especially in cabaret and close up settings. The problem that I
had was that there were no Multi-Bob pendulums, save one and that was
Viking’s Burmese Bells.

They did exactly what the ad said they

th ey did, but were attached to a terrible
acrylic plastic rod that screamed “magic trick” as loud as it metaphorically
can be screamed. Not being handy about making
making things, I abandoned thethe
idea of using a Multi-Bob.

Then along came Dr. Bill and Rich Hennessey. Problem solved. You have that
solution before you now. Rich Hennessey has a great site called Mentalcraft 
(mentalcraft.com
mentalcraft.com)), from which you can buy some beautiful pendulums, now
including Multi-Bob styles.

Within these pages, Rich also teaches us how to make our own Multi-Bob
pendulum using items obtainable at any office supply or arts and crafts

3
store. The method is easy, and while the result may not be of the caliber of
Rich’s own “objects de arte”, these Multi-Bobs are attractive and have their
own advantages.

For example, later you will read about leading workshops for the public on
using pendulums. A popular exercise at these workshops is the creation of
their own pendulum by the students during which a connection is forged
between the two. The same “bonding” process will obviously occur with
Rich’s homemade Multi-Bob.

Everything else you need to know about handling the Multi-Bob is right here
in Trybil . In his typically clear and entertaining manner Dr. Bill teaches you
how to properly hold the Multi-Bob. He explains how to first learn to master
stillness and why this is so important. Next are the secrets of evoking all the
different motions and combinations of motions possible with the Multi-Bob.

Dr. Bill will explain, sharing some unique insights, the all important methods
of assessing potential participant’s responsiveness that you will be able to
apply to any kind of performance. This is priceless information.

Then the routines! Dr. Bill has some very creative, talented and generous
friends who share their routines alongside Bill’s own preferred presentations.
These are excellent items from the repertoire’s of working pros, most of
whom you know.

Even more gold is there for the taking by those who look beyond the
routines into the philosophy, history and psychology provided throughout
Trybil . Dr. Bill provides, “The History of the Pendulum in Three Easy
Movements,” a wonderful piece you can perform as is or use as a solid
foundation on which to build your own routine. In any case, be sure to
 “mine” the routine for all the nuggets within.

There are so many choices! My first thought was to use the Multi-Bob in a
séance setting with the sitter(s) holding the pendulum and having its
movements manifest in a manner that they call upon the spirits to produce.

You may perform the many contributions in this book as written, but I
predict they will also serve as a springboard to stimulate your own creativity.
You know the old cliché the possibilities are endless?  Well here it is not a
cliché.

You know something is going on when in one ebook so many major players
in mentalism are involved. People like John Riggs, Keith Barry, Gerard,
Michael Weber and Marc Salem all readily come to mind.

4
Trybil  ends with a superb section courtesy of Jerome Finley. Those of you
familiar with his work will not be surprised at Jerome’s high level thought
processes on refining pendulum work alongside the language and objectives
of hypnosis.

You have a real gem before you. I am honored to be a part of Trybil .

Tony Razzano

May, 2010

5
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication 2

Foreword 3

Introduction 9

Rich Hennessey

Making Your Own Multi-Bob 18

Dr. Bill

Tea For 3 21

Coming To Grips 24

Stillness 26

Motion 30

Gauging Responsiveness 35

THE MULTI-BOB MOVEMENTS

Jerome Finley

A Few Brief Notes 39

John Riggs

From A Slender Cord, Swinging 40

Stage Right, Enter From The Shower 41

Gerard

Charmed 43

Dr. Todd Landman

The Mystic Triad 46

Faucon of Sakin’el
Pendulum Adept 49

6
Ron Martin

A Brief Note On Ron Martin's Multi-Bob Routine 52

Dr. Bill

The History Of Pendulums In Three Movements 53

Mental Workout 57

The Multi-Bob Hummer 60

Mauricio Jaramillo

The Dead Test 64

Onstage Multibobber 66

Bobbing For ESP 70

Michael Weber

A Branch From The Tree Of Knowledge 72

Pull My Swinger 74

Greg Arce

Digit Swing 78

Invisible Swing 79

Pendulum Line Up 80

Contact Swing 81

The Pendulum Judge 82

Dr. Bill

Trybilyte 84

Marc Salem

The Living Pendulum 86

The Pendulum Proposal 88

7
SWINGING SOLO: EFFECTS WITH A SINGLE PENDULUM

Docc Hilford

Dead Or Alive 91

Brad Henderson

The Everlasting Pendulum Trick 96

Kenton Knepper

Sealed Pendulum 100

Dr. Bill

The Bill And The Pendulum 104

Faucon of Sakin’el

Pendulum Adept, Part II 108

Tony Razzano

The Pendulum Party 110

Keith Barry

Dochreidthe 113

Jerome Finley

My Pendulum Routine 116

Angel Pendulum 127

In Conclusion 134

Appendix I

Acidus Novus 138

Appendix II

A Suggestion For The Use Of Suggestion 141

8
 INTRODUCTION
I know there are lots of theories about enhancing imagination and
stimulating “aha” moments but I’ve never found them to work for me. Right
now I have Lou Reed playing in the background instead of Mozart or Bach
like I’m “supposed” to listen to when trying to increase my creativity. And I
seem to remember reading somewhere that Stephen King listens to heavy
metal when he writes.

I look at what I see as my most illuminating experiences when creating

mentalism; at those effects or methods that I immediately knew were on
track, unique, useful and had powerful entertainment potential. Inevitably,
these are the creations that have resonated with the mentalism and magic
community and gone on to find places in the repertoires of many
performers. And inevitably went on to stimulate their own creativity as th ey
made them their own.

Of course my ideas were influenced by the inventiveness of those before me

as well as my contemporaries. I believe there is a progressive path of
creativity with no end in sight so long as we refuse to settle for less.

There are those gestalt moments, as they’ve been referred to, where an idea
materializes seemingly out of nowhere. I like to refer to these inspirations as
appearing “whole cloth,” presentation and method arriving together,
wrapped in a pretty package.

I joyfully experience these instances as if I’m listening to someone else tell

me a story. It is receiving a gift and as much evidence as I need to
demonstrate the power of the subconscious mind.

Then there are the “aha” moments as mentioned above. These are the times
that begin with a partial inspiration. I know it is good but after a certain
amount of work I find myself stuck.

The idea is left fallow, for days, sometimes weeks, months, even years. It
can apparently be forgotten altogether.

But, once again giving evidence to the power of the subconscious, it isn’t
truly forgotten. The proof being in that seemingly single moment where it
bursts through layers of fog, half formed memories, thoughts and ideas
complete and ready to claim its right to be.

9
So where does the Multi-Bob fit in? It arrived via the disposal of an old rod
that held our paper towels. The screw that attached it to the base of the
contraption had become stripped and it just seemed easier to toss the whole
thing.

I salvaged the rod just before it hit the garbage can and fifteen minutes,
three pieces of yarn and three nuts later, I held my first Multi-Bob prototype.
Of course I knew right away that I hadn’t come up with a new idea.

But I also knew that an old idea had occurred to me with a sudden clarity as
the result of a rather neutral stimulus. And that it fit very well into the
Zeitgeist of the current mentalism renaissance and would meet the criteria
and impact described above. Not quite a gestalt or aha moment, ultimately
the nature of its development fell somewhere in between.

I immediately knew that the Multi-Bob pendulum deserved a greater

presence in the mentalism community. I believe this of all pendulums and
I’m far from alone. For many years several expert performers have said, or
used words to the effect, “The pendulum is among the most underutilized
instruments in the mentalist’s repertoire.”

I have loved pendulums since I was about ten years old and began to
experiment with the one that came with the Kreskin board game. It was a
tacky plastic contraption, its size way out of proportion to its purpose. You
can see the game and pendulum here:

This photo brings back so many great memories! The pendulum was
suspended from the kind of cheap “ball-link chain” usually reserved to hold
keys temporarily and in the most economical way possible. A cool feature
was that you could feed the chain into the pendulum itself for easy storage,
perhaps why it lasted as long as it did.

10
But the coolest feature, especially to an impressionable ten year old kid in
love with all things magical, was that it actually worked! The Kreskin
pendulum really moved when and where I mentally told it to! I had that
pendulum for over 35 years and only in the last few have I come to fully
appreciate what a powerful role it played in forming my own views of both
mentalism and the human mind.

Next there was a quartz pendulum bought at a new age store. I carried this
with me for years, never tiring of experiencing its impact on others,
particularly when held in their own hand. Though I didn’t know it right from
the beginning, this pendulum was refining my techniques of suggestion as
well as teaching me to identify those most responsive to its use.

Then two years ago I came to know Rich Hennessey and his artful line of
pendulums. Befriended over the Internet, as I hope many reading this have
or will be, Rich introduced me to a wide range of pendulums, eventually
culminating in what is now a longstanding relationship with The Celt as I like
to call it (Actually The Neolithic Component Pendulum – Stone):

http://www.mental-
craft.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&produ
ct_id=17&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4

Which brings us right back to the Multi-Bob. Even more important than a
long standing relationship with an ancient stone cutting tool suspended from
an elegant chain, is my relationship with Rich.

We have kept up a lively correspondence about many things, not all mental
or magical. Rich has been a great source of inspiration during difficult times.
Without a doubt he is one of the kindest and wisest mystery performers I
have the privilege to know.

As far as things mental, Rich has generously contributed his own precious
methods and effects to some of my previous eBooks. It was only natural for
me to turn to him first about reviving the Multi-Bob pendulum.

Several days later I received an email with three pictures attached. You can
see Rich’s first Multi-Bob prototypes here:

11
 The Three Legged Alligator The Five Chinese Bobs

The Three Keys To Successful Bobbing

A few days after that came the first “Mini-Bob,” this time in my mailbox!
Here is a photo of this smaller, but deceptively powerful tool:

12
 MINI-BOB

As Rich and I brainstormed various options to improve the Multi-Bob, I

asked if there was a way to make the individual chains and pendulums
removable.

I was interested in this for several reasons. I wanted the Multi-Bob to be

easily customized. I wanted to increase its utility and value by providing
owners with three additional high quality standard pendulums. The latter
feels like a late night TV pitch: “Order now and receive not one, not two,
BUT three extra pendulums!”

Seriously, I saw many benefits besides quantity in this aspect of the Multi-
Bob. I considered how this made it possible to create routines where you
begin with standard pendulum work then assemble your Multi-Bob and rise
to your crescendo.

Or perform an effect with the Multi-Bob and be in the wonderful position of

having the option to disassemble it and immediately present routines using
the individual pendulums. You will have to try it yourself to see how much
this charms and captivates a small group that you’ve caught by surprise.

13
As I suspect won’t surprise you by now, a few days after this brainstorming
session Rich sent me a photo of a Multi-Bob prototype with detachable
pendulums! He ingeniously applied the magnetic system he already uses
with some of his individual pendulums, most notably in concert with the
Haunted Key. The result of
Rich’s creative solution can
be seen here.

Shortly after the photo, I received one of these beauties to work with and
help fine tune. The aged bamboo rod is an especially nice touch and the
whole Multi-Bob, weight, length of the chains, use of pendants and bobs
simply looks and feels great.

The neodymium magnets which attach the chain to the rod are powerful yet
allow for a quick, clean and silent removal or reattachment. Remember,
though, it is a prototype so will not necessarily be the same as the model
Rich eventually decides to add to his line. However, as always eager to
please the customer, Rich is willing to customize as requested within reason.

I feel like I’m doing an ad for Mentalcraft! Which is fine as Rich deserves it
but my purpose in including this information and the photos is multifold.

I want you to get a sense of the joy in how creators interact during the
evolution of an idea. I want you to be inspired regarding what you can craft
on your own if you have the necessary talents. Later in this book there are
instructions by Rich for creating your own Multi-Bob (John Riggs’ and I offer
methods as well).

14
Also, there is at least one other rod with multiple pendulums on the market
that I’m aware of (see Viking Magic’s “Burmese Bells” that Tony referred to
in the foreword). Comparing this with Rich’s work demonstrates the vast
distance in style that is congruent with my aims in writing this book and
including the particular routines I have chosen.

Though my first prototype was nothing to write home about, elegance and
mystery were always what I had in mind for the Multi-Bob. And as you can
see from the above, Rich shares the same goals.

The true origins of the Multi-Bob’s entrance into the realm of the mage
remain shrouded in mystery despite consulting some of the best minds in
mentalism. Kenton Knepper and Tony Razzano each shared that Galileo used
a version for scientific experimentation and applications so we know it has
existed for a very long time.

According to Tony Razzano’s research the Multi-Bob style was first

mentioned in Galileo’s "Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems"
and "Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences". Here is a quote from the
latter that Mauricio Jaramillo sent along suggesting Galileo was aware of the
impact on the observer of the Multi-Bob and wasn’t all work and no play!

"Seeing that you have derived so much pleasure from these novelties, I must show you a
method by which the eye may enjoy the same game as the ear. Suspend three balls of lead,
or other heavy material, by means of strings of different length such that while the longest
makes two vibrations the shortest will make four and the medium three; this will take place
when the longest string measures 16, either in hand breadths or in any other unit, the
medium 9 and the shortest 4, all measured in the same unit."

One would expect that some purveyor of mysteries worth his salt would
have long, long ago adapted Galileo’s device to more nefarious uses. While
this is probably so, the effect and secret appears to have been well hidden
for centuries.

The earliest mention in the magic literature I have located is in David P.

Abbott’s, “Behind The Scenes With Mediums,” published in 1909. An
excellent (and glowing) description is given and Abbott writes that he
believed “the trick was unknown to the dealers of secrets of use to mediums,
and to the best of my knowledge has never become known.”

Abbott also describes variants involving pendulums hanging from frames and
suspended in bottles. Some work in this area will be taught by Mauricio
Jaramillo and Michael Weber in a bit.

15
Despite my difficulties in finding other early source references in the
literature of magic, the secrets obviously got around even if only subsequent
to Abbott’s description and endorsement. This is evident from the presence
of individual routines in various books since Abbotts, some included here.

One that particularly captured my imagination is from Docc Hilford. He wrote

on the Multi-Bob thread on the Café, “Mine were various Voodoo items
attached to a small, black, New Orleans parasol. Each item was, of course,
on a different length string and each represented a different topic. A coin for
money, a glass heart for love, there was a tiny skull, a die, an animal tooth,
a rabbit's foot and most were from key chains.

The subject thought of a question, concentrated on the item that revealed

her topic and held the parasol over her head. The odd trinkets danced
around her head, until all but one stopped moving. Then, as if pushed by an
unseen spirit hand, her item swung crazy! The magick man interpreted the
swings to answer her unknown question.”

Ingenious and what a great visual in an art that is often so bereft of props
that capture the eye of the audience. Much like Docc himself!

However, nowhere have I found a thorough examination of the Multi-Bob

like I would expect. When I rescued the paper towel rod from certain
premature disposal and shortly thereafter held a Multi-Bob prototype in
hand, I suspect I was working from a childhood memory. As a nerdy pre-
adolescent I was drawn to books with subtitles like, “Use Science To Create
Magic!” on their covers.

My instincts tell me that I first encountered the idea of the Multi-Bob

pendulum in this kind of a book. But I’ve had no luck in finding the ideas
behind the Multi-Bob in such books spanning the last 60 years, though did
come across one reference to the bottle version. I’m sure someone will read
this and steer me in the right direction. You know who you are!

OK, this is not a book on the history of pendulums. This is not a book on the
mechanics or science of pendulums. This information is readily available
elsewhere.

Trybil  is a book inspired by the mystery and beauty of the Multi-Bob

pendulum and the interest it generated when I sought out information on its

16
origins. Many pendulum aficionados felt a work addressing the Multi-Bob in
detail was called for.

As I described above, I have always been entranced by pendulums. So I

have also included effects using standard pendulums that I sought out and
their creators generously contributed. Or their creators offered to contribute
when they heard I was writing a book on pendulums. This part ultimately
grew almost as large as the Multi-Bob section but I don’t think anyone will
mind!

Time to move on to the meat of this ebook! First are Rich Hennessy’s
instructions on making up your own Multi-Bob then some tips on the best
way to handle this incredible tool to get the most out of it. And, finally, the
routines!

17
Rich Hennessey: For almost my entire life I have been interested in and
fascinated by all things “Magical”

By “Magical” I am not just referring to entities related to the Magical Arts.

For me Magical covers a much broader spectrum, including but not limited to
the following: Nature; Animals; the Cosmos; Ancient cultures; Fossils, and of
course the Art of Magic itself.

I try to meld these subjects whenever possible into my performance of

Magic and Mentalism. I started my journey over two decades ago as a magic
bartender, and that eventually evolved into performing tableside magic at
local restaurants.

I am proud to say that this is my 20th year at my original restaurant. I also

 perform stand-up magic and mentalism at private parties.

I truly love being a local entertainer, and I never had a desire to go bigger,
or travel to perform.

For the past couple of years I have enjoyed creating unique pendulums and
other props for members for the Magic / Mentalism community.

MAKING YOUR OWN MULTI-BOB PENDULUM

BY RICH HENNESSEY

Hello friends in the Mystery Arts. A while back, Dr. Bill contacted me
regarding an idea he had for a functional Multi-Bob pendulum.

My initial reaction was along the lines of "say what"?

I had been creating unique pendulums for a while, but in all honesty, I had
never heard of a Multi-Bob pendulum.

Dr. Bill provided me with a link to a product known as “The Burmese Bells”

I quickly surmised what the good doctor had in mind: A cross rod with two
or more pendulums of various lengths hanging from the rod.
I will be the first to admit that my knowledge of actual pendulum use is quite
limited. Until recently, I just made them; I enjoy creating unique
pendulums.
However this is changing and I am learning!

18
I believe this ebook will provide knowledge and ideas from experienced
pendulum users that will enable performers of all skill levels to include
both single and Multi-Bob pendulums in their performances.

I do hope that you will join me on the “journey of enlightenment” regarding the
 “Power of the Pendulum in Performance”....especially Multi-Bob Pendulums.

Now here are some simple instructions for making what I like to call:

The Office Store Pendulum

All items can be obtained at almost any office supply store.

Needed:
1.  A Pencil : I selected a pack of holograph decorated pencils made by
Ticonderoga. They are shiny and metallic and compliment the silver binder
clips nicely.

In addition these pencils are factory sharpened, and a little longer

[7.5 in.] than a standard NO.2 pencil. The underlying wood is
black as is the eraser making for a very attractive rod.

2. Three small binder clips: I chose the silver metal clips. (3/4 in.)

3. Some string or cord: I had some black satin rattail cord on hand so
I used that. Most office stores have white cord available. This is perfectly
adequate but the black cord coordinates nicely with the rest of the set-up.

Simple construction method:

Nothing written in stone...however, I like the longest pendulum to be slightly

longer than the cross rod. So 8 inches is about right.

1. Tie the end of the spool string with a tight double knot around one of
the binder clip handle loops.

2. Cut off about 10 inches of string.

3. Tie the other end of the cut string around the pencil, again with a tight
double knot. Remember to measure so that the total length after tying is
about eight inches.

19
4. I like the second longest pendulum to be about 75% as long as the longest
pendulum so approximately 6 inches will work. Again go through the tying
process.

5. The shortest pendulum should be 60% of the longest...so about 4 3/4 inches
is fine. Again, these are my own preferences.

6. Clip off any excess string as close to each knot as possible. First make
certain each knot is tight and won't come undone. You can also secure the
knots with a clear drying white glue.

Comments:

This Multi-Bob pendulum may not appeal to all; however, it is compact and can
fit in a jacket pocket. It is great for strolling and tableside.

The binder clips can be used to hold billets or other small objects. Or possibly
even as a Multi “Witness” Pendulum.

Being that the cross rod is a functioning pencil, I am sure creative performers
can envision the possibilities of use in conjunction with a secret writer.

Each Pendulum will easily slip off the pencil for individual use. I will be glad to
make up this version at a very reasonable price. Here is what the final product
looks like:

20
 TEA FOR THREE
BY DR. BILL

BOBBING FOR TEA

I first used a teabag as an impromptu pendulum many years ago when out
to dinner with a group of friends. It wasn’t something I did often and hadn’t
thought about it for a long time having taken up the habit of carrying a
pendulum with me. A routine with a teabag, “Tasseography,” is also
described in Richard Webster’s Pendulum Power.

However, steeped as I’ve been in Multi-Bob work, I guess the following was
 just inevitable. As was that pun.

An order of carry out Chinese food arrived with several sets of chopsticks.
The selection of Szechuan Beef led to a steak knives being on the table. I
suspect you can see where this is going! The photo is also a good hint.

A couple of points and we’ll move on. First, the darn thing works! I really
didn’t have high hopes, given the need to shorten one teabag string
considerably. But with a bit of attention to detail, you’ll have a fully
functional, impromptu Multi-Bob. With a bit of acting you can definitely make
this appear to be inspired on the spot. Especially when not having had to act
the first time!

21
Use the steak knife to “saw” notches into a chopstick at appropriate
distances from one another. Cut the teabag strings as needed to create
three different length bobs. You don’t tie the strings around the chopstick
but instead tie a knot large enough at the top so that once the string is
inserted in the notch (you may want to wrap it once or twice) the teabag
pendulum will stay put. Yet also be easily removable.

You may also leave the tags on and just wrap the strings around the
chopstick as many times as needed to achieve the appropriate lengths. The
tag will help keep things in place and the bags are still removable.

One of my reasons for including this here is it occurred to me that Rich’s

Office Store Pendulum can be constructed the same way rather than tying
the strings to the pencil. Also, if you use a piece of dowel rod, notching
works fine. I redid my first prototype (the paper towel rod), which is actually
quite thick, using notches done with a “pocket saw” and it worked perfectly.

It turns out Rich also has experimented with constructing a Multi-Bob using
a high quality, ornate chopstick. It will be available via custom orders so
please see Rich for details.

But back to my modest, impromptu version. It i s all “armchair” from here

but let me include some thoughts that occurred to me for your inspiration.

22
Tea leaves have been used for centuries as an oracle for divination. I know
next to nothing about this practice. For someone who does, that and a bit of
imagination could morph into a tasty presentation.

What about attaching three varieties of tea rather than three of the same?
And leave on the tags that identify
i dentify the flavor.

Now instead of having your guest concentrate on moving bag 1, 2 or 3, have

h ave
them imagine enjoying a cup of their favorite blend. A whiff of aroma
stimulates their senses and that teabag is the one that moves. Via this shift
in meaning the effect completely changes.

Also, this is perfect for

f or the good responder to perform in their own hands.
And this can still be handled as an impromptu effect. Variety packs of
delicious teas are readily available
avail able in many homes and even offices. Some
nicer restaurants bring out a chest
ch est for the customer to select one of several
flavors.

OK, I’m getting ahead of myself. Before the routines must come information
on handling the Multi-Bob to get the most out of it and shorten
sh orten your learning
curve.

23
 COMING TO GRIPS
At first, writing this section
secti on seemed to me like it was going to be gratuitous.
After all, who needs to be told how to hold the pendulum rod? Overkill,
right?

Then I learned that three colleagues were effectively holding the Multi-Bob
rod in completely different ways from what I thought of as the obvious
position. Sure, I had realized
reali zed you need to adjust your grip to match the size
and shape of your fingers, like
li ke with almost any other move or prop in magic
and mentalism, but these differences were far more distinctive than that.

For a long time I held the rod in what seems to me the

th e intuitively logical
manner. I simply take
t ake each end between my thumb and forefinger adding
support by placing my middle
mi ddle fingers beneath the rod. If seated, as I usually
u sually
am these days, depending what size I use and where I am (so ( so says Captain
Obvious!), I may or may not rest my elbows on a table or my knees. But
that is about it.

Then a friend wrote that he held the Multi-Bob one-handed like it was the
most natural thing in the world. He’d never considered holding both ends!
Food for thought; if you have a steady hand, there really isn’t a reason not
to. Plus, it allows
all ows you to steady the pendulums with your free hand more
readily if needed or desired. Or emphasize which bob is moving most with
your free hand.

OK, one handed, that’s an option, but that’s it, right? Wrong again. Another
friend sends me a photo, as you’ll see later, of his Multi-Bob
Multi- Bob made from a
tree branch.

A smaller branch extending at close to a 90 degree angle serves as his

means of gripping the Multi-Bob,
Mul ti-Bob, providing a handle of sorts. All the pros
and cons of the one handed
han ded grip on the Multi-Bob as mentioned above, plus
the singular quality of using a tree branch!

Then I read Kenton Knepper, in his wonderful book Pendulum Programming

which I will be referring to often,
(http://www.wonderwizards.com/product_info.php?products_id=455
http://www.wonderwizards.com/product_info.php?products_id=455)),
suggests holding the rod between your open palms. I like this a lot
especially with the full size Multi-Bob, allowing me a level of control that

24
supersedes recent physical limitations. Here is a photo of Mauricio Jaramillo
using this grip with a 5 pendulum Multi-Bob made for him by his girlfriend:

Mauricio “Palming” A Multi-Bob Pendulum

In a similar fashion, I’ve found that with a mini Multi-Bob, it is effective to

hold the rod between the tips of your first fingers. Your remaining fingers
can be closed or spread out; this hold works both ways with equal facility.
Using the palms obscures too much of what is happening while using your
fingertips makes for a fine display, highlighting the Multi-Bob movements.

25
 STILLNESS
Paradoxically, fine tuning your control over the pendulums movements is
first gained by mastering stillness. That sounds very “Zen,” and perhaps it
even is, but was simply derived from personal experience. Any of my
Buddhist readers feel free to send me comments,

I strongly recommend you resist the urge to bypass this step. Begin by
entering a state of calm relaxation where the pendulums rest with as little
movement as possible. You will then use your ideomotor response to
decrease and ultimately halt their movement. Learning this now will help you
later when you move one or more pendulums while the remaining ones stay
still.

Many factors will determine exactly how still you can maintain the
pendulums, particularly when you are engaged in moving a single one, as
your work with the Multi-Bob progresses. Don’t let this absence of
perfection interfere with your practice.

Recent circumstances have left me with an unpredictable slight tremor. As

you can imagine, when this is going on maintaining stillness becomes
somewhat more of a challenge!

Think and speak of pendulum movement in terms of relativity. You may not
be able to maintain the two “neutral” pendulums perfectly still but rest
assured that you can make it more than obvious that the chosen pendulum
is moving in an entirely different way, with greater vitality and distinctively
in the desired direction. And most intriguingly, as you do get in tune with the
chosen bob, the others grow in stillness as they come to a complete rest.

A large part of the mystery with the Multi-Bob is that the two neutral
pendulums are serving as a kind of “control” relative to the one in motion. If
you were moving the rod with your hands in any way, intuitively all three
would move in concert.

There is no need to state this unless it is inherent in your premise or part of

the back story of why this odd device exists in the first place, which is
perfectly valid and can be used effectively. I do so indirectly in “The History
of The Pendulum; In Three Movements” below. And please see the ad for
this book at outlaw-effects.com where I begin with a rather atmospheric

26
story about the Multi- Bob’s ability at identifying those who qualify for
entrance into a secret organization.

Another benefit of obtaining stillness first in performance is that it serves to

offer a visual process, “explaining” what is necessary to achieve your ends.
It gives meaning to what you are doing and helps build suspense and
expectation, something we can always use more of in mentalism. Besides
the ubiquitous Smash and Stab!

Doing so begins to demonstrate that what I’m doing isn’t some stunt but
rather something deserving of the audience’s complete attention. Plus it
shows there is a method to my madness! As Millard Longman writes in
Psychic Skills Workshop (http://www.mevproshop.com/psychic-skills-
workshop.html), “When you use your pendulum, you are in a trance!” You
would be wise to remember this. It has many useful implications.

Obtaining stillness imparts useful indirect suggestions that will enhance your
success when having an audience member handle the Multi-Bob. The
importance of the incorporation of tangible process is emphasized by many
successful mentalists.

It helps to create and initiate the “irresistible illusion,” as I like to call it. This
is a term I coined during many long explorations with Enrique Enriquez on
another way to conceptualize the phenomenon usually referred to as “sacred
deception.”

Sure enough, with the irresistible illusion initiated, the pendulum begins to
move when the proper moment arrives. Remember, you are doing
something of significance that has required the acquisition of knowledge and
the application of discipline to master. Never “throw away” the use of any
pendulum. What a waste!

I can’t emphasize enough that you are modeling what you want from the
audience members who in many effects will handle the Multi-Bob or an
individual pendulum later in your performance. This will make your task, and
theirs, much simpler. Working on stillness is also effective in helping to
master the standard pendulum.

This seems like a good point to mention that the Multi-Bob is a low tech yet
sophisticated form of a biofeedback device. More so than a standard
pendulum, which also serves as a tool for biofeedback, the Multi-Bob

27
requires even greater receptivity to minimal cues. Conversely it demands
more sensitivity and precision in responding to these cues and feeding back
signals from your brain to create the movement and stillness you desire.

This is a premise you can draw on to create a routine or to do it for real. I

have very successfully used the Multi-Bob with several clients so feel free to
help yourself or someone you’re working with relax and/or fine tune their
concentration (The usual caveat; no playing doctor unless you are one!).

I’ve considered “attaching” a brainwave to each pendulum as a performance

premise but have yet to do so. Should any of my readers decide to adopt
this theme, Beta waves are associated with a high level of mental activity
such as used when problem solving or decision making. SMR waves are
found when the mind is at attention and storing and sequencing information
for later use. Alpha waves are typically found in an alert mind in a state of
rest. Theta waves are linked to mental creativity and inspiration. And Delta
waves are found during deep relaxation. Feel free to run with it and let me
know what happens!

Let me offer some final thoughts on achieving stillness. Where you want to
take yourself both mentally and physically is strongly related to the states
evoked by relaxation techniques, meditation, mindfulness practices, guided
visualization and hypnosis, self or otherwise.

You want to use your breathing as you would with any of the above practices
to begin by centering yourself. Scan your body for any areas of tension and
allow these areas to relax and let go.

I learned to use the phrase, “relax and let go,” to accompany each step of a
progressive muscle relaxation technique many, many years ago. Over time it
has become “attached,” “linked,” or “anchored” to the experience of
relaxation so I only need to note an area of tension and internally tell myself
to relax and let go. It works fine as a whole body method as well.

Of course you need to anchor yourself to a phrase or image that works best
for you though I do find “relax and let go” an excellent all purpose option
when helping others achieve a focused and relaxed inner state.

The phrase is especially well suited for a group setting where you are dealing
with a variety of people from diverse backgrounds. It doesn’t seem to invite

28
resistance, allowing just about anyone to accept it both consciously and
subconsciously.

Whether for yourself or when guiding others, time such internal statements
with exhalations. If identifying a specific muscle to relax, first remember a
muscle is more relaxed subsequent to tensing it and time the phrase with
the releasing of the muscle tension and the exhalation.

Once in an appropriate state internally state “Stop,” and/or visualize the

pendulums come to a rest. After sufficient practice you can accomplish the
necessary steps quite quickly. But take 10 to 20 seconds to allow you the
time for adequate positioning and emphasis of the importance of the journey
your audience will soon join you in taking. You are then ready to begin
moving the desired or chosen pendulum.

29
 MOTION
For me, activating the ideomotor response is a source of pleasure. With the
Multi-Bob pendulum the ten year old boy I wrote about in the introduction
resurfaces, feeling real magic that is communicated to those observing and
participating. And this time there is the additional sense of “the
unexplained” offered by the impact of working with multiple pendulums and
the happy/crazy experience of one moving as desired while the others stay
still.

Depending on the presentation, you now focus your thoughts and

imagination on a pendulum either you or a participant has chosen. Where
you earlier visualized stillness and internally said “stop,” you now visualize
the desired pendulum making the desired movement.

You can accompany this with the interior verbalization of the desired
direction. For example, “left/right,” “forward/backward,” and “circle.” Many
of you will find the visualization alone suffices.

A hurdle some people encounter is their own negative thoughts. Kenton

Knepper writes eloquently about this in Pendulum Programming mentioned
above:

When a student happens to have little response, insist they are stopping the
communication by using too much conscious effort. It is never the conscious mind
that ought to move the pendulum. We want subconscious communication, not a
mental brute forcing of the conscious mind. Worry and conscious effort will stop the
movement. This is not due to a lack of failure to communicate
with the subconscious mind. It is quite the opposite. If a person thinks, “This won’t
work” or “I can’t do this” then the subconscious will go to work on this instruction as
it is given. The result will be that the pendulum will not move. The
subconscious is of course reacting perfectly. Be sure to point this out to a student
having trouble.

Pendulum Programming is designed as a course to instruct mentalists how to

offer laymen a workshop on pendulums hence the language in the above
quote. It is also written for the standard individual pendulum but don’t let
any of this distract you for a moment. There is way too much valuable
information to learn just in this one paragraph.

What applies to the single bob pendulum applies even more to the Multi-
Bob. If you are running into any difficulties operating the Multi-Bob, imagine

30
Kenton is speaking to you. The same ideas apply whether to one pendulum,
a Multi-Bob, a Haunted Key or any effect utilizing ideomotor responses.

The point I want to emphasize the most is that the subconscious is working
perfectly. There is no failure on this level; only the perfect response to
negative thoughts. This concept is invaluable in all areas of suggestion and
hypnosis. I am very grateful Kenton emphasized this in Pendulum
Programming and allowed me to share his concise and powerful words on
the matter.

Knowing that the subconscious is responding perfectly will save you from a
lot of wasted time and heartache. It is a concept that will transform your
ideomotor and suggestion work immensely. Just as you can try to force
yourself while maintaining negativity and gaining unwanted subconscious
cooperation, you can do the same with your participants. This sets up a
recursive loop creating the exact opposite of what you are attempting. Relax
and let go!

Put your focus on the pendulum you want to move and in the desired
direction. The others may begin to move, though generally to a much
smaller degree. I recommend you maintain your attention on the chosen
pendulum rather than trying to stop the mavericks. As you become more in
tune with the one, the others will find their proper place and slow to
stillness. Don’t grant them unwarranted energy.

What is known in hypnotic circles as The Law of Reversed Effect can also
come into play both in our own learning and teaching. It is very closely
related to what Kenton says in the beginning of the paragraph quoted
above. Too much conscious effort interferes with the areas the su bconscious
exists to serve, such as ideomotor functioning. Let’s hear it one more
time…relax and let go!

Again, when we are at ease, such as in a light trance or alert relaxation

(hint, hint) it is a much simpler task to navigate the line between confidence
in achieving our goals and putting too much pressure on ourselves or others.
In my essay, “Suggestions On The Use Of Suggestion,” from my ebook
Suggestabilities (http://www.outlaw-effects.com/store/the-arsenal/e-
books/suggestabilities.html), I offer the advice to put yourself at the
receiving end of any form of suggestion you are struggling to achieve. This
advice holds equally well with the Multi-Bob so if need be do not hesitate to

31
find someone skilled in guiding you through a pendulum experience. As the
Multi-Bob is not as common (yet!) anyone who works well with a standard
pendulum will suffice.

Given the nature of this book I’m putting my essay, “A Suggestion On The
Use Of Suggestion,” as the second appendix of Trybil. While there is a
small amount of overlap, the essay makes a great adjunct to the material
I’m teaching here. I think it will speed up and strengthen your learning
process regarding a central aspect of this work. As mentioned in the essay
 “Suggestions….” ideomotor response and suggestion have a certain amount
of overlap. Some of my ideas on enhancing ideomotor response connect well
with enhancing suggestion. The reverse is also true. Plus, it is just a good
read!

Another move Kenton and I share in common when instructing a participant

is to move your index finger in the desired direction. Kenton writes about
this with an individual pendulum. I first did this with the Haunted Key but
found it also is very effective in shortening the learning curve when engaging
participants with the Multi-Bob or standard pendulum. Kenton refers to this
as “visual education” and we both conceptualize it as a subconscious kick
start for a struggling participant.

A few notes on cheating…shhhh! OK, you shouldn’t ever have to do it but we

all have our off days. Kenton mentions it in Pendulum Programming, Richard
Webster in Pendulum Power 
(http://www.deceptionary.com/webster.html#pendulum) and I have my
own technique so it occurred to me if I’m in such good company it is worth
addressing, albeit briefly.

Kenton states, “Not everything needs to be rushed in mentalism.” This is

certainly true and rushing the person to person connections and awe
inspiring impact of pendulum work, seems an especially grievous offense.

However, there are times when things just don’t go as planned. And some
routines can take quite a long time to complete, for example spelling out
words using charts.

Kenton suggests taking advantage of the fact that the smallest physical
movement or pressure can “jump start” the pendulum’s movement and to
 just be sure to be extremely subtle. My own technique is to take a deep
breath, drawing attention upwards toward my face. The expansion and

32
contraction of your lungs/chest will lift your arm and provide all the
assistance the pendulum may rarely require. ‘nuff said.

Now for a cautionary tale. I was in my third year of grad school. Mentalism
had been on the backburner for quite a while at this point.

I had a fascinating course on psychology and literature. Somehow I found a

rationale my professor accepted to let me perform a mentalism effect for the
class rather than writing a final paper.

I decided to perform a wonderful Max Maven effect, “Onstage Bender,” from

the Green Book of Mentalism that can now be found in the collection of all
the color books, Prism. I won’t say more than it involves both a key bend
and a pendulum in combination.

Overconfident as these were two of my most performed and powerful effects

a few years back, overwhelmed with “important” papers and exams due, I
didn’t exactly put too much thought into the more subtle aspects of what
would be required of me. Oh, and I’d never performed the Maven effect but
didn’t think I had to worry as I was so certain of my skills with each
individual component. Such hubris!

I completely forgot pretty much everything I write about above. I also gave
no thought to the participant I selected. I failed to first demonstrate a
pendulum in action. More on both of these points later, but I think you can
see what is coming.

First off, nothing. Zip. Nada. Pendulum interruptus. I started to get nervous
and felt pretty stupid standing there.

Winging it, I just told my helper to swing the pendulum in a circle above my
hand. At this point I realized that I hadn’t bent the key as I’d planned when
all eyes were on the moving pendulum during the instruction phase I failed
to do. Oops!

No problem; recovering from mistakes was the test of the skilled performer.
I’d just bend it now while the pendulum was being purposely and somewhat
wildly swung and I was standing there with a stupid grin on my face. No
pressure at all!

Except on the key. Instead of bending it, I snapped the tip off and it went
flying into the classroom. At about this time I was wishing I’d just written a

33
damn paper. I don’t even remember how I brought the “performance” to a
close.

I think the many lessons from this experience are self-explanatory. I won’t
beat you over the head with them and just allow you to enjoy my
humiliation.

34
 GAUGING RESPONSIVENESS
You can begin to measure which audience members are the best responders
during your initial spiel, noting interest levels and degree of concentration.
Similarly check out who reacts positively to your bringing out the Multi-Bob
or one of the individual pendulums depending on your routine. Someone
sharing a story about their own familiarity or experience with a pendulum is
a good measure. And pay attention to which audience members are most
interested and least cynical when you demonstrate the first adjustments
with the pendulum, beginning with when you take deep breaths and center
yourself.

Gauging responsiveness to suggestion is an important skill to cultivate and

not nearly as difficult as some people seem to fear. As a matter of fact,
starting off with a pendulum has long been a classic way to judge
suggestibility for later effects. But fortunately it doesn’t matter if the
pendulum is the later effect and you take another route to the same end.

Jerome Finley offers some ideas in his contribution below that some may see
as going to the outer limits but the initial question he suggests asking (Do
you believes in angels?) can be used on its own in the right circumstances or
another question, similar in pr oces s may easily be substituted.

In an Ormond McGill show captured when he was 85 years old (!) on the
tape McGill’s Secrets of Magic & Stage Hypnosis he presented his Guardian
Angel Hypnosis Show as part of a larger workshop. I kept waiting to see
some form of suggestibility test before he went into the hyp act. Unless
there was some seriously deceptive language including the cooperation of
his host, he hadn’t had any opportunity to do so before his show. I watched
to no avail.

Of course he was performing for a group who paid to be at such a workshop

so he had what we refer to in psychological research as a “biased sample”
right off the bat. Still, I expected Ormond to harvest the best subjects.

I decided I had to watch it again as something was nagging at me. During

the second viewing I caught the same process Jerome describes above with
virtually the same question. Ormond asked instead, “Who here has a
guardian angel?” Awesome and even more exacting!

35
He distinguished those who were interested in such subjects from those who
believed they were already protected by a guardian angel. Given the biases
inherent in the venue, he w as  harvesting the best responders! At the risk of
insulting any of my reader’s belief systems, this strikes me as a quick and
definitive measure of suggestibility across the continuum with which he was
dealing.

But again, if you don’t want to delve into the outer limits of beliefs that
might exclude some perfectly acceptable audience members, remember you
can substitute any question similar in process and of content relevant to
your circumstances. Let me offer some examples.

A favorite tactic of mine is to ask the audience members for their definitions
of the nature of the subconscious mind. First off, you will engage the room
which in itself is a valuable accomplishment.

But consider all the valuable information you will gather from the answers to
this question. You will identify where people fall on a wealth of continuums:
the scientist to the artist. The negative minded to the optimistic. Freudians
through Post-Freudians. Pragmatist to idealist. The concrete thinker and the
more abstract dreamer. It is a wonderful verbal Rorschach. And that is only
the beginning. I’ll leave you to identify more distinctions on your own.

Besides identifying people along various continuums you will gather a wealth
of information about what is important to the respondents. Fears, hopes
and dreams will become evident in many cases. As someone with an
interest in this kind of material you may be surprised at the number of
people who put little stock in the existence of the subconscious mind at all. I
know I initially was when I began asking this question.

Given the presentation I’m using in “The Bill and the Pendulum,” below,
exploring audience member’s beliefs about the abilities attributed to the
subconscious serves the same purpose just as well. After speaking about my
take on how powerful the subconscious mind is, I ask a question such as,
 “Who here has struggled with finding an answer to a problem only to find
you have the solution upon waking the next morning? Or it just suddenly
appears to you, seemingly out of nowhere when you aren’t thinking about
it?”

Alternatively to a question, you can share stories about the power of the
subconscious and pay attention to reactions. Sharing such stories is

36
standard operating procedure in creating an atmosphere to cultivate
suggestibility such as when using hypnosis. It also serves well in this
instance to identify those most open to suggestion.

In his hyp act, Richard Osterlind speaks of driving past your exit while on
 “autopilot” but it being perfectly safe due to your subconscious mind
protecting you. He doesn’t blatantly ask who has had this experience; it is
more a rhetorical question thrown in quickly amidst his general observations
and presentation.

But several audience members spontaneously share that they have, either
directly or via their reactions to Richard’s story. Even the fact that some
members of the audience are raising their hands to a question that really is
never asked is telling. Brilliant!

37
 THE MULTI-BOB
MOVEMENTS
It is time for the cast of characters to share our routines utilizing the Multi-
Bob pendulum! What follows is a wide and wild assortment of presentations
and themes around which to showcase the potentials of this wonderful
instrument.

There is quite a bit to digest so take your time and enjoy as you decide upon
one or two effects to devote your energies to. It is best to master a single
routine than to dabble in several.

 Jerome Finley was one of the first people I shared my thoughts with about
this project. He was more than a little bit excited and I can’t resist sharing
 part of an email I received in return. No full blown routines but leave it to
 Jerome to generate so many fine ideas in so few words! And he will return
later with some of the most elegant and intriguing work on individual
 pendulums and hypnosis I’ve ever come across. For now….

38
  A FEW BRIEF NOTES FROM JEROME FINLEY
ON MULTI-BOB POTENTIAL
 Via Personal Communication (raw and unedited)

The uses for a Bob in mentalism are astounding. Think of a “TERASABOS”

type routine (or a “Darker Dai,” etc) wherein the most commonly chosen
position in a row of 5 objects is the 4th position. The very bold performer
could hold the rod and have the participant THINK of a bob or number
between 1-5. With nothing spoken or written down the appropriate
pendulum would start to move...

Personally, I've used pendulum work to effectively choose/force objects and

even people when necessary. It's a very free way to ring in a stooge - the
pendulum is led to them, not the performer! This would be a great use to
force a particular book in a book test. A stack of books are laid out by the
participant in any order they wish and to choose the best one to work
with the performer holds the rod and allows the pendulum to swing over the
appropriate selection. Since we have 3-5 pendulums to work with this would
be PERFECT.

This would also be an effective way to force a number of items or choices.

For instance, I offer card, palm and bone readings in my private work. Some
days I just want to read cards while other days I'm stuck on the bones. I
always present the sitter with a choice AND with a tool such as this I could
effectively “ask” the Bob which tool is best suited for the client in front of
me and simply force it to swing over the oracle of my choosing. In doing this
I take my own preferences out of the equation (apparently) and yet still get
exactly what I want...bad...I know:)

39
 At age six, John Riggs decided he wanted to be a Wizard when he grew up.
He's been studying magic since -- 44 years later! Today he is a professional
entertainer, author and strange person. During the 1982 Knoxville World's
Fair, he successfully solved the Rubik's Cube while blindfolded. Professor
Erno Rubik thought this was the most amazing thing he had ever witnessed.
The most common remark made during this time was "Heck, I can't solve it
with my eyes OPEN!"

He is a popular guest on television and radio programs. He has even read

 palms over the radio! His books R u n i c P alm i s t r y , K ar m i c P a lm i s t r y , a n d
 A L ov er ' s G u i de to P alm i s tr y have been published worldwide in five
languages. His books and DVDs for mentalists--13 books and 15 DVDs--are
available only from him. His product line of impression devices is available
when he has time to make them between shows, so quit whining
(http://www.jonsaintgermain.com/books.htm ).

 John Riggs was the first person to contribute a routine when I sent out
requests for information on the background of the Multi-Bob Pendulum.
“From a Slender Cord, Swinging” was first published in John’s book, P s y c h i c
 S oi r ees , and to me sets the gold standard for everything to follow.
In addition, John shares a splendid answer to the question, “Can you
 perform with a Multi-Bob on stage?” It is short and sweet and in the typical
Rigg’s fashion will put a big smile on your face!

FROM A SLENDER CORD, SWINGING

BY JOHN RIGGS

EFFECT:

Very strong. A wooden dowel is shown with three different pendulums

hanging from it. The entertainer asks the audience to call out one. It starts
swinging!

One of the other two pendulums is called out, and it, too, mysteriously
swings. The first pendulum stops.

The bar is handed to a spectator, and everyone is asked to concentrate on

the remaining pendulum. It starts swinging!

40
METHOD:

As you know, the pendulum works itself. You make the pendulum “monkey
bar” by obtaining a 1/2" dowel, about eighteen inches long. Drill three
equidistant holes through the bar, and hang three different pendulums from
them with cords of varying lengths. This is important to get the effect to
work. I recommend you use three easily-identified objects for the
pendulums.

I use three small rubber balls of different colors. This way, the audience can
call out their favorite color, and that ball starts to swing.

Experiment with your bar. Hold it horizontally, by the ends. If you

concentrate on one of the pendulums, it will eventually start to swing. I'll not
bore you with yet another discussion of the ideomotor response. It just
works.

Now, shift your focus to one of the other pendulums. The first pendulum will
stop, and the second one will start to swing! This is aided by the differing
length of the cords. I also won't bore you with a discussion of frequency,
pitch, and wave cycles. Read Pythagoras for explanations of frequency
being determined by string length (the Octave theory).

The entire demonstration can be conducted in a spectator's hand, if their

concentration is good enough. Use this wisely; this is real magic, with no
trickery!

STAGE RIGHT, ENTER FROM THE SHOWER

BY JOHN RIGGS

For years I carried around for stage use a collapsible seven-foot long version
that uses the shower rod cover used to construct the collapsible "7 foot pole"
and two end caps. You also use three different colored rubber balls on cords
(different lengths of course so the Octave effect works) and have two
audience members hold the ends. The same goals and means as used in
 “Slender Cord” above, some hypno-talk and voila! A miracle.

41
 Gerard was influenced at an early age by his family. Although his father was
a classic magician, it was inevitably his grandfather and namesake "Gerard",
a card cheating pickpocket and flimflam artist, who fascinated Gerard.
Today, Gerard has fused psychology, hypnosis, and the street sense he
inherited from his grandfather to create his unique and fascinating brand of
 performance art. “I want everyone to walk away from my show knowing
they had experienced something completely unique and entertaining.”

Gerard has two separate but fascinating shows that he brings to the stage.
First, an interactive fast paced mind control show titled "Matters of the
Mind". The second is his hilarious hypnosis show he calls..."The Hypnosis
Show”.

Gerard has appeared on National TV and radio and worked as a consultant

and cast member on "MIND FREAK" with Criss Angel.

Gerard worked with friend D a v i d B la i n e on his ABC special Dive of Death in
New York.

Gerard was also a co-writer and consulting producer on K e i th B a r r y  's

special for Discovery Channel in Los Angeles due to air in 2010.

HYPNOTIST 
Gerard is a certified hypnotist with the National Guild and is regarded by
many as the best in the world at what he does. Gerard brings his skills as a
Master Hypnotist to the stage where he takes up to 20 volunteers from the
audience to "star' in his hilarious h y p n o s i s s h o w  . This is a clean show and
Gerard makes sure the volunteers step off the stage feeling better than they
ever felt.

 M E N T A LI S T 
Gerard has been a student of human behavior patterns, lateral thinking,
neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and hypnosis for over a decade. Gerard
demonstrates his extraordinary ability to influence people’s decisions,
thoughts and actions through the powers of suggestion and subliminal
 persuasion, predicting the outcome of situations he apparently has no
control over. Mind reading or mind WRITING.... y ou deci de.

His many effects can be purchased from leading dealers of magic effects and
supplies.

To learn more about Gerard, search for "hidden pages" on this site.

42
Check out Gerard on myspace at

w w w . m y s p ac e. co m / g e r a r d th e h y pn ot i s t  

www.GerardTheHypnotist.com

CHARMED
BY GERARD

The ever inventive Gerard sent along this contribution. Meaning is what
makes for powerful mentalism and is an attribute I’ve always been
impressed with Gerard’s attention to.

As you’ll see the title is apt. When presented with style and flair, this i s the
response you will engender.

Gerard wrote, “I have found through my experiences that EVERYONE has

silently questioned if they are with or married to their true soul mate.”
Charmed takes this question to heart providing your audience with a true
mystery and your participant with, “always a smile, sometimes even a tear
of joy and relief.”

Let’s say your participant is a l ady from the audience. Have her write her
partner’s name on a business card that has been pre-folded into quarters.

This card needs to be marked. Nothing fancy here at all, a simple pencil dot
or corner crimp will more than suffice. You may have it pre-marked or with a
crimp take care of it on the spot. I’ve also found in such situations that a
slight variation of the fold suffices.

Besides meaning providing power to mentalism, it also provides for powerful

misdirection. “Charmed” provides a variety of layers of meaning that will
allay any concerns of marking but be as careful as you need to be to feel
comfortable.

On two other cards, also pre-folded into quarters, have her write down the
names of two other men. These may be the “what ifs?” that she has
pondered over the years, a universal human experience. Once again,
meaning enters the picture.

43
 Have your participant or another audience member mix up the three cards
 “so no one can know which is which.” Of course you are the exception since
you know what to look for to distinguish the card with partner’s name.

Spread the three folded cards out in a row, separated from one another by
an appropriate distance so that when the Multi-Bob is held above, one
resides under each bob. Hold the Multi-Bob above the cards.

One bob will commence to swing after allowing an appropriate amount of

time to build tension. This will vary from performance to performance. One
pendulum swinging while the other two remain still adds another layer of
meaning and mystery.

The implication is obvious. Simply ask if she really wants to know the answer
to her question. Allow her to open the card under the swinging billet.

You’ll want to connect with her at this moment. Make eye contact, match her
smile if that is her response. Nothing corny but this is a heartfelt moment.
Effects exploring love have the benefit of such moments and are long
remembered in my own experience.

A final note from Gerard suggests the possibility of setting up the first card
for Millard Longman’s Acidus Novus (See Appendix 1 for the original AN
instructions. Also there is a video of Millard teaching the basic move
included with Trybil . The most thorough exploration of AN can be obtained at
http://www.mevproshop.com/acidus-novus.html). This way, not only
can you identify which card contains her partner’s name but at the end you
can reveal the name as well.

One way you might handle this, tried and true by many a professional
performer in a variety of ways fitting with the scenario at hand, is to ask her
to visualize her partner. Ask her to say internally something to the effect of,
 “I’m glad I chose you…..Andrew?”

The question mark is for your benefit as you aren’t certain that you have
read her mind accurately. A bit of tension, then relief to end the effect.

Some might make the case that revealing the name dilutes the effect. That
too many abilities are being demonstrated. Others might make the case that
the surprise of identifying her partner’s name is worth the risk. And that the
 “rule of three” comes effectively into play via the pendulum moving, the
pendulum identifying the correct card and the name being revealed.

44
These are the kind of performance issues that we each must decide for
ourselves. I have seen the best performers of our generation follow both
paths successfully. Decide what works for YOU!

45
Dr. Todd Landman is Professor of Government and Director of the Institute
for Democracy and Conflict Resolution at the University of Essex in the
United Kingdom. He has studied and performed magic and mentaliism since
1974. He is creator of Cogito Ergo Sum and The Condemned, co-creator of
Luna and the Ink Blot Cards, and author of a new book series on 'theatrical
mentalism' launched with its first volume entitled M etaph y s i cal M ag i c:
E s s ay s f or t h e D i s c er n i n g M y s t e r y E n t er t ai n e r .

Over the years Dr Todd's parallel lives have become increasingly intertwined
as he explores deep philosophical questions through his performances and
uses mentalism to teach topics in the social sciences. He specializes in
 performing his theatre shows, which are steeped in mystery and dripping in
Victoriana. In the tradition of Cornelius Agrippa, Pico De Mirandola, John
Dee, and Isaac Newton , Dr Todd is forging himself as a scholar magician
who is fascinated with exploring unknown worlds and leaving open the
 possibility for real magic...

THE MYSTIC TRIAD

BY DR. TODD LANDMAN
www.metaphysical-magician.com

This routine is based on the assumption that the performer has already
introduced the pendulum setup and explained the basics of how it works. I
am not a fan of actually explaining the ideomotor response idea, and it
would be a huge mistake to explain pendulum resonance theory from
 physics, since we want to create the illusion that the pendulums speak for
the inner mind.

The performer begins:

 “Since the beginning of time, the number three has had particular
significance across ancient religious, metaphysical, and mystical belief
systems. For Pythagorean numerology, the number three denotes a person
who is artistic, effervescent, happy, charismatic and drawn to entertainment,
while the Platonic solid of the pyramid is a series of triangles joined together
into a perfect harmonic geometric shape (the tetrahedron) that relates to
element of fire.

 “For the spiritual alchemists, the number three is the symbol for the psychic
eye, or that chakra that lies just between the two eyes in the middle of the
forehead. For Christians, the number three most notably relates to the Holy

46
Trinity but also that of the altar, offering, and offerer. For the Elizabethan
scientist, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and magician John Dee,
the number three features in his famous and some would say, most opaque
essay, the Monas Hieroglyphica.

 “The top horned circle of the figure is the union of Sun and Moon (Sol   and
Luna, or the Chymical Wedding); the middle cross represents the four
elements; while the curved sign of  Aries  at its base represents  primal fire.
For ancient Jeiwsh Kabbala, the meditation mantra ‘AUM’ can be broken into
A  for man  and  power , U  for creation  and  passage, and M  for woman  and
mother .

 “But one need not consult the occultists for such deep meanings for the
number three. Indeed, Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern science laid
out his three laws of motion  in his Principia Mathematica, Rene Descartes
explored the power of the pendulum in his Meditations alongside his famous
musings on the separation between mind and body, and the French
Revolution was committed to the ideational trio of liberté, égalité, and
fraternité. Moreover, modern Western music has at its core the major triad 
consisting of the first (I), third (III), and fifth (IV) note of any major scale,
which when played together creates perfect harmony.

 “With these background details in mind, we can contemplate our three

pendulums as comprising a serious and significant mystic triad  in which all of
these meanings and more are invested. At any one time, we can concentrate
on this vast history of meaning and symbolism, or concentrate on that which
appeals to us most; tapping into the collective unconscious that transcends
time and space. For our present purposes, however, think of the pendulums
as different ways in which we relate to our world  and how we make decisions
in our everyday lives.

 “The pendulum with the long cord is related to our gut instincts, the solar
 plexus chakra  if you will. How many times have you simply decided
something through an appeal to your gut? The pendulum on the medium

47
cord is related to our heart chakra which influences our emotional centre
for decision making. How many times has your heart ruled over you and
dictated your choices in life?

 “Finally, the pendulum on the short cord relates to our  psychic third eye
chakra, or that area of decision making that draws on our inner psyche in a
true Jungian sense of the word. How many times have you moved beyond
your gut and your heart to a place that only you know for help in your
decisions?”

Turning to a volunteer:

 “Please hold the rod with both hands, close your eyes, and concentrate on
the ways in which you make your decisions in life. You may rank these
different ways in any order that you choose.

 “Good.

 “Now, with your eyes still closed, concentrate on the most usual way that
you make decisions and allow your mind to reveal this mode of decision
making to us through the relevant pendulum.

 “Good.

 “And now move to the next preferred or typical mode of decision making and
allow the relevant pendulum to speak for your mind.

 “Very good.

 “Finally, please reveal your least favorite or least common way of making
decisions and allow the pendulum to speak once again.

 “Excellent, that was simply sublime…

 “I do hope that our little demonstration today illustrates the deeper meaning
behind what appear to be simple objects made of simple matter. Do think
about the multiple ways in which the number three appears in your everyday
life. Remember the mystic triad. And please reflect on your gut, your heart,
and your inner self, as you make your way in the world. Thank you.”

48
 “faucon of Sakin’el” is one of the pen names for Ken Muller, a Nevada native
who now resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife “Lady Emrys,” .
Their special 1920’s home and acres of grounds serve as an informal retreat
center, always open for those needing a place to escape, teach a
metaphysical class or just chat. Sakin’el means both “Silent Breeze” and
“Search for Inner Peace.” Plans for a more organized center there called
“Heartwood Haven” are on hold as Ken and Emmie care for his 90 years old
 parents. Being housebound allows him to write books and her to produce
musical CDs. Since 2009 Ken has focused on creating eBooks for
 performance magic effects drawn from his years of explorations into all
facets of magic. Metaphysically they describe themselves as “Eclectic
Compassionists” with a focus on healing. Emmie has been severely visually
impaired from birth and is adept in many forms of healing and magick
traditions. For fifty years Ken has explored practical applications of
divination and magic starting at age five with his father locating metal
underground with bent coat hangers. As a business consultant he has
helped thousands of small business owners using disguised divination
techniques to deal with real issues and problems. Amongst his books related
to divination are M ag m en t of F i g m en tat i on , P h i n o m i n a l P r o p e n g i c s ,
F a i n - F a i r e - S o ot h , D i v i n u n i t y , a n d E ld e r S e e d . In the works is G a r d e n
V a r i e t y D i v i n a t i o n b a s e d o n t h e A b u n d a n ce C y c le a n d P l an t
H u s b a n d r y as models for personal actualization. He often says, “Magic
happens all around me and sometimes I get blamed!”

PENDULUM ADEPT
BY FAUCON OF SAKIN’EL

When using this for divination it can be a powerful extension of your

adept ability. There are many of you who can use your empathic or
sentient skills for healing and assisting people to make difficult life
decisions. The pendulum can be used to emphasize the choices, or to
limit the choices one has. Personally I would always say something
like, "The solution may be more memorable for you if demonstrated
visually. In fact, you already perceive the answer. All I am doing is
allowing it to come forth. As this pendulum is guided by your
subconscious thoughts, it will it give you courage to follow." As in all
forms of divination, watching the "petitioner's" reactions and listening
to their responses will guide you in your work.
RESTRICTIONS: Each of you must follow your own Path in
 “doing the work.” I am not being judgmental, but am critical of
anyone who misrepresents what they are doing. This even

49
 extends to doctors giving placebos to diseased patients. I also
know the “magick” may be in the eyes of the beholder, and no
amount of disclaimer will dissuade them from believing you have
 “special powers.” Unfortunately, this can lead to fear and power
issues. The key issue for me is that since you, the adept person
can obviate your abilities without deception, why wallow in it?
For me, gifted abilities come with obligations as well.
Here is a photo of a Four Object Pendulum with leather thongs and a knife,
talisman, bell and key for bobs. The rod is a tree branch and the branch
extending from the center is the “handle” I use to hold it as Dr. Bill
referenced above.

• I hold it in my right hand with my thumb underneath and my elbow

supported by my left hand.
• I have a spectator call out which object to activate and ‘still’ the others
between demonstrations.
• If it seems appropriate I have a spectator hold my right wrist for
support.
• I have rarely had a spectator hold my other, free wrist and mentally
focus on an object, but only as a test of their ability to be a ‘medium’
in a Hellstromism demonstration to follow.
• As a finale and while I have one pendulum swinging well, I activate a
second swinging the opposite direction.

(I decided not to comment after each contribution but I have to point

out one aspect here that would be a shame if it were missed. Ken’s
suggestion for a finale at first seemed unrealistic to me. Probably
because I couldn’t get it to work! But with practice, there is a rhythm

50
that you’ll establish that will make you wonder why it ever seemed the
least bit difficult. I can now with ease have one pendulum move
clockwise while another turns in counterclockwise circles. Though
almost just “tossed in” by Ken at the end, I think this is a brilliant
option with untold potential. Please check out how I apply this original
move in Mental Workout below.

An entire routine could be developed around what is even more of a

seeming impossibility than one pendulum moving while the rest stay
still. While a fine finale, I encourage all of us to explore this “dual
movement” to its fullest extent. And don’t forget to offer your
appreciation to Faucon of Sakin’el!)

51
  A BRIEF NOTE ON RON MARTIN’S
MULTI-BOB ROUTINE
I wrote Ron about the Multi-Bob and he said that while he’d worked with one
very successfully it had been many years and he didn’t think his routine
would be of interest to people. Then he described it to me!
I couldn’t convince him to traipse back in his memory for specific details but
he was kind enough to let me share what strikes me as a killer performance
piece. So, in brief….
Ron wrote me that he’d do a basic handling with a Multi-Bob, demonstrating
that the individual pendulums moved upon command. Knowing Ron, and
how he ends the routine, I’m going to guess the motivation had a spooky
component.
Next he brought out a table and a bottle with a suspended pendulum. Ron
didn’t say how many participants he had join him up front but use your
imagination. Similarly use your imagination once again on the motivation
and function of the isolated pendulum swinging within its bottle. Ron is
upping the ante.

The routine concludes with the same table that held the bottle tilting and
taking a little walk. I have this strong feeling this happened when the “spirit
moved” Ron!
You be the judge. Do you think an audience would find such a presentation
interesting? Ron is far too modest and though this effect isn’t limited to the
Multi-Bob I felt it deserved to be included.
As a matter of fact, this is really a spook show in itself! And it doesn’t
require any fakery whatsoever, just suggestion and ideomotor responses.
Nothing hidden to be caught out on and I suspect the impact on the
audience to be nothing short of tremendous. Thank you Ron for sharing such
an uninteresting idea!

52
 THE HISTORY OF THE PENDULUM
IN THREE MOVEMENTS
BY DR. BILL

This is my primary performance piece with the Multi-Bob pendulum.

However, until recently I have performed it unscripted, still with the purpose
and emphasis being on sharing the three main explanations I prefer for
 pendulum movement and my bias for ideomotor response without getting
into a debate or long drawn out details. What you have before you
represents my belief system so may not work for everyone.

Rather, I prefer to say how ideomotor response provides us with an

awesome example of the power of the subconscious. It is also an inherently
honest presentation, a topic for further exploration at another time and one
I’ve been discussing with Jason Messina. All this is done as I demonstrate
the different pendulum movements with the Multi-Bob as well as its unique
qualities.

I feared this might not be clear without this preface. I had also always
wanted to refine the presentation and write out the script since I do believe
in the importance and value of scripting effects as well as setting out the
timing.

You are reading the exact script I’ve been using of late. I realized this might
be confusing without some preliminary comment. Everything outside the
 parentheses is script. The basic timing is presented in the parenthetical
comments.

This is the story of the stories told about the kinds of forces that cause a
pendulum to swing!

Early tales spoke of spirits and how they would prove their presence by
moving a pendulum when properly invited.

Playing the part of the medium, or Occularus Limitate*, I enter a trance and
ask, “If there is a spirit present, announce yourself by causing the first
pendulum, and only the first pendulum, to swing back and forth between me
and Rich.”

53
(Enter a trance/establish process. Have the first pendulum swing between
you and a person directly opposite you. After a few solid swings…)

Boo?

Fast forward, oh, half a century. The heyday of parapsychology and the
laboratory study of E.S.P. Another paranormal, yet this time enticingly
pseudo- scientific explanation is given…telekinesis!

Playing the part of the test subject, or Labatorioum Rodentia, I concentrate

and use telekinesis to move the third pendulum, and only the third
pendulum, back and forth between my left and right hands.

(Concentrate, slow the first pendulum to a stop if it is still swinging and have
the third swing left to right, between your two hands. After a few solid
swings…)

Recognized before the heyday of the medium and the parapsychologist, a

natural force known as ideomotor response described how our thoughts are
converted into actions. Ideomotor response is a truth stranger than fiction,
speaking to the extraordinary powers of the human mind.**

Regarding the pendulum, it explains how impulses can travel from our brain
to the chain, via movements too small to see. At least until shown by the
swinging of the pendulum like the movement of leaves shows us the wind.

Playing the part of myself, or Skepticus Americana, I imagine the middle

pendulum, and, say it with me now, only the middle pendulum , swinging
in a circle.

(You can omit “say it with me now” but having used it twice it already makes
for a nice moment to have the audience join you in “only the middle
pendulum” before you finish with “swinging in a circle.” Concentrate, slow
the third pendulum and have the middle pendulum inscribe circles in the
sky)

Anyone care to take it for a spin?

OPTIONS:

1. Work with a guest and the Multi-Bob.

2. Conclude and put Multi-Bob away.

54
 3. Conclude, break down Multi-Bob and work with two or three guests at
a time on individual pendulum phenomena.
4. Break off one pendulum and segue into billet or card work that begins
with a pendulum. Examples include Docc’s “Dead or Alive” from the
Monster DVD series and explained in Part 2, Brad Henderson’s
 “Everlasting Pendulum” and Kenton’s “The Sealed Pendulum” as
described later.
5. Continue the above presentation with a counterclockwise movement
before selecting an option from 1-4 above.
6. A bit off the wall, but some may find it fits their style.

The spirits never arrive. In other words the first pendulum never
begins to move. You accept your failure and move on to the second
and third movements.

As the third movement ensues, it suddenly changes direction and

swings back and forth as requested while in medium guise. You are
unsettled but don’t attribute any meaning to this until one of the
guests suggests…….the spirits have come a calling! The more they
argue for it the more you argue against it.

*Pronounced Auk-you-lair-us Lim-a-ta-tay

**Recognized in the beginning of the 19th century, if not earlier (pendulums

date back to at least 371 CE and I have to suspect someone caught on in
the intervening centuries) but not named as such until 1852 by William B.
Carpenter.

In Principles of Psychology  (1890) William James defines ideomotor

movement in a way useful for our purposes as follows:

 “Whenever a movement unhesitatingly and immediately follows

upon the idea of it, we have ideomotor action. ... we may lay it
down for certain that every mental representation of a
movement awakens to some degree the actual movement which
is its object; and awakens it in a maximum degree whenever it is
not kept from so doing by an antagonistic representation present
simultaneously to the mind.”
A favorite personal example of mine aside from those in
mentalism, occurs when I’m engrossed in reading an engaging

55
 piece of fiction. The author writes something to the effect of,
 “And Jimmy scratched his temple,” and the next thing I know my
hand is moving toward my own. Has this ever happened to you?
By the way sharing this kind of example is also another way to
harvest good responders.
Current research is examining the postulated existence of
 “mirror neurons,” in the human brain that would create such an
effect. One path of exploration maintains that mirror neurons are
the source of empathy, making them crucial to human
cooperation, survival and evolution.
Again, the purpose of this book isn’t to explain the science
behind pendulums or ideomotor functioning. That is done more
than adequately elsewhere. But these ideas give us some food
for thought and can be incorporated into presentational themes
if not overdone in a didactic fashion.
Whatever the truth about mirror neurons, I can personally attest
to the importance of demonstrating the Multi-Bob in action in
your own hands before attempting to have a participant give it a
go. And this holds just as true for a standard pendulum. See my
cautionary tale above.
There are many theories and factors that could just as well
account for the importance of modeling movement before trying
to elicit it in others. The very fact that it is accepted children
learn by modeling is one of them!
Environmental press, response to authority figures, the need to
please in simplest terms, all can be argued as possible
motivating forces. In any case you don’t have to understand why
it works to use it. If that were the case, this computer I’m
writing on would be useless to me! Allow me the opportunity to
stress this again; please do not skip this step! Once you have
reached a high level of skill you may experiment with handing a
pendulum or Multi-Bob directly to a participant.

56
 MENTAL WORKOUT
BY DR. BILL

I have a theme that I often like to “work in” to a performance. Sometimes it

is the perfect solution for an entire presentation.

A question I often hear from audiences of all kinds runs something along the
lines of, “How do you acquire and/or practice your abilities?” I smile inside
and out because I’ve just been handed the lead in to a favorite topic; the
mental workout.

Many performers have an answer to this question always at the ready or for
introducing as the theme of an effect in its own right. Comparisons to a
musician practicing his scales have shaped many performances. The need to
exercise the muscles of the brain as much as those of the body is another
approach. Ray Carlyle performs “The Haunted Key,” described in The Carlyle
Touch (http://www.carlyletouch.com/), as “an exercise to loosen up the
muscle called the brain.”

I have often used a magic square or my own “Cross Eyed” from Subliminally
Squared  as an example of such a process. “The Jumping Pulse” from
Suggestabilities has played this role though now I have too many other
preferred uses for JP (both books available at outlaw-effects.com). Other
performers have their favorite plots along these lines and many kinds of
effects can be shaped in such a way to answer the question.

The Multi-Bob Pendulum has proven an excellent means to demonstrate my

 “morning routine” to keep my mind in shape and well tuned. While I’m sure
you’ve gleaned where this is going from the above and everything else you
are learning in Trybil , let’s get a bit more specific.

First, as introducing an unusual prop, this plot offers an explanation of why

such an object exists in the first place. I know performers who will be
reluctant to work with the Multi-Bob just because it isn’t something found in
the everyday world. But we are not everyday people so it isn’t farfetched
that we have our own, specialized, “exercise equipment.”

My first theme for explaining how the Multi-Bob came into existence was to
paint it as an ancient tool that was once used to test for latent mental
abilities needed to gain entrance to a secret society. In this back story, when

57
telling the tale of meeting the owner of this oddity, the narrator notes that
he “slips up” and uses the present tense to describe this function. And so a
tale of the nature of a “heroes’ journey” begins, the narrator being drawn
into the obsession of obtaining entrance into this underground group.

By the way, while the storyline was entertaining and may yet have
possibilities, it began to strike me as a bit too contrived and, more
importantly, en route to becoming one of those Bizarre effects that would
never be performed no matter how well it read. And so it was abandoned
though a remnant can be found in the ad for Trybil .

Which brings us to our “Mental Workout.” I begin by speaking of ideomotor

abilities (always briefly) and the possibility of taking control and developing
such skills to a degree where the difference from telekinesis is negligible. I
can certainly see other performers dropping any mention of ideomotor
activity and concentrating solely on telekinesis. And vice versa.

The Multi-Bob is brought out or, even more intriguing, i ts presence is

explained after being on display from the beginning of your performance.
The latter is a remnant of the discarded tale described above and was one of
my favorite parts as the narrator kept being drawn back to the Multi-Bob in
a stand on his host’s desk. The gentleman explained the origins and uses of
every other unusual acquisition in his office, obviously avoiding the one thing
the narrator is most interested in.

Following the theme of ideomotor abilities and/or telekinesis, I describe

them as a “weak force” though implying the possibility of a talent that has
devolved from lack of use. This is another classic literary plot drawn from
the realm of Sci Fi and fantasy.

In appearance, the effect is not that different from John Riggs’ “From a
Slender Cord, Swinging.” Though I do not allow the audience to select which
pendulum shall move as that wouldn’t be consistent with demonstrating my
 “personal workout routine” and what my “reps” look like as I strive to
become mentally ripped!

I explain how since it is a weak force we are working with its physical
manifestation is minimal in nature. I’ve used a similar theme when working
with a PK pen in terms of moving something light in weight. This is also
consistent with the work of many mentalists who purposely move an object
 just a bit where their magician cousins would levitate the same item!

58
With the Multi-Bob, I’m able to demonstrate starting slowly and building up
to exercises with more “weight” involved. The weight being the “increasingly
difficult” movements of the pendulum while refining my skills so as to affect
only one pendulum at a time.

In this way a purpose for this particular design is also brought into play. And
the concept that if one pendulum is moving the others also should be, and in
the same direction, is made explicit but in an indirect manner.

I’ve taken to concluding with the wonderful idea introduced at the end of
 “Pendulum Adept.” I have worked on these skills to the point of developing
thus far that I can control two pendulums moving at once in opposing
directions. Interestingly, this skill does require some serious practice to
master so is congruent with your presentation.

I have found what looks the most difficult is actually the easiest and I
suspect this is because of the physics of pendulum movement beyond my
comprehension! I have one pendulum move in a clockwise circle and the
other in a counterclockwise circle. You will not be acting when showing the
audience Faucon of Sakin’el’s ultimate expression of Multi Bob pendulum
control!

I’ve taken a long time to explain the ideas behind “Mental Workout” as I
hope they provide a context and variety of themes each reader can choose
from and develop in their own way. But in performance this needn’t be an
exceptionally long piece. My presentation is designed in segments with
several discrete stopping points allowing me to keep my “Mental Workout”
as flexible as possible.

59
 THE MULTI-BOB HUMMER
BY DR. BILL

There is a genre of effects that utilize the Hummer Principle to allow the
performer to know how the order of 3 or more objects turns out after the
participant, following a series of instructions, moves the objects about. In
these routines, the starting order is unknown by you so even in following
your instructions, the participant and audience believes there is no way for
you to know the ending positions.

These all involve mathematical principles that I needn’t go into here, having
been explored by Karl Fulves and others. Phone or internet effects are
possible and derivations of Koran’s “Note Under Cup” from Koran’s
Professional Presentations have also played a role.

Alain Nu has a wonderful effect he markets called “Nu Sense” (available as

an instant download from Lee Asher at:
http://www.leeasher.com/store/online_downloads/nu_sense.html),” that
uses The Hummer Principle removing the one inherent risk of failure. Nu
Sense also adds a great deal of humor, part of Alain’s means of disguising
the effect from being seen as mathematical in nature.

I mention elsewhere in Trybil , as do many others who have written on

pendulums, that one of their strengths is how they can be applied to so
many standard effects of mentalism. John Riggs, for example, wrote in The
Messiah Effect , about making it seem like a pendulum is the modus operandi
when finding an object hidden beneath one of several cups.

Thinking about this, in particular Koran’s “Note Under Cup” and Alain’s “Nu
Sense,” I came up with the following routine with the Multi-Bob. All you need
in addition are three business cards and a pen. These may be borrowed.

Hand the cards and pen to a volunteer. Have him write the name of
something he desires on the back of one of the cards. On the backs of the
other two he is to write the names of two things he wouldn’t be thrilled to
get as presents. For example, let’s use money as the desired item and coal
and dirt as the unwanted items.

Turn or walk away so you can’t see what is going on and have the
participant lay the cards out face up in any order he chooses. Stress that

60
there is no way for you to know the starting order and encourage him to
change it as much as he wants to be assured of this.

Explain that you need to “tune in” to his thoughts and ask him to hold his
right hand a few inches above either card with an unwanted object.
Emphasize his free choice and ask him to take a deep breath, hold it and
slowly exhale. As usual, you are inserting process to create an unspecified
meaning.

Once he has done so, tell him that if there is an object (a card but I start
using the term object to get away from focusing on the cards) to the right of
the one he is holding his hand over he is to swap it with that object. If there
is no object, he is to leave everything as it is.

Next tell him you want to continue tuning in to his thoughts but this time
you want him to hold his hand above the object of his desire. Repeat the
breathing process.

Tell him that if there is an object to the left of the money he is to exchange
the places of these two objects. Otherwise he is to leave all as is.

Now have him do a final tune in with the unwanted object he didn’t hold his
hand over the first time. When done, if there is an object to the right, he is
to exchange them as per previous instructions. And if not, to leave things as
they are.

At this point the money has to end up on his left. The other two cards (oops,
objects) can be in either position (one of the conflicts Alain cleverly
resolved) but the money will always be on the left.

Ask him to turn the cards face down exactly where they are. Tell him to
move the close together, so that there edges are touching. Have him tell you
when he is done so you can turn around.

Once turned around you are in the position to use the Multi-Bob to identify
the money by holding it above the three cards. After explaining how if all
works out it will display an affinity to his desire, simply move the left most
pendulum in whatever direction you desire while the other two remain still.

I wouldn’t repeat the effect with the same group of people, at least not
immediately, but if you want to perform it for another group in the same

61
venue you can eliminate the risk of their talking afterwards and discovering
the same outcome. Just ask the participant to make one last move.

If there is an object to the right of the money, have him exchange the cards
as per usual and if not, leave everything alone. You know there is a card to
the right of the money card since it is on the left. So you know it will end up
in the middle and you can finish accordingly with the Multi-Bob.

Another option along these lines that can also be inserted into the original
presentation is to offer the participant an additional absolutely free choice.
He can make one more move or stop where he is after the third time. This
adds a greater sense of overall freedom to the proceedings.

If he chooses to make one more move, proceed to instruct him to tune into
the money again. It is a nice extra that this forms a pattern of unwanted
item, desired item, unwanted item and desired item in a logical alternation.
You can even say, should he choose to make one more move, “Since last
time you tuned into an unwanted item, let’s have you tune into the money
again.”

Of course, end with him swapping the money if there is an object to its right.
Again, you know there is and that the money is now in the middle. Or, if you
know you will only be performing this once and want to maintain the right,
left, right pattern, you can instruct him to make the exchange with the
object on the left if possible since you know there isn’t one.

Some final thoughts. You can of course use any theme you like so long as
you follow the pattern of movements described above. This way it can be
tailored to an event, crowd or person.

You can proceed like Docc Hilford in his effect “Dead or Alive,” and peek the
desired object secret via a wallet. Then after using the Multi-Bob to find the
right card, end on the reveal of what was written. When doing this, and I
recommend it for Docc’s effect as well, there is a stratagem C.L Boarde
describes in his book One on One Mentalism.

Once they have written the item or whatever down on the first card, explain
that you don’t want to get it mixed up with other cards that are needed (and
 “invalidate the conditions of the experiment” if you want to play it to the
hilt). For this reason you place it in the wallet. Remove the, in this case, two

62
other cards and get the wallet out of play, peeking as appropriate to
circumstances and type of wallet.

Once the unwanted objects are recorded, remove the object of desire from
the wallet and give it to the participant to keep with the other two cards.
From this point on proceed exactly as described above with the kicker of
revealing the item written on the first card after the Multi-Bob finds it. By
the way, knowing this item gives you reams of information about the
participant that you can weave into your presentation if desired. But that is
another book!

You can also begin with a phase where the participant discovers they can
use the Multi-Bob to identify their own card first. Have the items written out
as originally described then turned over in place so that he or she knows the
position of the desired card.

Give the participant the Multi-Bob to hold over the three cards and instruct
them to think “Move” over and over in their mind, directing their thoughts to
the pendulum that is above the money card. You can use the movement of
your finger back and forth as described earlier to help “jump start” the
participant toward the desired outcome.

And remember there is really no failure. If they get no movement or the

wrong pendulum moves, explain that this is something that takes practice
and that they will succeed in time. Then go into the initial presentation
where you find the card “without knowing” its placement.

If they do succeed, you still go into the original presentation. In either case,
you can emphasize the need for tuning in to your helper’s thoughts given
your not having any way to know where the card is via normal means since
you have no way of knowing the order the cards started in.

The holding of their hand above each card, breathing and direction for
movement takes on the aspects of a necessary ritual. Emphasizing this point
is even more relevant when they fail given they now know how difficult a
feat you are attempting.

63
 Mauricio is the outcome of an international upbringing. Born to Colombian
 parents, he has lived in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, the United States,
Bangladesh and the Philippines, spending most of his life in Asia. His father
was a diplomat and for this reason, Mauricio has been to over 30 countries
around the world in his 28 years of life and is completely fluent in several
languages. Thousands of people in several countries have been witness to
his performances which are mostly based on his own personal creations. He
has been experimenting with Mentalism since he was a young child and was
entranced by the performances of Uri Geller. Now a full time performer
based in Bogotá, Colombia, Mauricio specializes in corporate events with
clients including The Fox Channel, Pfizer and Microsoft and is often seen
 performing at the private parties of local celebrities. He is also a well known
leader of seminars in persuasion, motivation, memory and relaxation
techniques. Mauricio frequently appears on television and radio and plans on
 presenting the Multi-Bob on an upcoming talk show that will take place
shortly before the publication of this book!

www.mauriciojaramillo.com

THE DEAD TEST

BY MAURICIO JARAMILLO

Effect:

A Multi-Bob witness pendulum is introduced. The Mentalist explains how

each of the pendulums can be opened to reveal a hollow chamber inside
where liquids and other small objects may be inserted. After a brief talk
about how this type of pendulum has been used to find oil, water and even
missing people, the Mentalist asks a sitter to write down the name of
someone close to them who has passed away, someone who brings only
happy memories.

64
The name is peeked via center tear, and then the sitter is asked to slightly
burn the pieces of paper. The sitter is asked to select a pendulum, unscrew
it and the Mentalist picks up some of the ashes, depositing them inside that
specific chamber. This pendulum is screwed back to the chain lid and the
sitter is asked to hold the Multi-Bob. The sitter is asked to focus on where
they placed the ashes and to concentrate intently on some memories of the
person being thought of, as well as the name.

The selected pendulum will eerily begin to move as if to react to the sitter
trying to connect with that memory. The Mentalist instructs them that the
pendulum will now come to a complete halt. As it does, the name is
revealed.

Extra Thoughts:

• While this follows a rather bizarre theme, the presentation can easily
be changed to a happier one, with the name being replaced with a
country they’d like to visit or even with an emotion. The paper burning
and ashes doesn’t make much sense this way, but it can be handled in
the following way, via a regular Multi-Bob with no witness pendulums:
Simply tell the spectator to think of something, an emotion for
example, and ask them to transmit this emotion to one of the
pendulums (they can rub it if they like). If possible, use detachable
bobs that you can give away, like crystals for example. You now have
a beautiful and memorable gift to hand them.
• Witness pendulums can be purchased cheaply, but if you’re having
trouble obtaining any, simply find a little box or locket than can be
attached to a chain. Kenton’s Sealed Pendulum method (In Part 2) will
also work admirably.

65
 • The presentation can easily be turned into one of the performer finding
the pendulum with the ashes in it. As you introduce the Multi- Bob,
unscrew each individual pendulum and leave them that way. After the
paper has been burnt, “randomly” hand the sitter one of the empty
chambers (which has been subtly marked) and ask them to place a
few ashes inside. Turn around, ask them to screw it in any of the
Multi-Bob positions and then ask them to screw the rest of the
pendulums back in. Now you pick it up and concentrate, making the
marked pendulum move, before continuing with the name revelation.
Make sure to have a clean tissue available for the sitter to wipe their
fingers.

ONSTAGE MULTIBOBBER
BY MAURICIO JARAMILLO

I love psychokinetic effects; they really add a memorable and visual

experience to any Mentalism show. Here are 2 ideas I really enjoy for stage
work, inspired directly by Max Maven’s Onstage Bender idea, originally
published in, The Green Book of Mentalism.

This is perfect for close up, parlor and stage shows. For stage presentations
I like to have my cameraman zooming in on all the important bits so they
are projected on a big screen.

Basic Setup:

The Multi-Bob is placed on a stand on the narrow end of a table, facing the
audience. By simply placing your hands firmly on the table and pushing
down or to the sides a little bit, enough “vibrations” will be sent all the way
to the opposite end, affecting only the one pendulum that you’re focusing on
moving. This is hard to believe until you actually try it; you’ll be blown away
at how effective it is. I have videos doing this and it has never failed to
work. Remember, it looks even more impossible when the table is long.

66
1st Effect:
The Mentalist wishes to bend a small metal object, such as a key or coin in a
spectator’s hand. The onstage spectator will be describing the heat they feel
in their hand or how much the object pulses inside. Besides this, the
Mentalist wants everybody present to visibly witness the process of
telekinesis. Following is the Max Maven inspired solution.

Set up the table with the Multi-Bob pendulum as shown above. After doing
the required work to the object about to be bent, place it inside a spectator’s
hand and ask them to hold it tightly in a fist. You then have them stand on
the side of the table so all pendulums are visible to the audience and you
stand on the opposite end, far from the Multi-Bob setup.

67
Ask the spectator to choose one of the bobs by number, clearly naming each
number out loud to prevent any confusion afterwards. Make sure it is clear
that this is a free choice and they are free to change their mind. After they
name a number, ask them to place their fist underneath the chosen
pendulum, as shown in the image above.

Place your hands on the table and begin your suggestions so they can feel
something happening. After about 45 seconds tell them they will start to feel
the subtle movement even more now and tell the whole audience to pay
close attention. Slowly, the selected pendulum begins to move and with
every second, it seems to get faster, moving in huge circles! This is pure
telekinesis in action. When it seems appropriate, have them open their fist,
revealing the bent object. After this surreal experience, everything can be
examined.

2nd Effect:
This is something I came up with 4 years ago while experimenting with a
single pendulum. It works perfectly with only 1, but is taken to another very
visual level with the Multi-Bob. The basic effect is this: Using the same table
setup, you place a fork or similar object in front of the Multi-Bob stand. You
have a spectator randomly selected and ask them to choose one of the
pendulums by number. You then stand on the other side of the table,
concentrating intently on that specific pendulum and begin moving it. A few
seconds after it eerily begins to move, the fork is also affected by the
telekinetic wave of energy being sent from your mind; it slowly spins by
itself! You then walk over to the fork and take advantage of the energy
you’ve been transmitting finishing off by performing a series of PK bending,
ultimately twisting the fork into a very bizarre piece before giving it away to
a deserving spectator.

This is actually a very simple and practical method. All you need is a tiny
piece of invisible thread with a little ball of wax on one end. One end of the
thread is tied to the fork and the waxed ball end is conveniently stuck behind
the base supporting the Multi-Bob.

68
As you begin the routine, casually show the fork and ask someone to name
one of the pendulums, it’s that easy. Whatever number they say, you set it
up in front of them! Simply say, “A free choice, number 4! Let me transfer
some energy from my hands to this pendulum you selected”. As you rub it,
you secretly apply the wax ball to the bob.

Absolutely nothing odd about that, simply explain that you’re going to try to
affect that pendulum telekinetically and hopefully transfer some of that
energy to the fork. The image above should make this idea very clear.

Stand on the other end of the table and place your hands on it firmly. Focus
intently on the selected pendulum and after moving for a few seconds, it will
affect the fork. Since you tied a knot on the fork, it can immediately be
handed out for examination with a quick snapping of the thread. You may
also prefer to have a waxed ball on each end. If so, a quick flick with your
finger will remove the wax and allow the fork to be examined right away.

Extra Thoughts:
Even though I only show 4 pendulums in these images, I currently use a 5
pendulum setup. Also, if you’re having trouble coming up with a stand,
simply get 2 tall objects that won’t look out of place or suspicious and place

69
the pendulum setup between them, each end of the Multi-Bob rod balanced
on top of the objects.

The fork should have the concave side of the tines facing down. Place it on
the table and see if it spins freely. If it doesn’t, just give it a tiny bend until
the center of the fork spins properly.

The length of the thread depends entirely on the size of your multi bob
stand, so you’ll have to experiment with it, something that shouldn’t take
more than 10 minutes. Since every pendulum is of a different length, you’ll
obviously have to place the fork a different distance away each time. Subtly
marking these spots on the table will give you all the confidence you need
during performance.

This is a very flexible setup. I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty of other
ideas using it; have fun! Don’t forget to use Dr. Bill’s “Suggestion on the use
of suggestion” from his book Suggestabilities in order to really get people’s
minds feeling your telekinetic effects.

BOBBING FOR ESP

BY MAURICIO JARAMILLO

This is a quick and fun effect you can do with either the Multi-Bob table
setup or in your hands. All you need is a 5 bob pendulum and some ESP
cards. Place one of each symbol face up underneath every bob. Proceed by
having a spectator freely select an ESP symbol, unseen by you. Secretly find
out which one was selected, via the marks on the back of the cards, a
stacked deck or a control and a peek. I personally just stack the symbols in
a known order and do a Charlier shuffle, though on occasion I’ll ask the
spectator to mix the cards very well and just look at the marks on their
selection.

Now I simply stand on the opposite end of the multi-bob pendulum and
place my hands flat on the table as described in the other effects. Ask the
spectator to stand next to you and have them place their right hand on your
left shoulder and focus on the correct symbol. Within a few moments, the
correct pendulum starts swinging above the thoughts of symbol! This is very
cool to see.

70
While I don’t find it necessary, you may also opt to have the symbols face
down for more suspense. After one of the pendulums is seen to be swinging,
you ask them to name their thought of symbol out loud and proceed to
dramatically flip the card over.

Also, if the spectator has proven to use a single pendulum very well in a
previous effect, get them hold the multi-bob in their own hands and have
them find their own symbol.

 VIDEO

Mauricio’s Pendulum Stand

71
 Michael Weber is this year’s recipient of the Creativity Fellowship
 Award from the Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences. His company
Deceptive Practices designs special effects for film, theater and
television including all the magic seen in films like The Prestige and
The Illusionist. These two offerings are far from Michael’s only
“discoveries” with pendulum, and a small collection of even stranger
ideas is in the works. Those interested in such things may send a note
to [email protected].

 A Branch from the Tree of Knowledge

© 1989, 2010 Michael Weber
All manufacturing, lecture, explanation, sales and television and/or recorded performance
rights withheld.

The Wonder Worker unwraps a most unusual artifact—it is a dried branch

which has been cut from a tree. Three lengths of natural cord are wrapped
around the circumference of the limb. Slowly the Mystic turns the branch
between his hands, allowing the cords to unfurl to their full length. Small
acorn-like seeds act as a finials, one threaded at the end of each cord and all
hanging to an equal endpoint.

The Seer explains that this is a branch from the Tree of Knowledge, not the
apple tree of Biblical fame but a rare variety which is the source of a
common superstition—knocking on wood. It was believed that spirits lived
inside the tree and could be summoned to act upon one’s behalf by knocking
on the trunk of the tree to awaken and invoke the spirits.

This act of “knocking on wood” is a modern vestige of the age old tradition,
and is thus believed by some to promote or maintain good fortune. This
branch, taken from that very tree, is possessed of a different power; the
ability to answer a single question for he who holds the branch.

The branch is held horizontally between the hands of the participant, the
three cords hanging still and calm from the length of the branch. The Mystic
points to each of the cords, explaining that one indicates a positive or “yes”
answer, the second a negative or “no” answer and the third indicating
uncertainty.

Focusing on a question he hopes to have answered, the participant holds the

branch absolutely still and concentrates, watching the cords intently. Soon,
it happens—one of the cords begins to swing, back and forth, the arc
increasing in size and speed until the participant understands that the spirit
of the tree has spoken—he has his answer.

72
The method is the age old series of 3 differently lengths of cord, therefore
three different and independent frequencies of resonance are required to
make any one of the pendulums move.

But herein lies the difference— the three cords hang to exactly the same
length.

And therein lies the deception—the branch is not perfectly straight and even,
but is knotted, twisted and differing in circumference at various points along
its length, and the three cords are inset into the wood at three different
points. Each of these connection points lies at a different distance away from
the true center of the branch, therefore, although each of the finials hangs
to the same level, the length of each of the cords is unique.

I have used this discovery for close to 25 years in several forms. I will share
a few more of them with you now:

• If you use a tapered “Harry Potter” style wand, it is easy to have the
three cords of different lengths as the taper provides the natural
difference in starting points of each cord.

• You can arrange a row of bottles along the table, each containing a
pendulum of seemingly similar length. In actuality, though the finials
hang to a common level, the strings are different lengths because the
necks of the bottles are different lengths.

73
 • Any straight stick with strings of decreasing length can be held at an
angle to make all the finials hang at the same level.

The participant does everything. Their thoughts are communicated as

undetectable ideo-motor actions which are imparted to the cords through
the length of branch. As they are unwittingly answering their own question,
if they are unhappy with the answer, they have only themselves and the
spirits in the wood to blame.

Note that this can be framed to determine if the mental question pertains to
the past, present or future, or more cords could be added to allow for
determination of the subject matter of the unspoken inquiry— love, money,
health, travel, ad infinitum.

Pull My Swinger
© 1989, 2010 Michael Weber
All manufacturing, lecture, explanation, sales and television and/or recorded
performance rights withheld.

There is a classic physics demonstration utilizing two pendulum suspended

side by side from a single horizontal cord. One pendulum is pulled back and
released. It swings freely, the other pendulum hanging still by its side.
Suddenly and quite mysteriously, the swinging pendulum begins to slow and

74
its arc diminishes as the stationary pendulum starts to swing in an every
growing arc. This phenomenon will continue for a length of time long beyond
its intrinsic entertainment value.

The explanation is known as coupled res onance. The motion of the first
pendulum “annoys” the other a little bit through the string which couples
them at the top. As both pendulums have the same length, both have the
same self resonant frequency and each cycle transfers energy constructively
(very little loss due to phase difference.) After a while, the second pendulum
acquires enough energy to 'take over' and start drawing energy from the
first one. Then the process repeats, in reverse.

I first encountered this mystery in a volume of the Tarbell Course. It used a

red and green ball suspended between two chairs and a folksy tale of a rural
traffic signal whose action would indicate stop and go.

My only contribution to this mystery was to take if off the chairs and place it
into the hands of an audience participant.

The two pendulums of equal length are tied a few inches apart from each
other, in the center of a 20” length of string. The participant holds the ends
of the string, one in each hand, and pulls the cord taught. You then indicate
that they should relax and move their hands towards each other about an
inch. This will allow the two pendulums to swing freely, but still permit the
mysterious energy transfer.

I construct the object in front of the spectators– tying the two pendulum to
the main cord, placing it between the hands of an audience member and
then sliding the pendulum apart to the correct distance.

The participant stands sideways, his elbows resting on his sides, his hands
held away from his body.

Pulling back on one of the pendulum, I release it, allowing it to swing back
and forth, left and right, between me and the member of the audience. I
then “suggest” that the pendulum is beginning to slow, but before it comes
to a stop the other pendulum is now starting to swing, back and forth, taking
the place of the first. Eventually the first pendulum comes to a complete
stop. I “suggest” this cycle three times, from the first to the second, back to
the first and then back to the second one last time.

By taking the hands of the participant and moving them towards each other,
the two pendulum will collide and stop all movement.

75
My performance of this precedes taking the two pendulums off of the
common cord and handing them to two different spectators for a further
effect using the devices.

If you are unfamiliar with the natural phenomena, you are in for a startling
treat. Those who are aware of the resonance transfer will be pleasantly
surprised at how much more magical it appears when placed in the hands of
a member of the audience.

76
 Greg has been performing magic, in one form or another, since the age of
five. Anything that has to do with entertainment will entice Greg. He's no
stranger to stage, video, comedy, writing, producing, directing and just
about anything that involves making a fool of yourself in front of a large
group of people. That's why he restricts orgies to no more than five
 participants... not including the goat.

TRY ING TO ADD TO BILL’S EBOOK

Okay, so I talked to Bill awhile back when he was first working on this book.
I had NOTHING for him. I thought he had a great idea and I knew many
would jump on board, but at the time I couldn’t think of one thing I could
add to his tome.

I had one pendulum effect that I use but it was based on a Ted K. idea and
wasn’t mine to share. Besides it was something I had scrapped because the
presentational spin I had added was so strong it seemed real. I got the
kinds of reactions that said, “So of course it works. Why wouldn’t it?” It was
weird.

Then the other idea I’ve had for some time is not even a work in progress.
It’s written up in notes and I’ve played around with it on my own, but it’s the
type of effect you just have to do on someone to see if it works.
Unfortunately this effect requires a minimum of 5 spectators to try it out.
Because of what I’m going for it could end up being a killer routine or fall flat
on its face.

One day I’ll have the balls to try it out and then I’ll write it up somewhere.
For now I’ll share some ideas I had after reading a late draft of Trybil.

I’ll warn you that some of my ideas ended up similar to ones already in the
book. I didn’t know this at the time. Some I have my own slant on and some
are all mine.

Hopefully my additions will find homes. I thank Bill for letting me insert my
ideas within his fantastic new ebook.

Rev your pendulums and let’s get started.

77
 DIGIT SWING
BY GREG ARCE

The What: You show off your new pendulum. It has three lines and at the
end of each line there is a metal number hanging from them: 1, 2 and 3.

A spectator is told to think of a 3 digit number using these digits, but they
can repeat digits if they want like 313. They write down their number and
keep it hidden.

Now you hold onto the pendulum and slowly one bob swings… it’s the 2 then
it stops. Then the 3 starts to move then stops. Finally the 2 moves again,
then stops. The number the pendulum made up is 232. The spectator
reveals their number and it’s 232.

The How: Well, first, as I read the ebook I found that Keith Barry had put in
a similar idea. Curse you, Mr. Lucky Charms! Anyway, since I didn’t know
that at the time, I’ll easily describe this one: a peek and your pendulums.

So, the person writes their number on either a billet that you peek, or use
peek wallet, or do a center tear, or use any of the impression pads out
there. Or just choke him as you scream, “TELL ME YOUR NUMBER!!!”
Whatever works for you.

Once you know the number then set your pendulum off on a digit finding
adventure.

By the way, Bill added an interesting thought. Once you get the first or
second number you can have the spectator grab hol d of the pendulum and
produce his last digit himself.

One other thing, you can do this in reverse. You write a number on a card
and put it in your wallet. They create a number and it turns out to be the
one you wrote down. Use an SUC wallet and either nail write the number
they created or pocket write it and slip it back in. Or just hold up a card that
you supposedly wrote your number on and nail write it as they create the
number in front of you.

78
 INVISIBLE SWING
BY GREG ARCE

The What: A spectator picks four cards at random. You place one card each
onto the clips that hang from your pendulum. Now you show another deck of
cards and say that you turned one card face down in that pack.

You have the spectator hold the Multi-Bob and just think of one of the cards.
You tell him that when he thinks of that one card it will slowly start to swing.
He stares at the cards and suddenly one begins moving. Let’s say it’s the 5
of Clubs.

You say, “So you thought of the 5 of Clubs. Look, only that card swung and
even the card next to it – the 8 of Diamonds – did not move. Interesting.”

You take out the pack from the other box. You spread the cards and there is
one card face down and it’s next to an 8 of Diamonds. You turn the card
that’s face down over and it’s the 5 of Clubs.

The How: This combines an Invisible Deck with a force of four cards from a
regulation deck along with a four clip/pendulum Multi-Bob.

You have a pendulum with four lines and each line has a clip attached to it.
Now you force four cards from the other deck. I’ll leave the force up to you:
dribble, fan, cross cut, etc. You’ll be forcing two sets of cards. Each set has
two cards that are back to back in your Invisible Deck. So you can do 8 of
Clubs with 5 of Diamonds and 10 of Spades with the 3 of Hearts. If you have
or have used an Invisible deck then you get the point.

After forcing those cards hang them so that one set is hanging from the first
two lines and the other set from the last two lines. You get the person to
think of one of those cards and using the pendulum he will make his thought
of card swing. You mention that the card next to his did not move, but you
mention the card that is back to back with his card in the Invisible Deck.

So just simply spread the pack and point out the one card that did not move
that’s next to the one facedown card. Taa-daa!

79
 PENDULUM LINE UP
BY GREG ARCE

The What: You have four photos swinging from the pendulum. Each photo
is of a different person.

You explain that this is your new system for crime detection. You explain
that there are three criminals hanging from that line. One is an arsonist, one
is a robber and one is a murderer. They will try and detect which is which
plus free the innocent man.

On the table there are three envelopes: One says Arsonist, another says
Robber and another Murderer. You tell the person to think of who is the
Arsonist and make that photo swing. He starts to think and suddenly the
second photo from the left starts to move.

You open the Arsonist envelope and dump out the photo that’s in there and
it’s a match. Now you have him think about the robber. The first photo starts
to swing.

When you open the Robber envelope, a matching photo drops out. Finally he
makes the Murderer swing and that same photo is in the last envelope, so
one photo is left as the innocent person.

You point to the pendulum that they have been holding and have them read
the inscription. It says that the photo hanging from line 4 is the innocent
guy.

The How: Each envelope is double walled. In each side there is double sided
photo so any envelope can produce any photo chosen for the type of crime
picked.

At times you might have to turn the envelope over so that one particular
side of the photo shows instead of the other side. As for the final prediction,
it’s just a multiple out. You can come up with various outs.

Here are some: inscription on the pendulum/one photo hanging from the
pendulum has innocent written in a hidden way/the entire set is in a larger
envelope that has other outs to show/etc.

Of course, if you don’t want multiple outs then just produce the last photo
from your pocket. Simply have a different one in each of your four pockets
or have a Himber wallet that can show all four photos. Or pocket write on a

80
billet the name on the photo and produce it from an SUC case. Or nail write
the photo’s name on a card as you turn it over.

I leave the end to your imagination.

CONTACT SWING
BY GREG ARCE

The What: You show a pendulum with 5 lines attached to it. Each line has a
metal letter hanging from the line. The letters are L, R, F, B and S. You
explain that R is for right, L is for left, F is for forward, B is for backward and
S is for stop.

A spectator is told to hide an object somewhere in the room after you have
stepped out. Once the object is hidden you come back into the room. You
tell the spectator to stand at one end of the room and look at the pendulum
as he holds it. He is to guide you by mentally making the pendulums swing
to make you move in a particular direction. So if he wants you to go left
then he is to think about making the L pendulum swing. Through this
process you eventually find the object.

The How: Well, what more can I say. This is long distance contact
mindreading. Basically you are just following instructions by watching the
pendulums move. After you’ve done it the first time it might be interesting
to tell the person that you will try it a different way. Now you do the
standard contact mindreading and remove the pendulums from the process.

This first process will at least show you if the person involved is a good
candidate for the official contact mindreading process.

Oh, and you could add one more step in the process by having something
hidden one more time and use an idea from Bill: “You could move on to you
holding it and him clasping your shoulder. It wouldn't be real long distance
CMR but might add a nice bit of texture.”

If I added Bill’s idea I would do it as second piece then move onto a

complete CMR without the pendulum.

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 THE PENDULUM JUDGE
BY GREG ARCE

The What: From a briefcase you take out the following items: a large
pencil, three cords and three little bulldog clips holding pieces of paper.

A story begins about these items: “A few months back there was a horrible
event in an office. Three of the workers there were found dead. Two had
been killed by the third and the last one committed suicide. A week later a
note was found that explained the event. It seems that these three guys had
been dipping into the company funds and they knew they were going to get
caught.”

 “They wrote a suicide pact and promised to go through with it. Apparently
they randomly chose straws and the winner, as it were, was going to kill the
other two then take his own life. They followed the pact and met their tragic
ends. What you see before you are some of their last notes and the supplies
found at their desks. We will try an experiment.”

You tie the cords on the pencil and hang the clips on the cords. You explain
that each slip within the clips are the last notes made by the three
gentlemen. You point to the first clip and say that was Greg’s and second
clip is Bill’s and the third is Tony’s.

The spectator is told to hold onto the pencil and concentrate on one of the
clips. Eventually he will make one move. Let’s say it is Bill’s clip.

You take out the slip from Bill’s clip and it says, “I will be the first one to
die.”

Now the spectator concentrates again and Greg’s clip swings. When that slip
is removed it says, “I will be the second one to die.”

Finally, Tony’s moves and the slip says, “I killed the others and now I must
die.”

The How: I got this idea when I first read Rich Hennessey’s instructions on
making “The Office Store Pendulum.” I immediately loved that idea.

What’s happening is that each clip is a tiny Ostin Clip. If you don’t know
what an Ostin Clip is then you should not be reading this and go buy a
manual on new double lifts.

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Anyway, you have palmed three other slips that say the three final words
and just switch the appropriate ones as you remove them from the clips.

By the way, I was thinking of other methods. You could just do some billet
switches and not use Ostin Clips. You put the slips in 1, 2 and Murder order
from right to left on the pendulum. If they end up swinging the pendulums in
that order, then you’re set.

But what if they are wrong on two or all three? Well, just have two extra
billets in a convenient place: one says First to Die and the other one says
Second to Die. With these two billets and a couple of switches you’ll be able
to correct any order they pick as you pluck them off the clips. Think about it
and you’ll see what I mean.

Now for the knuckle busters out there. How about using pocket writing to
add a bunch of stuff? So in the story you say that each person was killed
with a different method and the murderer even did away with himself with a
unique method.

They start to make one pendulum swing which indicates the first person to
be killed. You ask them how that person was killed. They say, “A
lawnmower.” Inside your pocket desk you have your first billet that already
has written, “I was picked to die first by…” and leave a space to write “a
lawnmower.” You fold that up and steal it out to switch on the Ostin clips.
Yes, we’re back to the Ostin clips for this.

The second pocket billet has, “I was picked second and will be killed by…”
and you write whatever they say and switch it. Last slip has “I killed them
then killed myself by…” and write that. Work, work, work.

83
 TRYBILYTE
BY DR. BILL

One inspiration leads to another and if I’m not careful Trybil  will never end! I
have a very popular effect called “Mentalink” that was publi shed in my ebook
Mind Index . It is a great, apparently impromptu business card effect that
you can always carry with you. Reading some of Greg Arce’s ideas led me to
realize a version could be done more formally with a Multi-Bob. You lose the
 “impromptu” aspect but you gain in other ways.

The effect is as follows: You have a five pendulum Multi-Bob with Bulldog
style clips, as described in Rich Hennessey’s “Office Store Pendulum” and
Greg Arce’s “The Pendulum Judge” both in Trybil . You also have five squares
cut out from index cards of the size to fit the bulldog clips in an open
position. It doesn’t matter if some of the symbol is obscured by the clip.

You borrow a pen and draw the five Zener symbols one per card and attach
them to the clips. A member of the audience holds the Multi-Bob and
concentrates on any of the symbols. It begins to swing.

You explain that they have invested this symbol with their psychic energy
and have them hold the Multi-Bob above either a lit candle or the flame from
a lighter depending on your setting. They move the dangling symbols one by
one over the flame and when they get to the one they made swing, it
promptly disappears!

The method should be obvious to most mentalists and magicians but I think
this has some nice touches. As you probably surmised “Trybilyte” uses the
popular Frixion pen. The Frixion pen is applied in my preferred manner which
I like to call “stealth” where you don’t even need to carry the pen with you.

Using a Frixion pen, draw the five Zener symbols on matching pieces of
index card to those you will be using in performance. Index them in a simple
fashion; they could easily be in a known order in your pocket, slightly
trimmed so they are staggered for easy access. Once you know which
symbol your guest is concentrating on, obtain and palm the matching Frixion
drawn version. You have plenty of time to do this since the guest announces
their choice and then will take a bit of time to get it moving and you can

84
take your time, encouraging more concentration and stronger movment.
Plus all eyes will be on the Multi-Bob.

For even further cover, if performing for a small group, simply stand behind
the rest of the audience to “give them the best view.” In other settings you
can utilize the classic ruse of using an audience member to obscure the side
of your body with the hand entering the pocket. This should be familiar to
most readers of Trybil .

Allow the guest to get his choice swinging for several good, strong beats
then reach out and stop it, removing the card with their chosen drawing.
Show it around, perform a switch and return the Frixion drawn version to the
clip. I haven’t tried this, but you could find the right size pieces of index
cards to fit an Ostin clip for the switch. See Greg Arce’s “The Pendulum
Judge” for ideas about this method.

Have the participant “invest the symbol with further energy” by making it
swing a few more beats. Then have them move the Multi-Bob over the
flame, exposing each card to the heat. When they get to their chosen
symbol, it will vanish.

That’s it! Another interesting effect with the Multi-Bob set up that I’m sure
will inspire other ideas. Obviously you don’t need to use Zener symbols;
exploit whatever best fits you and your performing circumstances.

Oh, as for borrowing the pen. Don’t sweat this. I’ve done Mentalink literally
hundreds of times and you don’t have to worry about an exact match for the
ink other than color. By the time you’ve switched in the Frixion version it will
soon be in constant motion. If you want you can have two sets of Frixion
symbols, one black and one blue, indexed in different pockets so you can
borrow a pen of either color but I don’t recommend this. With Mentalink I
always kept an eye out for someone with a black pen or just used my own. A
lay audience isn’t going to find it out of place for you to use your own pen
plus you can leave it sitting out for the more curious or magically inclined to
check out.

85
 He knows who he is!

THE LIVING PENDULUM

BY MARC SALEM

So what do you do when you send Marc Salem a draft of an ebook for
comment and he writes back that he really likes it and wants to contribute
an effect or two? Once you pick your jaw up off the floor, you thank him
profusely over the telephone then take copious notes while he describes his
presentations for the Multi-Bob!

Marc said he saw the seeds for “The Living Pendulum” in a presentation by
Marc Sky years ago and was inspired to develop the idea to new heights.
What follows is truly brilliant.

Two participants are needed, one to hold the Multi-Bob, say Joe and another
to serve as “The Living Pendulum.” Let’s call him Ted. Use the tips from
earlier in the ebook, as well as in the appendix, to insure that both are good
responders.

Have Joe hold the Multi-Bob and face the audience. Instruct Ted to face the
audience but at an angle. He must be able to see Joe and the audience must
be able to see both of Joe’s arms.

Explain to Ted that he is going to experience a mental connection with Joe

and the pendulums. His arms and head will be in synch with the pendulums.

Throughout this ebook, particularly in Jerome Finley’s contribution at the

end, are examples of the use of suggestion and hypnotic language to help a
participant “tune in” to pendulums. Read these thoroughly and create your
script of instructions for Ted to relax, fixate on the pendulums and respond
in concert to their movements with his arms and head.

A thought that occurred to me after talking to Marc, is to first do an effect

with an individual pendulum with Ted then call up Joe to assist, bringing out
the Multi-Bob for him. This way you can assure both understand, on a
conscious and subconscious level, what is expected of them.

Similarly, you could perform John Rigg’s “On A Slender Cord, Swinging,”
with Ted and after he successfully moves a single pendulum at the end, as

86
per John’s routine, ask him if he’d
h e’d like to “share in” the experience from the
pendulum’s perspective. I like this line
li ne a lot and would consider posing the
question with all of the presentations.

Then call up Joe

J oe and have him take over the Multi-Bob. Once both Joe and
Ted are primed, so to speak, you need to begin by guiding and reinforcing
Joe’s activation of one of the pendulums.
pen dulums. By now Ted already knows
subconsciously, at the very least, what is expected of him.
hi m.

Let Ted know that he may begin to experience a sensation in the matched
body part and whatever he feels is i s exactly as it should be at this moment.
Again, you want to utilize all the language patterns taught throughout this
book so that Ted is in rapport with you, Joe and the pendulums and wants to
succeed.

Point out and reinforce any movement of the matched

mat ched body part with the
swinging pendulum. A “non-specific” movement can be descri bed as going in
the same direction as the pendulum, leading Ted to calibrate more
specifically. From what Marc described to me, as well as from the reports of
others who have seen this effect performed, the audience response is
awesome and will also serve to reinforce Ted’s cooperation and success.

For example, if the right hand

h and pendulum begins moving between Joe and the
audience, Ted will begin to swing his right arm in the same direction. If it is
the center bob swinging, Ted is i s to nod his head in the non-verbal
n on-verbal equivalent
of “yes.” Similarly if Joe’s center pendulum is i s swinging side to side, Ted is to
to
move his head in the non-verbal equivalent of “no.”

With the arms, because you haven’t been more

m ore specific than “matching”
either arm will be correct. In other words, if Joe moves the right pendulum
and Ted moves his right arm it is a match. If Joe moves the left pendulum
and Ted moves his right arm, it is a match. Both “inner” arm and pendulum
moved together. The same for Joe’s right side pendulum and Ted’s left arm;
 “the outside” pendulum and arm are a match.

Point out that they also match

m atch in moving side to side, back and forth
f orth or in a
circular direction. If they don’t, focus on the initial match but be prepared to
emphasize getting the same direction
di rection on another try.

Once you’ve milked this for all it is

i s worth, ask Joe to focus on moving
another pendulum, in another direction, while the first comes to a stop.

87
Again, you will guide Ted in moving the corresponding body part in the
corresponding direction. Finish with the final pendulum on the Multi-Bob and
the matching body part on Ted!

Marc shared another presentation of “The Living Pendulum” that he has

performed. This may be perceived as more risky but the reward is greater,
you have verbal outs and this is
i s mentalism after all!

Everything is the same, but instead

inst ead of having Ted face Joe, have him stand
with his back to him. Again, do not verbally correlate the right pendulum
with the right arm or left
l eft with left, so as to allow
all ow for flexibility of
interpretation.

Do not guide Joe in moving a specific pendulum (which needn’t be done in

the first version either) and suggest to Ted that he will feel something in one
of his arms or his
hi s head and to “go with it.” He will know what you mean.

Should Joe move the left pendulum and Ted swing his right arm, you can call
attention to the fact that if they were facing one another their responses
would be “mirror images.” Follow the same logicl ogic with the other pendulum
and arm. If you get a head movement to one of the outside pendulums, just
take the loss and move on to t o having Joe move another pendulum.

Also do not worry so much about what direction the pendulum and body part
move. Simply play up the movement of the match or mirror image. Of
course if the directions match, point this out. And if you get a head
h ead
movement to an outside pendulum but they are moving in the same
direction, you can point this out before proceeding.

So swings The Living Pendulum! Thank you Marc for letting me include this
wondrous effect in Trybil .

THE PENDULUM PROPOSAL

BY MARC SALEM

Please blame or credit me for

f or the title! This can be performed with anywhere
from a 3 to 6 pendulum Multi-Bob.

88
An audience member assists by holding
h olding up a Multi-Bob, center stage. The
performer, to the participant’s left, kneels down on one knee and holds his
hand under one of the pendulums. Vary which hand and knee as needed for
your performing circumstances to allow the best “frame” and view for your
audience.

The performer then calls out the direction

directi on he wants the pendulum to move;
back and forth, right and left or in a circle. The chosen pendulum begins to
move in the called for direction,
directi on, increasing in arc as encouraged by the
performer.

Next, ask the audience to call out another pendulum and direction. The
performer places his hand under the t he selected pendulum. Again, the
pendulum above his hand moves in the desired direction in an ever widening
arc or increasingly large circles!
ci rcles!

The entire secret to this effect, along

al ong ideomotor response, the requisite use
of participant selection methods and verbal warming up, is that the
performer is not only holding his
hi s hand beneath the desired pendulum but is
also subtly moving it in the desired direction. This non-verbal, and invisible
to the audience suggestion, insures
insu res cooperation.

Remember, if you allow enough time, build up rapport and have created an
affirmative environment, the audience member is rewarded by succeeding!
He or she wants to please you and
an d have a positive experience. As Jerome
points out, you can pretty much tell them what to do, still having it seem to
be their free will.

Along with the effect, it is

i s the dramatic stance that makes “The Pendulum
Proposal” play so well. You needn’t move all of the pendulums; end on a
 “high note.” Don’t try to prove something by moving
moving six pendulums while
losing an entire audience!

Marc has shared some golden

gol den nuggets with us. Let’s do them the justice
they deserve, make them our own and remember to thank Marc when we
perform them!

89
 SWINGING SOLO:
EFFECTS WITH A SINGLE
PENDULUM
There are many, many effects in the literature using a single pendulum.
However they tend to be spread about, one here and one there, with a
couple notable exceptions. I wanted to provide you a collection of what I
consider some of the strongest standard pendulum work available, with a
little help from my friends!

90
 DEAD OR ALIVE
BY DOCC HILFORD

Docc’s series of Monster Mentalism DVDs (DoccHilfordProducts.com) are a

source for wonderful effects, all with his distinctive touch. “Dead or Alive” is
one of the best and just happens to use a pendulum! Docc gave me his
permission to write it up for this ebook.

From Docc greeting his helpers to his concluding remarks, “Dead or Alive”
runs almost 15 minutes. It is perfect for when you want to perform a single
piece for a group of people, actually containing three parts that build to a
devastating climax.

Docc sets up the atmosphere for a good five minutes before even bringing
out his pendulum. He presents “Dead or Alive” as a serious piece though his
performance is seasoned with humor throughout. He speaks of poltergeists,
apparitions and hauntings and of a friend who investigates haunted houses.
This all serves to establish the mood before Docc brings out the pendulum, a
tool that can be used to test for poltergeists.

The opening five minutes of classic Docc storytelling is essential to setting

the stage for the effect. His use of non-verbal communication, via his
hands, eyes, upper body movement and vocal inflection, serves to engage
the audience in a manner we can all learn from. If you have the opportunity,
watch this routine.

 “Dead or Alive” begins with a version of Richard Webster’s “Across The

Divide” from Pendulum Power . This is the same effect I explain my variation
of later in the book but for Docc it is only the beginning. He brings out a
pendulum, talks about it for a bit then gives it to his helper and guides her in
how to think only about the pendulum and reinforces any and every bit of
movement.

Docc brings out two old copper coins and employs a brilliant strategy to give
the appearance that they influence the direction the pendulum swings. He
places the coins on the table, so that the already moving pendulum is
swinging between them. Docc then goes on to talk about how in the past,
people actually believed the copper was pulling the pendulum but how now
we know it is the force of the mind that moves the pendulum.

91
He now takes out a business card case that will play an important role later,
removes one card and places it down between the coins at a 90 degree
angle. Docc asks the woman to imagine a wall several inches high on top of
the card. He asks what will happen as the pendulum smacks the wall over
and over then states it can’t go through the wall so it stops. Which, of
course, it does. The card serves the same purpose as the line drawn in
Webster’s routine, as well as getting it into play early on for the second
phase of the routine. This is a very smart ploy.

Docc then explains the pendulum can move in the direction the wall runs,
illustrating the desired path with his finger. Due to the verbal suggestions,
direct commands and non-verbal suggestion using his finger to “point out”
the direction for the pendulum to move, the woman’s subconscious is
engaged and cooperates. As throughout the routine, he points out the
smallest successes and encourages applause for his helper. How could she
do anything but follow his suggestions? Wonderful!

Docc then asks a second woman at the table if she’d like to use the
pendulum. He removes the “wall” and in her hands the pendulum now starts
swinging again between the coins. The suggestions are strong, both verbal
and via the setting of the coins. Plus she has watched her friend succeed and
of course wants the same for herself. Her cooperation is virtually assured.

Now Docc places a single copper coin beneath the pendulum. He directs his
second helper to move the pendulum in a circle but, as always, with the use
of several subtleties. Docc says the pendulum won’t continue in a line, that
something completely different will happen. The round coin suggests a circle
and Docc immediately begins to define and reinforce the new movement as
circular. Sure enough, the helper complies.

But Docc isn’t done! He points out that the penny is heads up and asks what
will happen if the pendulum is held over a penny that is tails side up. As he
does this he slides the coin in use out of the way and the other coin,
conveniently tails side up, under the pendulum.

The pendulum slows, haltingly stops then reverses direction. The impact on
the audience, especially the woman holding the pendulum, is obvious. This is
the kind of work with a pendulum that I love and is fantastic in itself, but
Docc is just getting started!

92
He has the pendulum placed down on the table and says they will now do
something else, along the line of a haunting. Docc turns back to his first
helper and asks her to think of someone who has passed on. Docc is very
clear that this should be someone she has happy thoughts about.

As he explains in the method section in his discussion with mentalist David

Alexander, he doesn’t want to dilute the power inherent in a living and dead
routine by substituting another theme. At the same time he doesn’t want the
woman to think about someone who she is grieving for so asking in the way
he does achieves both ends.

The case and the card used for the “wall” are already out, saving time. Docc
hands her the card and asks that she print the person’s name on the back as
he turns his head away. When she is done, he directs her to place it name
side down on the table.

Docc turns back to face her and picks up the business card case which is
Mark Striving’s SUC. Any good peek case or wallet will work.

He picks up the card and puts it in the case. Next Docc removes four cards
from the wallet and hands them to the woman helping him. He then peeks
the card as he places it away in the breast pocket of his jacket.

This is a move that is associated with Docc and offers the advantage of
 justifying your gaze as you first “struggle” with finding the pocket without
looking. This also offers the advantage of allowing for an extended peek if
need be, say if the writing isn’t clear, when you naturally look down at the
pocket to help guide the case inside.

Turning away, Docc instructs his helper to write the INITIALS of four living
friends on the backs of the other cards. This is a great strategy on many
levels as will be seen later. But for now, it speeds up the process, minimizing
any dead time as opposed to having her write out full names.

Even with this safeguard in place, Docc has an anecdote to tell while the
cards are being initialed, further minimizing what would otherwise be dead
time. This is the kind of attention to detail we should all apply when
structuring a routine.

When his helper acknowledges she has completed initialing each card, he
turns back toward her and removes the SUC from his pocket. He casually

93
takes out the card with the dead name and hands it to her to mix with the
other four cards so even she doesn’t know which is which.

Docc has her spread out the five cards any way she wants and hands her the
pendulum. The card that was used in the first phase of the routine as the
 “wall” and now holds the name of the deceased person was very subtly
marked before the routine began. A small pencil dot or a nick will suffice.

The woman holds the pendulum over each card and the movement of the
pendulum is categorized. When it is held over the marked card, Docc
emphasizes the movement, or preferably lack of movement, and defines it
as the one they are looking for. Any slight distinction in movement will
suffice. He has her place the pendulum down on this card.

Docc turns the other four cards over, reading out loud the initials. This is the
other advantage of the strategy of having her initial the living cards. He
doesn’t have to ask her if it is a living person since by virtue of the initials
everyone knows it is. The dead card is under the pendulum, found by the
helper for which she receives applause and the second phase concludes.

The third and final phase is the revelation of the name. Here Docc uses a lot
of nice touches. He has her imagine the friend walking toward her and
evokes several senses as he encourages her to note the sunshine, what he is
wearing, the color of his hair and any aromas she associates with her friend.

He then tells her to put her hand on his arm and “say hello…Phil.?” The
questioning intonation at the end conveys uncertainty, and raises tension
before she confirms that Phil is indeed the name of her dead friend,
releasing said tension.

Docc does one more thing to “clean up” at the end and make sure he
attends to any residual emotional impact on his helper that might leave her
even the least bit uncomfortable. On the DVD, though she denies it, you can
see that the woman who thought of her dead friend was tearing up.

Docc tells her to keep her card and all the good memories of her friend. And
to give “this card to,” naming aloud the initials, “and this card to,” again
naming the initials until all four cards have been dealt with in this fashion,
 “and tell them that you met the most remarkable guy you ever met in your
life!”

94
The audience chuckles then applauds at the conclusion of this rollercoaster
ride of an amazing, powerful and ultimately, heartwarming, routine. I knew I
wanted to perform “Dead or Alive” the minute after I first watched it. I knew
I wanted to include it in my ebook the minute after I first performed it.
Thanks so much for making it happen, Docc!

95
Brad Henderson has been practicing magic since age four, though he didn't
get serious about it until age ten. He has no idea if the intervening years
were a waste of time. Currently, he is based in Austin, Texas. Brad performs
mind reading, sleight of hand, and hypnosis at private events throughout the
world, and regularly designs unique, fully immersive theatrical experiences
for a handful of eclectic clients. He has written for each of the major magic
magazines, is one of the outspoken reviewers for Magic Magazine, and is the
author of The Dance, one of the most critically acclaimed texts ever written
on the art of cold reading. He collects magic posters, Disney animation art,
and lives with a cat named Jinx who is currently laying across the keyboard
as he types this.

THE EVERLASTING PENDULUM TRICK

BY BRAD HENDERSON
I began working with the pendulum around 1992. I always wanted an
effect where the spectator found his or her own card by employing the
pendulum. I wanted it to be sure fire, without having to “coax” the
pendulum’s motions out of the spectator.

This was my answer. It solves the critical pendulum problem: how to

guarantee the pendulum will swing in the proper direction while in the
spectator’s hand. I originally released this effect to the Shadow Network
(back when it was still on paper) in 1992. Jeff McBride came to me for
sources on pendulum magic to be included in one of his commercial
releases. After sharing this effect with him, he asked to be able to include it.
He dubbed it the “Everlasting Pendulum Trick” stating that once an audience
member had experienced it, he or she would never forget it.

Just this year I was performing at Timber Lake Camp near Woodstock, NY. A
young lady approached me; she was celebrating her sixteenth birthday. She
asked if I would show her a birthday trick, which I did. She then commented
that of everything she had ever seen me perform that one thing I did with
her bracelet 5 years ago was REAL magic. The effect to which she was
referring is presented to you now. I think you will find it is an excellent
performance piece with which to practice your cold reading skills.

The 22 cards of the Major Arcana are introduced. The audience member is
instructed to cut the deck in half. The magician partially completes the cut
and explains that in a moment the spectator will view the chosen card. They
will then, together, determine if indeed that card is the one properly
intended for their reading.

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A marked tarot card (I use the Wheel of Fortune) is controlled to the bottom
of the pack. Force the card using the Cross-Cut force.

(Two digressions: First, the mark is merely a pencil dot. I have different
marks on the devil and death cards as well. This way, in a reading situation,
I know when they are about to be turned up and can gauge my reading
accordingly. Some people freak out on the Death card. I do not   advocate
removing it from the pack. I do suggest conditioning your sitter and treating
their apprehension respectfully. Second, some magicians consider the Cross-
Cut force hoary. These magicians are idiots. It is a tremendous conceit and
an incredibly deceptive one. The problem is that many inexperienced
performers do not understand what is required of them to pull it off
successfully and hence have no basis for evaluating its merits accurately.)

After the sitter is allowed to see their card, they may shuffle the pack. The
pendulum will now become a vehicle for our 22 card equivoque.

Deal the cards into two piles, face down, noting which contains the selection.
Hand the pendulum to the sitter instructing them on how to hold it. They are
requested to hold it over each of the two piles. They are told that over one it
will move in a line and over the other in a circle.

Take your time, and the pendulum will begin to move. Of course, moving
your finger back and forth beside the pendulum, or instructing the spectator
to imagine the pendulum moving either in a circle or line will help expedite
matters. However, the pendulum will  move.

It does not matter if they decide (which is in effect what they are doing)
which will be the circle pile and which the line. As soon as the direction is
determined I say, “Excellent, a line means Yes.” (Assuming the card is in
that pile) Whatever direction occurs above the pile with the chosen card is
defined as the “‘yes” direction and the “no” pile is discarded. In other words,
we do not  tell them the significance of the two motions until after  they have
defined each pile with their motions. Only then do we define the motions.
For example, when the pendulum is held over the first pile (let’s say the card
is not  in that pile) and swings in a line, the magician then informs the sitter
that a line means “No” and this pile is discarded.

From the beginning, we have told them that it will swing in a line over one
pile and a circle over the other. Even if they are not hard core believers, at
this point half of the suggestion has taken effect, and you will be pleased to

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know that the second half will follow suit. By giving this suggestion at the
beginning, we insure that once it starts moving, that it will move accurately
and consistently. Once the sitter sees and feels the pendulum move, it is
proof enough to “subconsciously coerce” the proper motions out of them.

I was recently asked, “But what if it moves the same way over both piles?” I
would say that this has never happened and for the reasons stated above, I
don’t think it will, barring someone just trying to be a jerk. If the sitter is
suggestible enough that we can coerce movement out of them, I think it is
safe to say they will continue along the pattern we have prescribed. I have
had people who produce very un-dramatic swings early on. As the process
continues these invariable become more pronounced. However, should you
worry one could always pre-qualify one person out of a group with a
preliminary suggestion test.

The sitter now deals the cards into two piles and the magician holds the
pendulum over each. The magician makes the pendulum swing as
appropriate, maintaining consistency in the “leave/take” actions. In other
words, if circle has been defined as “Yes,” then be sure to make it swing in a
circle above the packet containing the card.

The magician now deals the remaining cards about the table, á la card stab.
I place them in a spiked, star-like pattern each end overlapping the other.
Imagine the spokes of a wheel emanating from a central hub. This is what
my pattern looks like. The ends of all the cards are touching and overlapping
at the hub, the outer ends are separate.

At this point, the sitter is instructed to move the pendulum, holding it over
each and every card. They are then told to drop the pendulum on a card or
group of cards. Our wording allows for a miracle revelation or at least a
sensible ploy to remove yet another batch of cards.

If they place the pendulum on their card, quit. However, if they miss, you
will either keep the card(s) the pendulum is touching or remove them.
Notice we didn’t say in advance what we would do. I have them drop the
entire pendulum, stone and cord. By having the ends of the cards
overlapping, I’m almost guaranteed that the pendulum is touching more
than one card. It is a simple manner to use this one procedure to eliminate
all but 2 or 3 cards. These will be kept in play on the table.

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For example, if the pendulum lands next to the selection I can say, “You
have been drawn to this half of the cards.” I take the card that the
pendulum is touching and the two on either side. Sometimes, it will fall on
the correct card and one other. We would use both of them. Sometimes it
will snake around and touch 3 cards that are NOT the selected card. In that
case you would just grab those three cards and move them over to the
discard pile.

You don’t have to verbally explain every action one performs in an

equivoque. If you merely perform that action with confidence, it will be
taken as intended from the outset.

Regardless of the circumstances, you are now left with 2 or 3 cards on the
table. If they have placed the entire pendulum only on the selected card, I
comment on this, and have them pull out another “for comparison.”

The magician takes the pendulum and holds it over each card in turn. Of
course, you will make it swing in the proper direction over each of the cards.
Sometimes I will say under my breath, “Yes” when I’m moving in a line
when it is to mean yes and vice versa for the circle.

Now, here is the payoff. Look at the sitter and say, “Go ahead, you try it.”

Because we have conditioned their responses, provided a model to emulate,

and created a methodical atmosphere, the spectator will respond by moving
the pendulum in the direction which means “no” over each of the wrong
cards and “yes” over the correct one. Further, they will completely forget
that you “showed them the way,” so to speak. They will remember that the
pendulum, in their own hands, found the correct card.

At this point, you can look at the card and give a brief reading using the
techniques taught in The Dance. Close by asking if they felt what you had to
say applied to them. When they respond in the affirmative, congratulate
them on finding the card that was meant for them, the Wheel of Fortune.

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 Kenton Knepper is a name most mentalists will instantly recognize. Kenton's
 principles of Dual Reality, Linguistic Deception, Trance-Illusion, Definition =
Creation, suggestion and much more have become the standards of modern
mentalism. Kenton's works include the classics Wonder Words, Modern
Miracles of Suggestion, Mind Reading Lessons, Kolossal Killer, S.A.R.,
Completely Cold and Pendulum Programming. Kenton has consulted for
other well-known mentalists including Keith Barry and his shows for the RTE,
MTV and CBS. Kenton was awarded the Andruzzi Award in 1998 and The
Psychic Entertainers Association's Creativity Award in 2008. Less known to
 performers are Kenton's more esoteric works, including his work with
Tibetan and Crystal Bowls, which were handed down to him mystically.
Kenton has been deemed a Lama by another Lama (though Kenton has had
no such formal training) and, of course, a modern day wizard. You can learn
more about Kenton's works which are the foundation of so many other works
today, at www.WonderWizards.com You can read and hear more about
Kenton's mystical work for the Public at www.BowlSounds.com

SEALED PENDULUM
BY KENTON KNEPPER

This was the very first trick Kenton sold to a magic company. It stunned
many names at the time, back in the 1970s, and still is a fooler when
presented properly. A pendulum is made that has a pay envelope attached,
or a pendulum is made as a pay envelope attached to a string.

A deck of cards is cut into four piles by a spectator who then takes the
pendulum and touches TWO of the piles they made. The mentalist offers the
choice to the person of eliminating these two piles from play, or using them
as their choice. This is fair and whatever the spectator wants is how the piles
are used . Either these two piles or the other two piles if the spectator
wishes, are used for the next choice.

The spectator places the pendulum on one of the two piles selected so that
pile cannot be touched. Only one pile is left open to be turned over. This pile
is turned over and the bottom card that was cut to on the face of that pile is
noted.

The envelope on the pendulum is opened by the spectator. Inside the

envelope is the chosen/cut to card.

All the other piles are shown to contain different cards. Is it Mind Reading or
pendulum influence?

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Believe it or not, the way we just described the effect is the very worst
situation possible. The reason ”Sealed Pendulum” amazed so many well
known performers is the utter fairness that could be pointed out throughout
the process. Sadly this notion was taken over by others many years later,
but it was in fact the very first idea Kenton successfully sold so very many
years ago now back in Iowa. Here is the correct original handling.

To perform this you will need a prediction card inside an envelope attached
to a pendulum. You will also need a deck of cards and one duplicate card.
Perhaps the card in the envelope is the Two of Hearts. Put an extra Two of
Hearts on top of the deck, after cutting the other Two of Hearts in the
standard deck to the bottom or face of the deck. With the deck face down,
you now have one force card secretly on top of the deck and one on the
bottom of the deck. You may shuffle legitimately all you wish as long as you
keep the top and bottom cards in their places.

Table the deck and have the spectator cut the cards into four piles. You
secretly keep track of which two are your force card piles. You have two out
of four piles that are force piles. That allows for some devious psychology
masking as fairness. Have the spectator touch any TWO piles they wish.
Make this clear from the start, before you even begin. The spectator will first
choose TWO piles using the pendulum. They might feel something, or not, or
use their intuition as they touch the pendulum to TWO piles. Once
they have touched two piles only three things could have happened.

1) They touch the two force card piles. In this case you eliminate the
other piles, showing the faces as all different as you set them aside. “As you
did not choose these I will set them aside. Note that you did NOT choose any
of these cards. Now touch the pendulum to one of the two remaining piles.
That one? Just as before we will eliminate the other one...but wait! I m
going to give you one last chance. Are you certain? Do you want to change
your mind?” Of course it matters not how many times the spectator changes
their mind as both piles are force piles! Eventually one pile is chosen and the
other pile is set aside. Show the pile eliminated but be sure to shuffle or
spread the cards so that the one duplicate card does not show.

In any of the situations that may happen in the end the force card will be
either on the top of the pile, or on the bottom of the pile. In both cases you
say, “Let s turn over the card you cut to...” and then add “...the top card” or
ʼ  

“...the bottom card, just turn the whole pile face up so we can see where
you cut.” That s why you need to keep track of the piles too, as you need to
ʼ  

know whether to tell the spectator to turn the entire pile over, or simply the
top card.

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2) They touch a force pile and a non-force pile . In this case you ask if
they want to keep these two piles and eliminate the other two piles, or vice
versa. You really don t care as you will end up with one force pile and one
ʼ

indifferent pile either way. Once they have chosen which two piles to use for
the experiment, show the other cards as all different as you set them aside.
No one will recall seeing a duplicate card because they
don t know to look for that specific card yet. If you feel nervous however,
ʼ

you can shuffle the duplicate card to the top and hide it as you show the rest
of the cards before setting them aside. “Place the pendulum on top of one of
the two remaining piles so we are absolutely certain.” If they place the
pendulum on the force pile you say, “Great, that way there is no way I can
touch it or manipulate your pile in any way.” If they instead put
the pendulum on the indifferent pile you say, “Only one pile is left that can
be turned over. Look at the card you cut to and see what the card is based
on your choice.” Of course have the spectator turn over the top card or the
entire pile as needed. This seems very fair, yet as we have stated this is the
 “worst case scenario” which means this trick is very clean in appearance
indeed.

3) They touch the two non-force or indifferent piles. In this case you
say you will eliminate the two piles they touch. It is important from the start
of this effect that you say the person will touch two piles first, as they use
the pendulum for an “intuitive elimination” or something along these lines.

Even if another performer is present and thinks maybe you are using
equivoque, the next move throws that possibility out. You secretly have two
force piles remaining.

 “Now just as we did before, move the pendulum over the two piles. Touch
one that you feel should be eliminated. Remember, just like before, the pile
you touch is the pile we will eliminate. No funny business. As fair as can
be. That one? Are you certain? Do you want to change your mind?” Of
course you eliminate whichever pile they wish. It matters not as both piles
are force piles. Show the pile the spectator wants eliminated as all differing
cards, and then have them turn over the “card you cut to” and see what it
is.

When the spectator finally opens up the envelope and discovers a card inside
that matches the card they chose with the pendulum, it is a real shocker.
The envelope being on or used as the pendulum subtly keeps the prediction
in view the entire time.

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This, combined with the utterly fair appearing choices, and the performer
remaining mostly hands off in the procedure, makes for a very memorable
intuitive experiment.

Kenton later did a variation he called “Cardinal Choice” to throw off those
who knew “Sealed Pendulum.” The handling was nearly the same although
there were no duplicate cards.

This was made possible because the card in the envelope was a
double faced card. A card was placed on the bottom and top of the deck that
matched the double faced card, and the rest of the handling was the same.

The only catch to this was that the performer needed to open the envelope,
although it could be examined afterwards. Kenton still prefers the original
version as it seems more hands off.

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 THE BILL & THE PENDULUM
BY DR. BILL (WITH APOLOGIES TO E.A.P.)

EFFECT: This effect is best suited for close up, seated at a table or a desk if
in an office. A pendulum is brought out or created from “tools at hand.” A
dollar bill is borrowed and placed on the table so George is face down.

The abilities of the human mind and the pendulum are demonstrated using
the dollar bill as a means to assist by indirectly suggesting the directions for
the pendulum to move. The bill also subtly “implants” the boundaries that
limit the pendulum’s movement. All the while the power of the subconscious
is being celebrated!

The performer begins these demonstrations, amazing the audience. But

when one of their own members takes over and is equally successful,
everyone is utterly astounded, especially the participant holding the
pendulum!

METHOD & PRESENTATION: My first introduction to an effect of this

nature was “Across the Divide” in Richard Webster’s book Pendulum Power .
More recently Docc Hilford did a variation as the opening to a three phase
effect, “Dead or Alive” on his DVD, Attack Of Monster Mentalism, and is the
first effect in Part 2 of Trybil .

In my version, a dollar bill is placed on the table, George Washington facing

down and the pyramid to the performer’s left. I start off by explaining that
our subconscious minds are so powerful they can influence the movement of
inanimate objects despite consciously holding them still.

I go on to explain that at the same time the subconscious mind is subject to

being influenced by indirect suggestion when “spoken to in the correct
language.” I offer to demonstrate these phenomena.

All this time I have been holding a pendulum or I remove it from its pouch
while I speak. I suspend it over the bill, centered between the pyramid
emblem and the eagle emblem and state that while holding my hand
perfectly still I will use the remarkable, yet natural, abilities of my mind to
move the pendulum.

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Further, the direction it moves will follow the orientation of the bill and the
arc of the pendulum’s swing will be bounded by the two emblems.
Depending on the circumstances and my intentions I may go on to briefly
explain ideomotor functions.

Sure enough the pendulum begins to move. It swings left and right,
increasing in strength and distance but never exceeding the restriction of the
emblems.

Now it is time to offer to let an audience member try it out. As usual, you
want to select someone who displays signs of responsiveness to suggestion
and an open mind.

Instruct them in the basics of holding the pendulum, breathing and using
their imagination to see it moving in the desired direction. As explained
earlier, practices involving breathing, visualization and the like impart an
importance to the process that should not be overlooked or minimized in any
way.

Encourage the slightest beginning of movement of the pendulum.

Compliment the participant on the powers of their mind while noting their
receptivity to the suggestions implied by the position of the bill and the
boundaries of the emblems. When it is clear they have succeeded, ask them
to stop.

Here you have a choice and it will depend upon your assessment of the
participant as well as your own preference. You may want to reorient the bill
in the vertical position and again demonstrate the pendulum responding to
the bill’s position.

Or if you’re confident in the receptivity and cooperation of your participant

you can reorient the bill and guide them directly through moving the
pendulum in the vertical direction. This speeds up the tempo of the entire
routine and increases the emphasis on the participant’s ability.

I like to demonstrate the second movement myself more often than not. And
I always demonstrate the next movement; holding the pendulum over the
eagle emblem and having it move in a clockwise circle. I also give a short
spiel about eagles flying in a clockwise circle when surveying their territory
as I first hold the pendulum over the emblem. Following their previous

105
successes it is certain the participant will evoke the clockwise circle when it
is their turn.

I DO NOT demonstrate the final counter-clockwise movement. I do show the

other emblem to the participant and the audience and comment about how
odd it is that a pyramid and an eye have found their way onto our currency.
Comments of the Illuminati conspiracy are likely to crop up on their own,
especially given recent books and movies. I mention that these symbols are
often associated with the occult and that they subliminally influence the
pendulum to move in a counter-clockwise direction.

I have found this to be more than sufficient, along with the usual directions
to imagine the “desired” movement, to insure cooperation from the
participant. They have succeeded three times so far and are not about to fail
at this point. The participant is certainly by now working with you and wants
to prove your assertions, as well as their new found abilities. The “demand
characteristics” of the situation are working in your favor.

Even in the US, this only works exactly as described with a dollar bill.
Variations can be done with other bills but you lose the pyramid/eye shtick
which I really like. I’m not familiar with many foreign currencies but at the
very least you can do the vertical and horizontal movements. I suspect
many bills of the world will also have a circular design.

If there isn’t such a design on your currency to suggest the circular

movement, my foreign friends, I strongly encourage you to seek out Richard
Webster’s Pendulum Power . His routine “Across the Divide,” upon which the
 “The Bill and the Pendulum” is based, is by far my favorite in the book. And
as mentioned above, Docc Hilford’s 3 phase routine, “Dead or Alive” is
nothing short of extraordinary.

For my American friends, I think you’ll discover that “The Bill And The
Pendulum,” is a most captivating routine. Personalize it with your own ideas
and try it out. I suspect you’ll have a routine that will find a permanent place
in your repertoire.

One last thought. You are in position to do a serial number revelation, or at

least a partial revelation.

Of course this is best with a borrowed bill! Have the participant place it on
the table in the desired position.

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Go through all of the pendulum movements until you reach the
counterclockwise finale. Do not lift the entire bill to show the pyramid/eye
emblem.

Instead, just lift up enough of the bill to show the emblem to the audience
members sitting close enough to you. The serial number will be staring you
in the face. As you point out the emblem on their side, you have a perfectly
 justified gaze at the number on your side. “Justifying the gaze” is a topic I
cover in depth in my ebook Mind Index (http://www.outlaw-
effects.com/store/the-arsenal/e-books/mind-index.html). Memorize as much
of the serial number as you can in a few seconds. You don’t need the whole
number.

Allow the bill to drop down flush with the table. Explain the influence of
occult symbols and have the participant do the final pendulum movement in
the counterclockwise direction.

This gives you a nice bit of time misdirection which will help you reinforce a
blatant lie in a moment. It also creates a moment of meaning that will
captivate the audience, helping sell the veracity of your lie.

As usual, congratulate the participant on their success. Using an “organic

recap” comment on how the participant placed their bill directly on the table
and describe the various pendulum effects that occurred.

State that you do not want to touch the bill at any point and have borrowed
a bill and avoided all contact for this reason and what is about to happen.
This is your blatant lie as you already have touched the bill but in a
congruent fashion when showing the pyramid/eye emblem.

Step or turn away. Ask the participant to pick up their bill and look at the
other side “for the first time.” Emphasize that this is the side with the serial
number, unique to every bill.

Have them concentrate on the serial number. Reveal all or as much of the
number as you recall.

Again, some may object to ending the routine with demonstrating another
ability. Some may see this as a grand finale as adding a welcomed element
of surprise. And, again, this is a personal decision.

107
 PENDULUM ADEPT PART II
BY FAUCON OF SAKIN’EL

I have used a Pendulum for magic and psychic demonstrations for almost
sixty years. I first saw it done with a needle and thread, so still use that
construct with a “magic” addition as described in my book Phinominal
Propengicks.

I pass out two objects; a needle suspended from a thread, and a

half dollar coin enclosed in a folded piece of paper. After
examination, I again wrap the coin inside the paper envelope
and push the needle through the center such that the thread
apparently ran through it with the needle suspended below – a
 pendulum.

The impression of the coin is clearly visible and I give it to a

spectator to hold and feel. I offer no explanation as to how this
might be possible.

 After retrieving the wrapped coin and holding it rather than the
thread, I now proceeded to give some ‘pendulum’
demonstrations. This includes allowing a spectator to hold the
coin and suspended thread while I held their wrist. The
 pendulum moves as I direct. Typically the result is silence and
some nervousness.

 At this point I explain what was happened. “There is nothing

magickal here. The passing of the needle through the coin is a
magic trick that can be learned in any conjuring book. The
movement of the pendulum can be done by anyone with
 practice. While there are arguments over why this can be done,
it is acknowledged to be unconscious control over tiny muscles
and skin tension. As such, it can be a way of allowing
subconscious thoughts to surface, or to allow adept abilities to
be accentuated. I have done nothing more than make the
desires and energy of this group manifest in a fun way.”

One evening a woman approached me to give thanks for my

explanation – not the performance. A year before she had let

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someone tell her fortune using a pendulum that had been amazingly
accurate.

Yet she had become afraid, for it led to thoughts of fate rather than personal
control, which disturbed her greatly. When she observed my effect,
accentuated by combining the “impossible” trick with the pendulum, she
became even more afraid of anyone’s ability to control her or direct her life.

Then she heard my explanation and realized that the “incredible answers”
she had discovered a year ago had actually come from her. A situation had
been created in which she was able to listen to herself – the “seer” had
merely been the vehicle – the pendulum but a tool. She laughed and walked
confidently away. THAT is magick!

109
 Tony Razzano has been a professional mentalist/psychic entertainer since
1991, performing under the stage name Anthony Rose. Tony was the spirit
medium in the very successful and critically acclaimed Cross Creek
Graveyard Séance which he co-created with EvilDan Terelmes and George
‘Rocky” Colavito. Performing all over the north east, especially from NYC to
Philadelphia, Tony does a full stage show, a cabaret act, as well as close- up
 performances. He also is a professional reader, using the tarot, palmistry,
numerology and, of course, the pendulum. Tony is a member of the Psychic
Entertainers Association (PEA) and has served as a Board of Directors
member for four years. Tony served the PEA as its secretary, vice president,
membership chairman and its president. Right now, Tony is a regular
columnist for the PEA’s monthly journal, Vibrations. Before pursuing
mentalism full time, Tony was an English teacher in his home town of South
River, NJ. Tony and his family currently live in South River.

PENDULUM PARTY
BY TONY RAZZANO

Tony Razzano is one of the most talented and devoted mentalists I've never
met! As a Past-PEA president and so knowledgeable about our art, he is
used to being bombarded with frequent requests. I promised to bombard
Tony with but one request and that was to write up the wonderful pendulum
routine he described during his interview on the Conversations with
MindReaders CD set (unfortunately off the market though sets do show up
for sale on occasion via Ebay, etc). Shortly afterwards, Tony sent along the
following:

After my introductory remarks, I take out a rather ornate pendulum that I

bought from Brother Shadow. I briefly discuss the history of its use.

At a psychic party attended by primarily older women, (those who were kids
before sonograms!) I ask the gathering if they remember as teenagers
trying to figure out if a pregnant woman was going to have a boy or a girl
using a needle and a string. If it's a younger group, I just leave that part
out.

I ask the pendulum a question and it moves either in a circle or a straight

line. I explain that a circle is "no" and a straight line in any direction is "yes".

110
The pendulum moves one way or the other and I call attention to the fact
that the pendulum is moving but my hand is not. After another question, the
pendulum moves in the other direction and again, I bring attention to the
fact that my hand is NOT moving.

The audience usually thinks that's pretty neat just by itself! Then I say, "I
have something for each of you. I have brought you all the absolute best
pendulums that money can buy. I have spared no expense in bringing these
pendulums tonight.”

I have them distributed. What each person gets is a white envelope. As they
are being passed out I reiterate just how these are among the most accurate
pendulums in the world.

Inside each envelope is a string with a paper clip tied onto it. As i get looks
of bewilderment and a few cynical remarks, I say," Yes, they actually are
highly accurate. Let me tell you how a pendulum works.

It’s one of two ways. You see, it's not the pendulum itself. It is, as I and
many others believe, the Universe coming through you into the pendulum
and making the pendulum move in the proper direction thereby giving you
the answer.”

OR

"It’s what scientists call ideomotor response, meaning that your sub-
conscious mind already knows the answer, even though your conscious mi nd
does not.

Your subconscious, through your nervous system, lets your hand know and
moves the pendulum imperceptibly, in the proper direction.

"So it's not the pendulum at all. It's either the Universe or your
subconscious.

And you know what? It doesn't matter which one you believe it is, because
either way, it's going to work!

"I'll show you. Notice that on your envelope, there is a circle, with a cross
drawn inside, much like the sight on a rifle. Hold the pendulum between
your thumb and first finger like this (demonstrate) over the center of the
crosshairs, just about half an inch above the envelope.

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"Now remembering that if the pendulum moves in a straight line in any
direction that means 'yes"... Now, think YES. Just think it and watch the
pendulum move back and forth in a straight line. Back and forth (most will
begin to move and you point some of them out...get excited about them).

"OK, steady the pendulum over the center again. Now think NO. Just think
it. The pendulum will start going round and round"

Again as they do, point them out.

"Now, each of you steady your pendulum once again. Silently ask the
pendulum a yes or no question and see what it answers."

Allow this to go on for a minute or so and congratulate them. Tell them they
can use a paper clip, ring or anything else that has weight, as it is the
Universe or subconscious at work and both are very effective.

With this routine, I involve the entire audience and they have fun with it.

Everybody is interested in their own pendulums, and toward the end, they
are looking at each other’s and laughing and commenting on what was
asked, and so on.

You will get a few that do not move. No matter. If I do comment on them, I
 just say that “the Universe/subconscious isn't ready to work with you just
yet. Give it a couple of days.”

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 Since 2003, Keith Barry has performed on his own television show in
Europe entitled Close Encounters with Keith Barry. The show has been
 played in 28 countries worldwide.

In 2004, Barry had an MTV television special entitled “Brainwashed.”

2005 ended with Barry performing a live Christmas special in Europe,
“Keith Barry Live With Friends” which featured Billy McComb as a special
guest (this was Billy's last televised performance).

Barry's success throughout Europe coupled with his MTV special led to
a prime time special, “Keith Barry Extraordinary,” which aired on CBS in
2006. After headlining in Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas in Nov 2008 he
received the Merlin award for “Mentalist of the year” and was also was
awarded 'Magician of the Year' by the critics of the Las Vegas Review
 Journal. He has just finished another 1 hour special for the
Discovery Channel “Deception with Keith Barry” which will air later
this year.

DOCHREIDTHE
BY KEITH BARRY

The word “Dochreidthe” is Gaelic for “unbelievable.” That's the word which
most comes to mind when people respond to this effect.

I've been using pendulums for many years now, more in casual scenarios
than paid performances. Each performer has his/her own unique way of
introducing the pendulum and describing the actions and motion which
are about to take place. I almost always use a brief description from
Bob Cassidy's work The Pendulum of Fate to educate the audience on
pendulums and their history.

For this effect I use a bulldog clip on a chain as my pendulum. I

explain and demonstrate the workings of the pendulum leading the
spectator into believing a straight line is a direct response to them
thinking the answer “no” whilst a circular motion represents a “yes”
response. There are of course other ways of calibrating the
spectator. My preference is to gently lead them so there is no room
for confusion.

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First they are to merely think the word no - of course the pendulum
responds accordingly in a straight line to their amazement. This is a
moment not to be rushed - remember, the second the pendulum moves in a
straight line in response to their thought is truly mind-blowing to
them.

I then ask them to think yes and once again the pendulum responds
accordingly (in circles). As a final part of their calibration process I tell them
I will ask them a number of questions - they are merely to think the
answer.

I may ask them their age/name/whatever and the pendulum will respond
once again accordingly.

Having now gained their trust I ask them to write down their pin number for
their ATM card. Of course I peek their number, usually using Millard
Longman’s Acidus Novus but any peek will do. I’m going to explain how I
approach the ethics of using a PIN number at the end

Here's where things get interesting - the card is folded once more and
placed on the bulldog clip. They hold the pendulum and I ask them to
concentrate on the first number in their pin - out loud I ask “Is it
zero, one, two, three,” and so on up to 9.

Of course the pendulum moves in a straight line UNTIL you say the first
number. Immediately to their absolute amazement the pendulum responds
and moves in circles. This really blows them away and works 99% of the
time.

I then repeat with the second digit. In order to really fry them I now
take the pendulum and ask them to concentrate on the third digit. I
lightly place my hand on their shoulder and once again ask out loud
 “Is it zero, one, two, etc.” Trust me when the pendulum correctly
moves in circles on the correct number they go nuts.

Finally I don't touch the spectator at all and once again repeat the process
revealing the last number. Due to the structure of the routine not one
person in hundreds of performances has even suspected a peek.

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One final thought. When they are holding the pendulum I sometimes ask
them to think of ANY digit in their pin number - it still works. I do it for
another digit and it works again.

Of course since I've peeked the information I know where the digits are in
their pin number and can now reveal the other two myself.

The only reference I’ve seen which comes close to this method is in Craig
Browning's “The Reading” which uses a similar method to gain information
but for a completely different purpose. I discovered this long after I put this
together but wanted to mention it for completeness.

Oh, and I did mention this will work 99% of the time with them - if for any
reason the pendulum does not respond the way you want it to i n their hand
simply take it from them and do the entire routine in your own hands - it will
still be Dochreidthe to the spectator!!!

To introduce the piece I ask the person when was the last time they changed
their pin number on their ATM card - 100% of the
people I’ve asked, without exception have replied “never.”

I then laugh out loud and tell them they must be mad as identity theft
and ATM card fraud are among the fastest growing crimes. Banks advise we
change our pin numbers and passwords regularly. Large criminal gangs
have trained their members to not only be able to pickpocket people
without detection, but also to use ancient dowsing and psychic skills
to figure out what a person's pin number is.

 “Here, write down your pin number but please don't show me - this is just
for you.” The person always looks strangely at me when I say this but they
also always do it (and truthfully too!!).

I then proceed with the effect and at the end tell them to change their pin
number (having also given a l ogical explanation as to why they should do
this anyway!).

For those of you who are worried about this you could just reveal 3
numbers OR you could use a word/name and reveal the word or name
letter by letter using the same principle. For me - the pin number is
the ultimate as it's the one secret even our partners don't even
know (usually).

115
 Jerome Finley is a prolific author, creator and shamanic practitioner from
Salt Lake City, Utah. He currently spends his days working as an Intuitive
Life Coach & Reality Engineer using palms, cards and bones to assist his
clients in the process of self inquiry; setting clear, well defined goals
and looking at their unique life approach and special issues from a new
 perspective. Jerome supplements his work with psychic development
classes, group meditations, private seances, energy work and hypnotherapy
sessions.

In his free time Jerome shares his personal vision for contemporary
mentalism and direct mind reading through works such as Cloud Busting
Secrets, Thought Channel 1&2, Random Acts of Kindness, Thought Dial,
Guerrilla Q&A, The Taboo Treatise, T&R, The Professional's Choice, SOS and
other offerings. The following are from Jerome’s upcoming release Thought
Veil, his landmark course on hypnosis for mentalists. I’m extremely honored
to have these contributions and encourage everyone to study them closely.
You will find more with each reading. Jerome’s books are available at:
http://www.sangomahealer.com/performersonly.html 

MY PENDULUM ROUTINE
BY JEROME FINLEY

I use a number of different pendulum routines, effects and demonstrations

in my regular work. I cannot stress how remarkably effective the proper use
of a pendulum is in hypnosis, private readings, mentalism and guided
meditation processes. The pendulum is a powerful tool with which to create
MIRACLES.

Here you’ll find some of my all time favorite pieces with a pendulum. The
only one I use one a regular basis that I’m NOT including is “The Curse”
from my book The Taboo Treatise.’ 

Using a pendulum during or prior to contact mind reading (or NON CONTACT
mind reading!) and muscle testing is another one of my favorite uses for
these miracle tools and for obvious reasons will not be discussed in this book
but covered in depth in a forthcoming manuscript.

In my classic pendulum test and demonstration I show my participant HOW

a pendulum works and offer to show them a few simple ‘tests’ we can use
with it.

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Most of my pendulum work begins with a simple calibration exercise as
described prior in which the pendulum moves in my participant’s hands in
straight lines (back and forth as well as side to side), in clockwise and
counter clockwise circles, ovals, looping flower petal patterns an d then
STOPS.

Based on the amount of time I have to work I might only demonstrate and
ask for a few of the movements such as simple straight lines and “one way”
circles.

Once the pendulum is moving correctly and effectively in my participant’s

hands I say,

“And as the pendulum swings back and forth NOW I want you to breathe and
time your breaths WITH its movements.”

To show the client what I mean I instruct them to breathe in and out
through their nose ONLY. As the pendulum moves to the left they inhale. As
it moves again to the right they exhale and do this same thing over and over
again until I say stop. Obviously these directions and movements can be
reversed to suit your own needs at the time. There is no “wrong way” to do
this.

These instructions will cause mild hyperventilation in my participant as the

pendulum movements are very short and fast. Because of this my subject
will begin inhaling and exhaling rapid ‘puffs’ while the pendulum moves. This
only needs to continue for a few moments – perhaps 12 to 15 short breaths.

By breathing in such a manner my participant will alter their brainwave

patterns and increase their natural levels of suggestibility via
hyperventilation. As a person hyperventilates they will begin to see, feel and
experience things most verbal suggestions cannot ever accomplish.

Hyperventilation is another powerful tool with which to create gigantic si zed

miracles and create open, suggestible participants. Use caution here so as to
not make your subject uncomfortable by OVER hyperventilating as this will
create anxiety in some. Should your participant become uncomfortable
during any part of this process or demonstration they should stop the special
breathing and resume normal breathing at once.

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If for some reason a subject DOES panic simply have them fold their arms,
press the soft areas under their armpits and resume normal breathing. You
can use EFT and the ‘Swish’  pattern to remove excessive anxiety if
necessary, though you should never allow your participant to get to such a
point and 12 – 15 short breaths IN AND OUT THROUGH THE NOSE (!) isn’t
too much for most people.

Moving on…

After the subject has made it through a certain number of short breaths I
use the EFFECTS of this short “power breathing” sequence to induce trance.
I know my subject is lightheaded at this point and open to suggestion. I
KNOW these things because their pendulum has been moving AND they
have followed my instructions up to this point (conditioning) AND have just
finished this series of breaths.

Once 12 or 15 breaths have been completed I instruct my subject to begin

BREATHING NATURALLY at their own pace and comfort and,

“As you continue to focus on the pendulum and its movements now
MENTALLY command, will, intend and desire for the pendulum to begin
slowing down…slowing down… slowing down completely… until eventually it
STOPS.

WHEN the pendulum stops simply close your eyes and when you close your
eyes ALLOW YOURSELF to enter a deep state of peace and relaxation –
listening closely to the sound of my voice and my instructions – continuing
to hold tightly onto the pendulum…feeling perfect in every way…that’s
right…just allow your eyes to close down now…PERFECT...”

As I’m delivering the above script I can see my participant’s pendulum

slowing down and coming to a stop. I do my best to time my script with the
pendulum’s movements and at all times match my words to the process and
phenomena taking place. Doing this links my mental suggestions with
physical actions and the participant’s reality.

Once the pendulum has stopped and my subject’s eyes are closed I proceed
with my routine and hypnotic/suggestion based pieces as detailed in PART
TWO.

118
For this particular demonstration (and many
ma ny others) I really prefer my “It’s
“It’s
NOT Hypnosis”  induction,
 induction, script and technique
techni que taught elsewhere in this
course. ANY induction or deepening technique will work with a pendulum and
for the remainder of this routine. You may also include visualizing the seven
colors of the spectrum, progressive relaxation and deepening techniques and
more. I highly recommend Bill Cushman’s
Cu shman’s “The Jumping Pulse”  and
 and a few of
my variant touches for the most incredible, perfect results
resul ts possible.

One thing I really used

use d to enjoy is calling out the various movements
m ovements and
having my subject control, will, intend
in tend and desire their pendulum to follow
foll ow
suit and keep up with my commands. As this happens I would give
instructions for the subject to VISUALIZE the 7 spectrum colors while the
pendulum moved in different patterns. This can be done with the
participants eyes open or closed – it’s
i t’s your choice.

For example, as the pendulum moved back and forth the subject would
imagine the color RED. It often helps if you will suggest and instruct your
subject to imagine RED as the color of the pendulum or LIGHT shining from
it while it moves. These ‘tracers’ can be made any color you desire.

After my subject sees the color red ini n their mind (and/or the pendulum) I
would suggest that AS THIS HAPPENS the pendulum would naturally begin
to move side to side. While the pendulum moved side to side the color would
change to ORANGE. As the subject moves
m oves the pendulum in the proper
direction and SEES the color orange the pendulum would then begin to move
in clockwise circles with the color YELLOW
YEL LOW and so on and so forth.

My basic pendulum induction ends with the above script and technique – it’s
very simple. Once the pendulum begins to move successfully in my subject’s
hand I use eye fixation (focus
( focus on the pendulum as it moves back and
an d forth,
back and forth, around in circles, etc), breathing timed with the movements,
slowing the movements down via direct commands and suggestion
su ggestion and as
the pendulum STOPS instructing my subject to close their eyes and relax.
Easy!

Like many other inductions there are many wonderful variations using this
technique.

Sometimes I’ll instruct my subject to

t o raise their arm and keep it there as
they allow the pendulum to swing back and forth at eye level while they
watch and focus on it. This is a combination of eye fixation and
an d an arm

119
levitation/suspension induction, both of which I favor. Instead of suggesting
the subject’s arm will begin to fall BUT ONLY AS FAST AS THEY ENTER
TRANCE I change my wording and instructions
inst ructions to,

“And very soon now the pendulum will begin to slow down and stop
completely BUT ONLY AS FAST AS YOU ALLOW YOUR SELF to enter a deep
state of peace and relaxation.”

Like the arm levitation induction taught

tau ght in this book the above techniques
work really great. I’ve often combined the two – pendulum movements
m ovements AND
the arm levitation induction.

NOBODY is going to sit there and keep a pendulum swinging (or hold
h old their
arm up) to avoid entering a peacefully relaxed state! Rather, their own mind
and body will work together via the ideomotor response to cause the
pendulum to STOP swinging sooner rather than later
l ater SO they can enter such
a positive state of being even faster.

Remember to give the simple instructions that as the pendulum stops

swinging (or slows down significantly) the subject is to allow their eyes to
close gently as they continue to listen
li sten closely to the sound of your voice and
your simple instructions.

To prevent your subject from dropping your pendulum give further

suggestions that they will continue to relax and hold securely onto the
pendulum as they follow your instructions and respond perfectly to your
suggestions.

PART TWO
The Suggestions & Phenomena
It’s up to you whether you wish to useu se further deepening techniques to
create the following effects. Because of the proceedings in this particular
routine there is very little you’ll have to do. If you’ve followed my
instructions your participant is now relaxed, altered,
al tered, aware, open and
suggestible. They will CONTINUE to follow
foll ow your guidance and your
suggestions at this point.

120
Your subject is already playing along perfectly and given that proper rapport
has been established (and I’m sure it has!) you’ll be able to create ALL of
the following effects exactly as I do using what I’ve taught you in this
thi s book.

Drawing upon the techniques of waking hypnosis, the psychology of

suggestion and hypnotic language patterns
patt erns I now engage my subject in a
 “rapid fire” sequence of hypnotic demonstrations.

If combining the pendulum induction with the arm suspension and levitation
the first thing I do here is alert my subject (count them out from 1 to 3) and
draw attention to the fact their arm has remained suspended in the air all
this time and that when I snap my fingers and ONLY when I snap my fingers
they can lower their arm and sink even 10 times deeper into this conscious,
relaxed state.

I snap my fingers,
fin gers, the arm goes down and voila! My subject is
i s naturally
more relaxed (or at the very least more receptive to the IDEA of relaxing
deeper!).

Taking the pendulum in my own hands now I instruct my subject to hold

their LEFT palm out facing the ceiling as I say,

“In a moment when I place

pl ace the pendulum into your hand I want you to
IMAGINE it becoming lighter and lighter. And as you imagine the pendulum
becoming lighter and lighter you may find the urge to raise your arm
slightly…go with it!

The more you imagine the pendulum becoming lighter and lighter IN YOUR
MIND the lighter and lighter
light er it becomes. The lighter and lighter
li ghter it becomes
the higher and higher your hand begins to lift and rise up into the air. Go
ahead and allow your arm to begin rising NOW…as you imagine the
 pendulum getting lighter and lighter with each passing moment.”

You can see here how I’m telling my subject EXACTLY what I want and
expect for them to do. EVERYONE can imagine an object getting “lighter and
lighter” IN THEIR MIND. As my participant
partici pant IMAGINES this happening I
instruct them to raise their arm. I continue with a few binds and
an d then
blatantly TELL THEM to begin raising their arm now!

Get used to your subjects just DOING

D OING whatever it is you tell them to do.
Handled correctly and following my instructions in this
thi s course will yield the

121
proper results. As long as your subjects are doing what you
want/ask/command/suggest for them to do, they are following your
instructions and complying with your suggestions.

Once my subject has their arm (and pendulum) raised high into the air I tell
them to STOP and take a deep breath as they continue to ALLOW their arm
to hang in the air, invisibly suspended and supported by the power of their
mind and thoughts only!

At this point I congratulate my participant for having such a powerful mind

and praise their ability to follow my simple directions and enter a deep state
of relaxed focused awareness at this time.

I use this position to relax my subject even deeper and more completely
now. Just as before I continue with,

“And while you allow your arm to hang in the air I want you to IMAGINE it’s
growing heavier and heavier, BECOMING heavier and heavier still until your
arm wishes to descend, fall, relax and drift slowly and peacefully down…ALL
THE WAY DOWN into your lap BUT ONLY AS FAST as you ALLOW YOURSELF
to TRIPLE your level of peace and relaxation at this time. Expect it to
happen, allow it to happen and it WILL HAPPEN easily and naturally. Imagine
your arm and the pendulum both growing heavier and heavier still with each
 passing moment and with each and every breath – HOLD THAT THOUGHT IN
YOUR MIND - and begin to slowly lower your arm down NOW…”

NOTE: Many times I’ll turn this phase into an arm levitation induction
(detailed later in this course) and instruct the subject to close their eyes as
their hand passes their face.

Said in the same manner and fashion as I do and have written here these
suggestions will work pretty much every time. Again, I’m using hypnotic
language and subtle coaching to make my subject respond exactly as I wish.
I tell them EXACTLY what I want them to do.

The beauty of these verbal techniques is that I can use them with anyone
hypnotized or not (!) and so can you. This routine and ones to come are
PERFECT for waking hypnosis demonstrations.

As my subject’s arm begins to lower and approaches their lap (or the table if
standing) before it touches I add,

122
 “And as your hand meets your lap take another deep breath for me and just
allow your eyes to close – sinking deeper and deeper into this relaxed,
 peaceful state.”

You’ll notice I’m inducing and re-inducing trance, deepening the relaxed
hypnotic state, affirming and re-affirming my subject’s perfect ability to
respond to my every suggestion. I continue to congratulate, thank and
praise their natural ability to do these things.

At this point as my subject remains sitting with their eyes closed, listening to
my suggestions, continuing to relax and following my instructions I’ll begin
to implant suggestions that ANY TIME for the remainder of this
demonstration and process (and/or now and in the future!) whenever I say
the words “Deeply relaxed” (Or “Sleep” if you prefer) my subject will
instantly take a deep, cleansing breath, close their eyes and re-enter this

same deep state of relaxed focused awareness and perfect hypnotic trance
easily and naturally.

I might also anchor into this suggestion by pressing firmly on my subjects

hand, knee or forearm, tapping them lightly on the head or use another
method.

I’m going to use a few more suggestions with hypnotic phenomena before I
free my participant to use the pendulum in their altered state to
communicate directly with their subconscious mind and answer one or two
PERSONAL QUESTIONS they might have at this time.

Continuing the routine as follows…

Now that my participant has their hand (and pendulum) in their lap I
continue with the “HEAVY” suggestions to stick their hand fi rmly into their
lap and pin it down through the power of suggestion and their mind
unleashed.

“And as you continue to feel the weight of your arm and pendulum in your
lap now I want you to IMAGINE an invisible force is emanating from the
 pendulum…

I like to think of this force as a pure, clean, odorless anesthesia.

123
With each and every breath you take imagine inhaling this powerful
anesthetic which flows throughout your body now and creates a warm,
numb, tingling feeling inside of you and all around you.

The more you breathe naturally the better this anesthetic begins to work and
helps you to relax so that eventually you can start to FEEL BETTER NOW
than you’ve ever felt before. The more you relax the better you feel so go
ahead now and relax even more…feeling even better…breathing even
deeper…you’re doing perfectly…

Nod your head when you can feel this warm, numb, tingling feeling radiating
throughout your body.”  (They do). Wonderful.

In a moment I’m going to ask you to try and lift your arm while you continue
to will, intend and desire that it remains stuck firmly to your leg. And the
more you try to lift your arm the funnier life becomes because now your arm
is stuck securely to your lap (leg, chair, table, etc) and the harder you try to
lift your arm the more this wonderful anesthetic works for you and keeps it
 pinned down securely to your leg. The more your arm remains securely
 pinned to your leg the deeper you relax… and the deeper you relax the
better you feel so TRY NOW to lift your arm and see for yourself how tightly
and securely it can remain bound to your leg at this time.”

The participant “tries” to lift their arm and finds it bound securely to their leg
or the object I’ve pinned it to.

Following with this powerful anesthetic suggestion I begin to give

suggestions of the anesthetic moving, flowing, becoming stronger and then
wearing off with various effects.

If I choose to use different suggestions I might forgo the anesthetic bit of

business and simply continue to give suggestions that my subject’s arm and
pendulum becomes so heavy now they are unable to lift or move their arm
at all. Following this suggestion that same “heaviness” begins to move,
spread and flow to their legs and sticks them firmly to their seat.

Keeping in line with the anesthetic suggestion I continue…

“And now imagine this anesthetic has spread to your waist, your legs, your
knees and your ankles…all the way down to the tips of your toes and the
bottoms of your feet.

124
 JUST LIKE BEFORE in a moment I’m going to ask you to stand up and walk
around and when I ask you to stand up and walk around you’ll notice your
arm becomes UNSTUCK very quickly and in its place your legs become stuck
securely to the floor and bound to your chair NOW easily and naturally. As
your arm becomes unstuck you can even hand the pendulum back to me
and as you hand the pendulum back to me you’ll become even TEN TIMES
more relaxed and stuck securely to your seat.

Your mind and thoughts are powerful things and because your mind and
thoughts are powerful things the harder you try to stand up or move around
the tighter, more securely bound and stuck into place you’ll remain. You
could try in vain to stand up at this point or you might simply realize there
isn’t any reason to, as you feel perfect in every way exactly where you are. I
don’t know which one it will be, but when you’re ready to proceed simply
nod your head ‘YES’ and we’ll continue.”

This is hilarious because my client has no idea at this point if they are
supposed to nod their head yes and then TRY to stand up OR if they are to
simply nod their head yes to signal me to continue.

I could give them a prompt to TRY and stand up and see the suggestion
working perfectly though I much prefer at this point to simply
MISINTERPRET their signal and proceed with my suggestions and other
hypnotic effects. To everyone watching it appears exactly as though my
subject is bound securely to their chair and is unable to move.

The words “JUST LIKE BEFORE” in the prior script suggests that my subject
is to keep doing exactly what I want for them to do and follow my
suggestions perfectly. I give them the option to TRY (in vain) to stand OR
simply remain in their seat relaxed and REALIZE there is no reason to stand
which presupposes they couldn’t even if they wanted to – which they don’t!

As my client imagines the anesthetic flowing into their waist, their legs, their
knees, their ankles, toes (etc.) IF appropriate I might firmly touch, grasp or
tap their knees, ankles and feet as I give these suggestions. I press their
feet firmly into the floor with suggestions they are unable to move. Do what
you feel is appropriate!

Instead of anesthesia you could use whatever suggestions or imagery you

wish to incorporate. I like to change it up a bit myself and here is an
opportunity for you to be creative with your suggestions and imagery. Often

125
times I like to suggest an invisible energy which flows through all things is
emanating from my palms, my eyes and the pendulum which keeps the
participant glued firmly to their seat. The choice is a personal one.

When I give the suggestion that my subject’s arm becomes UNSTUCK I use
this opportunity to receive the pendulum in turn. This allows me to condition
the participant, lead the process and keeps them responding to my every
suggestion. I periodically use SIMPLE commands and suggestions such as
 “take a deep breath” or in this case taking back the pendulum to secure this
compliant state.

Depending on how much time I have I will continue with my suggestions

causing the participant to laugh out loud, forget their name or telephone
number, glue their eyes shut and more. You’ll learn the exact series and
sequence of events in my “7 Minute Hypnosis Show”  later in this book. It is
there that I’ll provide you with the exact scripts and outlines I use.

After I’ve demonstrated the power of suggestion and trance states

appropriately I like to bring the client out of their state with positive
suggestions and then re-induce trance instantly using my anchor and the
words “SLEEP NOW”  or “DEEPLY RELAXED.” 

At this point I continue to give suggestions that my participant is completely

in tune with their subconscious mind and able to communicate directly with
it through the pendulum. It’s here that I will hand the pendulum back and
allow my client to ask one or two personal questions, receive their answers
through the pendulum and then immediately afterwards become fully awake,
conscious and aware – feeling perfect in every way and in a state of awe at
the power of their mind and natural ability.

Naturally this entire sequence can be done with or without a pendulum as

can the subject communicating directly with their subconscious mind to
receive personal answers (enlightened and inspired) to their questions. You
could just as well do this entire bit with a coin, a pen or paperclip or
NOTHING.

I will often use demonstrations such as this one in my walk around and
strolling work at banquets and cocktail parties, on the street, in bars and
clubs and other venues. I also favor using more than one person and often
perform these short demonstrations with many people at once and/or blend
it with my mind reading bits.

126
I liken these routines and suggestions to a short little hypnosis show with
many positive suggestions afterwards, lots of praise for the participants and
powerful post hypnotic suggestions and affirmations.

 ANGEL PENDULUM
BY JEROME FINLEY

This is another of my preferred pendulum routines. I begin by asking my

participant a VERY important question and that is… “D o you believe in
 A n g els ? ”

This simple question by itself will tell you many, many things about the
person you’re working with. Their answer is a good way to gauge how open
minded and/or skeptical they are and will normally produce an answer that
is linked to a story featuring them or a friend and family member at the
center of some experience.

If they answer “YES”, we’re off and running. If they answer “NO”, that’s
okay and I handle this a few different ways. Sometimes I’ve said, “I really
didn’t either…until someone showed me what I’m about to share with you…”

Other times (facing a “NO”) I’ve replied, “That’s perfectly okay and I’m not
asking or expecting you to believe in anything here…we’ll be using the
 pendulum to connect with angelic archetypes locked deep within your
subconscious mind.”

STEP ONE: Relax the participant.

To do this I have them sit in a comfortable position, close their eyes and
take a few long, deep breaths. Three of these works out well.

Borrowing a suggestibility test from Ormond McGill (and a bit from my

 “Crimson Wall of Lictalon”  from RAOK ) I explain to my audience/participant,

“Over half the world believes in Angels, and many say for good reason! Our
relationships to them span across thousands of years and predate
Christianity by millennia. Their images and energy are something we can all
associate with and regardless of whether or not we believe in them, I find
they are helpful figures in relaxation, protection and guidance and that THEY
believe in US!

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I was taught that we ALL have angels who protect, bless and guide us. My
grandmother stressed the point that our Angels cannot intercede and act on
our behalf unless we specifically ASK them to. When we ask them properly,
she also believed they could even heal us in miraculous ways, no problem
being too big or small for them to reach – no request or question too absurd
or impossible to ask or share with them.

Today we’re going to ask YOUR Angels to draw near us for a time, if that’s
okay with you…”

NOTE: I’ve had people be very skeptical at this point but the majority are all
for it! I’ve NEVER had a person tell me “No” at this point or ask to stop.

Once I’ve been given the green light to proceed I follow with,

“Close your eyes for a few moments and take some deep breaths with me.
 As you breathe in, imagine yourself expanding in size and filling your mind
and body with pure, White Light. As you exhale, imagine breathing this Light
into the world and your own personal Angels drawing near.

During our time together you might begin to feel a bit lightheaded – this is
from the special breathing and perfectly normal. You might also begin to feel
tingly, warm, cold or very peaceful. That’s also normal…

Pay special attention to what’s going on within you and around you as we
work together now…notice any tingling or touches, any taps upon your
body…perhaps even visions, whispers or heavenly scents wafting through
the room as I speak to you and connect you with the Angels.

You may even experience visions of Angels in your mind, or hear their
whispers and messages to you in your ears…some people believe this is your
subconscious mind speaking and interacting with you now through the
IMAGES of Angels while others believe these are actual Beings and Heavenly
Energies drawing closer to spend time with you…the most important thing is
that you intend to communicate with them and welcome their presence as
they make themselves known…”

At this point I get my participant breathing and visualizing Angels. This could
be the classic image of a White Light Being with wings and halo, or it could
inhabit some other form or image…I’ve seen Angels who look exactly like
humans do; also towering 9 foot winged beings, Angels with the head of a

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Lion and the body of a Man and even my own Spirit Guides and loved ones
who have passed from this world and are now Angelic Ancestors operating
from the World of Spirit. I explain all of this in my own way. However and
whatever your participant chooses to see/imagine and decides to focus on is
perfectly fine and should be encouraged.

I instruct my participant to call out to their Angels, in their mind, by saying,

 “With my full permission, love and respect I now invite my Angels to appear.
Draw closer to me now and give me a sign of your loving, healing presence.”

As I repeat these words aloud, my participant repeats the words in their

mind. I repeat the above “request” three times in this fashion, instructing
my participant to breathe thus:

INHALE SLOWLY AND DEEPLY – “With my full permission, love and respect I
now invite my Angels to appear…”

At this point I instruct the sitter to hold their breath. This is important! I
have them hold their breath to a count of three and then instruct them to
exhale slowly while mentally repeating (after me)… “Draw closer to me now
and give me a sign of your loving, healing presence…”

I repeat this inhale/exhale sequence and mental “Angel Calling” three

times. At the end, I give my participant a few moments to bask in this deep
state of relaxation and ask them to notice any changes in their thoughts,
mood, inner and outer states of being, any changes in the environment, etc.

It only takes a few moments and offered exactly as written here will produce
powerful, positive results!

When finished, I instruct my participant to open their eyes and ask them
very directly if they can understand what I’m talking about and if they could
REALLY feel the energy. 9 times out of 10 they will say “YES!”

This short, beautiful sequence can be used by itself with a lone participant or
with an entire audience as a suggestibility test as Ormond used it. I won’t
get into my own personal beliefs about angels here but I DO believe in them
and feel this exercise helps us to get in touch with them very quickly.

By using powerful imagery, the widely held belief in angels, deep breathing
and visualization, repeated requests (affirmations/direct suggestions),
suggestion, hypnotic techniques, an air of expectancy and other psycho-

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spiritual gambits nearly EVERYONE will have some amazing experience with
angels produced as a result of this work.

Some people become very emotional at this point, they might even cry. This
is often in joy, weeping because of the beauty and depth of the connection
made here. I let them know the angels love them, support them in their
choices, are proud of them and what they’re doing (Angels never judge us!)
and their Angels WANT to be close to them to hold, lift up and inspire them.
I might ask the emotionally charged person if they are open to a hug. I want
to be there for them and share an experience that can change their life. This
is NOT out of place with the work I do.

This is certainly not mentalism.

If working with a group I ask anyone who felt or saw or otherwise

experienced their angels, a profound feeling of peace and healing, a loved
one or family member (Angelic Ancestor), energy or any other phenomenon
to raise their hands.

These are the people you want to work with. They are open and ready to go.

At this point, proceeding with my pendulum demonstration is something I

may or may not even do. I carry a nice designer crystal pendulum with a
gorgeous carved Amethyst angel on top but used a normal, plain looking
pendulum for many years.

IF I move forward with the pendulum demonstration I find this is some of

the most potent and beautiful pendulum work I can do. The sitter/participant
is completely open and receptive at this point.

For those who do not wish to use the Angel experience I’ve provided the
outline for a “psychological” dowsing demonstration using science and the
ideomotor response as a foundation above.

When I continue with the Angel Experience and pendulum work the first
thing I do is get my participant to hold the pendulum and ask their Angels to
move the pendulum, thereby showing us another sign of their presence. This
movement takes place in a participants hand and is extremely powerful.

I’ll ask the Heavenly Hosts to move the pendulum back and forth, in circles
(both ways), to stop the pendulum, etc. Less is more with the Angel

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Pendulum exercise. Just a few movements to show their presence is very
effective and awe inspiring.

This is pure magic.

Together we can proceed to communicate with the Angels via the pendulum.
The participant can ask personal questions about themselves, their life or
loved ones and receive an intelligent, direct response. Few things are
stronger.

Think of the Angel Pendulum demonstration as a hand-held Q&A for any

sized group and you’ll begin to realize its power.

No “effects” are necessary at this point. It’s more than enough to connect a
person to their angels and have them move the pendulum, feel the energy
and end the session.

If I do decide to proceed with some revelation it’s usually in form of a zodiac

sign divination still with the pendulum in my participant’s hands. Astrology is
based on the stars and planets – the heavens and cosmos are the
playgrounds for angels, so this works out beautifully.

To end the Angel experience I ask my participant to close their eyes and
take a few deep breaths as they visualize the White Light all around them
and allow the angels to fill their mind and heart with love and perfect peace,
healing and blessings. During this moment of “quiet time” the participant
can speak to the angels in their mind, ask them questions or make special
requests, tell them about their life (mentally, for comfort) and something
they may need help with and more.

When my participant is “complete” with the experience I instruct them to

fold their arms across their chest (right over left) and verbally say “THANK
YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU”  to break the connection.

I love this piece and it’s one of the most powerful and profound things I can
share with a person. I have a deep love and respect for angels AND people
and love helping to connect the two. Whether this is real or not is up for you
to decide and doesn’t matter. The effect and experience it produces IS real,
pure and beautiful.

Once the connection has been temporarily severed I ask my participant if

they would like to talk about their experience, what they saw of felt, how

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they feel now and more. Use your natural knowing and intuition to deliver a
few heartfelt messages or a short reading, a “Holy Moment”  or tell the
person before you about all the gifts you see in them. They will love and
appreciate you.

Often times a person will see loved ones, angels, hear voices, receive
messages, feel energy (or see it!) and experience other unique and
interesting phenomena.

This is not a demonstration to prove how powerful you are or that you can
read minds or about displaying your superior gifts. This is something tender,
heartfelt, sincere and special. It’s all about the person you’re working with
and helping to make a sacred connection for them.

This is something they will cherish forever and never forget.

Many times I carry a few Angel pins – a guardian angel token you can gift to
the person to anchor into and remember this experience by. You can get a
lot/bulk supply of angel pennies online, simple tokens a person can keep in a
pocket, purse or wallet to draw upon their angels.

These gifts are inexpensive and have deep meaning and purpose. People
keep them forever.

Sometimes I carry an “Angel Box” for use with my Angel Q&A presentation.

Inside this box are a few dozen cards all bearing different written messages,
poems and quotes about angels…it’s nice to open the box and let your
participant take an angel card to keep and reflect on.

There is a book available called The Dictionary of Angels that I also carry at

times in my work bag. Using the pendulum, a person can dowse over the
angels to find who their particular guardian angel is. I would advise against
using it as a book test – while certainly possible I want to keep this
experience as above board and REAL as I can, as with my angel Q&A
wherein no trickery or deception is utilized. I often use the two experiences
together.

Deluxe angel pendulums are available here:

http://www.jankiexport.com/angel-pendulum.htm

You can find even nicer and more expensive ones too. I have several.

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These pendulums listed are available in assorted stones and housings. I use
these ones myself and have them in rose quartz, amethyst and clear crystal.
These dowsing tools are gorgeous, perfectly weighted/balanced and fi t with
the theme. I highly recommend them.

Realize that other pendulums (any really, even impromptu ones) can also be
used. Because this is such a special experience I like to use an Angel
pendulum dedicated specifically to this purpose.

Use well.

This demonstration has become a hallmark of my work and I share it with

special people wherever I go (they’re ALL special).

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 IN CONCLUSION
Many thanks are in order. Each contributor went above and beyond the call
in their generosity and my appreciation goes beyond words. I feel
exceptionally fortunate to be involved in a community that is so selflessly
giving.

A few behind the scenes folks deserve comment. My wife Linda and Dom
Twose provided their usual excellent editing skills and also deserve a great
deal of gratitude. Also, Thomas Baxter for his creation of the delightful word
 “Trybil ” to give this book its title.

I’d like to say a word about Mauricio Jaramillo. I’d never even heard of this
gentleman before he offered some experiences and insights about the Multi-
Bob. He took the idea and ran with it, my hope whenever I release an
ebook.

Mauricio has been, and is, incredibly supportive. I am glad to have found
one more new friend through winding paths of the world of mentalism. And I
know you will be glad to work with his contributions to this book.

Furthermore it is Mauricio who completed the layout and conversion to pdf

for Trybil. I am extremely grateful for the superb job he did.

Then there is Luke Shield, my mate from Australia. I cannot say enough
about his kindness and creativity. He designed the cover based on an idea
from Mauricio. Talk about intercontinental collaboration! By the time you
read this, he will be setting off on his own new path; that of the married
man. Let us all offer congratulations to Luke and his wonderful wife Liz.

And thank you Millard for allowing me to include the instructions for Acidus
Novus and your instructional video.

I hope all my readers who weren’t already, become pendulum proponents

and help spread the word on the value of this wonderful instrument. And,
my own bias, I’d love to see the Multi-Bob pendulum gain in well deserved
popularity and this effort generate even more incredible routines. I’m sure
we’ve only scratched the surface.

The versatility of the pendulum, despite its long history, doesn’t receive the
attention and credit it deserves. I think this is because it doesn’t fit in with

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the fast paced world of most performance mentalism. It can, as with the
example of John Riggs’ stage pendulum, but this is far more the exception
than the rule.

But there is another direction our wonderful field has taken and that is a
more personal, often slower, expression of the powers of the mind. It seems
of late that due to the work of many this path is receiving greater attention
and validation.

I’ve read more and more authors comment that mentalism doesn’t have to
be rushed. This is one advantage we have over our magician brethren. We
can engage our audiences with a tempo, particularly when working up close,
that is much more difficult to do with standard magic that calls for a
different pace altogether. Not that this can’t be accomplished, certainly
story-telling effects are proof of this, but beyond this exception it can rarely
be the reason de‘etre.

The versatility of the pendulum, both standard and Multi-Bob, is only limited
by our willingness to apply it to effects of all kinds. “Bank Night,” “Pseudo-
Psychometry,” “Which Hand?,” to name just three, can all be enhanced by
introducing a pendulum.

With the Multi-Bob, meanings can be attached to each pendulum, an area I

didn’t explore but will offer you a few examples. With a 3 pendulum set up,
one each can stand for past, present and future. Or yes, no and maybe. How
about id, ego and superego? Heart, mind and body?

In this way, readings and mind readings can be established with the Multi-
Bob in much the same way as with a traditional pendulum and charts.
Kenton shares numerous charts in Pendulum Programming that will help
direct you in this way.

We all know the value of process. The introduction of a pendulum into a

routine guarantees the expression of a visible modus operandi to our effects.
Not that each piece needs to be performed only after some serious
pendulum work but certainly it provides a wonderful way to introduce what it
is we do and set the scene for what is yet to come.

The use of pendulums for engaging people in trance was beautifully outlined
in Jerome Finley’s piece. Not mentioned, but another avenue for
development is to utilize the Multi-Bob in much the same manner.

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In many ways this reminds me of some of Jerome’s refined work with my
own “Jumping Pulse” from Suggestabilities. As you direct your participant to
move the first pendulum, this begins to ratify the existence of something
outside the “doors of perception” beginning to occur. .

With this accomplished, it is but a small step to attach this action to fixation
and relaxation, which again serves to ratify entering new realms.

To tell the recipient of your endeavors that, “as the first pendulum now
begins to slow to a stop you will enter a place of relaxation and tranquility,”
and allow this irresistible illusion to take place makes short work out of
beginning an induction. Following with, “And as you direct your attention to
using the abilities within your mind to give energy to move the next
pendulum you can experience even greater relaxation and tranquility,”
imagine the impact on the participant’s state of being. How can they resist
these subtle commands?

And of course continuing on with the third pendulum in the same way as
they now triple these wonderful feelings is even more compelling. A
recursive loop is established with the movement of the pendulum
demonstrating the participant’s abilities to locate previously unknown
 “mental coordinates.”

Each coordinate leads to greater control of the next pendulum. And greater
ease of entering hitherto unknown levels of trance, if that is the terminology
you choose to describe these phenomena.

Once all three pendulums have been used in their simplest movements as
described above, the passageway has been opened to experience the more
complex movements of each pendulum. And at this point, due to the
compilation of multiple successes, these more intricate movements will be
much easier to achieve. Not to mention more meaningful.

I think I may have accidentally added another routine with the Multi-Bob.
Please forgive me!

Another thought; I’ve concentrated on 3 pendulum Multi-Bobs, with a couple

examples of using 4 or 5, but what might be the impact of a more simple
 “dual-bob” pendulum? In many situations we know “less is more” and 2 bobs
will certainly open up doors yet to be considered.

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I didn’t intend for my conclusion section to offer another host of possible
routines. But such is the nature of the brain and its storms. If I don’t stop
myself now I may never “conclude” Trybil, AKA The Multi-Bob Book .

And that is part of the joy of an instrument such as the Multi-Bob. I can’t say
it better than Tony did in the Foreword. “The possibilities are endless.” Get
swinging!

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 APPENDIX 1
 Acidus Novus
 Video

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139
140
  APPENDIX 2
 A SUGGESTION FOR THE USE OF SUGGESTION
BY DR. BILL

A mentalist recently wrote me asking how I got my participants to actually

feel the key bending in Andrew Gerard’s wonderful Key Accessory. I wrote
him back an extremely long reply.

In it I addressed such things as picking a suggestible person (and who and

what to look for to accomplish this task), creating a verbal and non-verbal
yes set, what to do when required to work with someone low on the
suggestibility continuum, and some applications specific to Key Accessory
that I can’t go into in this context.

Like I say above, it was a long letter. Soon after I finished it, I realized I’d
left out a simple but potent step to using suggestion effectively. I’m not so
bold to suggest that this is THE secret to the successful use of suggestion
but it is one of the big ones.

A technique more important than anything I did share! An absolute essential

to anyone struggling with the application of suggestion to magic and
mentalism. I hope this contribution offers a fresh approach to a common
problem I often read and hear about when it comes to using suggestion.

This method is a staple of training in hypnosis and therapy. That it hasn’t

received more attention as a specific tool for teaching suggestion to
mentalists surprises me.

Almost every time I’ve taken a hypnosis class or attended a seminar on

learning a new therapeutic method it is a given that you must experience
what it is like to be at the receiving end of the technique that is being
taught. I have found the exceptions to this rule usually occur in classes and
seminars that are not nearly as effective, useful, or memorable.

In the realm of magic and mentalism I think Richard Osterlind has come the
closest to the point I’m making. In “The Magic State of Mind,” the first
chapter of “Making Magic Real,” he speaks eloquently about learning to
experience what we do as real magic. Indeed, he titles his second chapter,

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 “If You Believe In Your Magic So Will Others.” If you don’t have “Making
Magic Real” and its sequel, “Making Real Magic” you are missing out on
invaluable information (http://www.osterlindmysteries.com/).

What I am saying may be seen as an adjunct to what Richard teaches; that

if you want to get a participant to feel a physical sensation as part of an
effect, you need to have had that sensation yourself. You need to have
experienced the same suggestion on your own terms.

This also applies to the use of suggestion outside of the realm of inducing
physical sensations. For example, psychological forces.

In his books mentioned above, Richard teaches methods to experience the

magic as it occurs as a means of evoking the same response in your
audience. The distinction I am making is that you need to experienced
suggestion prior to using it!

To hypnotize another person, it is essential, at least in my mind and most

hypnotists I’ve come in contact with, to know what it i s to be hypnotized.
Likewise, to use suggestion successfully you need to be able to feel precisely
what it is you are trying to get your participants to feel.

This is a vital step that I think gets left out of explorations of the use of
suggestion in mentalism and may explain why certain people encounter
difficulties applying it. Sometimes to the point where they simply don’t
believe it possible and that those who do are either scamming or self-
deluded.

Some people harbor a skepticism that suggestion cannot be successfully

used on a regular basis and not only sabotage their effects by
communicating this to the participants, they may not allow themselves to
have this wonderful experience. Having experienced successful suggestion is
key to helping a participant do likewise.

Though not as often a requirement as it used to be in clinical psychology

programs, students are still encouraged to complete a course of
psychotherapy. Sure, part of the reasoning is to protect the public since
anyone who pursues this field is almost certain to suffer their own neuroses
. But it also gives the student the experience for the same reasons I’ve
been explaining as applied to the use of suggestion.

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The process is simple in theory, but may be hard in practice for some
people, even those who aren’t skeptical and desperately want to successfully
use suggestion in their mentalism. Let me take a moment to explain why I
think this is, in service of later helping to assist such folks.

Suggestion relies on a form of disassociation. Dissociation is what happens

when our thoughts take off in one direction and our physical sensations
and/or emotions take off in another direction.

The official definition in The Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental

Disorders (DSM) is “A disruption in the usually integrated functions of
consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment. The
disturbance may be sudden or gradual, transient or chronic.”

Being a manual of psychiatric disorders, the DSM is defining dissociation in a

way that is pathological. But it is far more than that and can actually be a
healthy, growth promoting response. We all dissociate to different degrees.

Think of dissociation as existing along a continuum. At its furthest, least

intrusive and most commonly experienced end we have things like highway
hypnosis. In general, this level of dissociation is that sense of having gone
on “autopilot” and completed an activity without memory of the intermediary
steps.

Other examples at the non-pathological end include when you are so

engrossed in a movie, book or television show that you don’t hear someone
calling your name. A bit further down the continuum, but still far from
pathological, is the experience many people have of reading a story and
unconsciously mimicking an action described by the author.

For instance, when you read, “As she spoke, her head slightly tilted as if she
doubted her own words,” then find yourself doing just that, you have
experienced a form of dissociation (you can straighten your head now!).
Ideomotor activity also comes into play, itself related to dissociation, but I’ll
leave that alone for now.

At dissociation’s furthest, most intrusive and least experienced end, we have

multiple personality disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as it is
now officially called. Even within DID there exists a continuum between
those people who experience a “fragmentation” of personality (technically

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Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) and an actual “crystallization”
of alternate personalities.

Obviously we want to focus on suggestion requiring mild dissociations! But

knowledge of the entire continuum can be helpful.

Some people are simply less prone to dissociation. It is our job as mentalists
to find the individual entryway into each person’s stimuli for dissociation in
order to successfully apply suggestion. They are always there, just
sometimes less obvious. They are easier to spot and apply when we have
had strong experiences ourselves with our own suggestibility.

I believe many people can learn to do this on their own. While initially you
may have to devote far more time to achieving a strong experience of
suggestion for yourself than you can allow for a participant during
performance, this will still transfer into enhancing your ability to bring about
the desired effect within the available time. The “demand characteristics” of
being in front of others will also help speed things along.

Returning to my original example of a key bend, whatever technique you

have to employ to really make yourself feel that key bend, not simply
imagine what it would feel like if the key bent, do it. And do it until you
know that feeling inside and out.

Should one technique not work for you, try another. Should you still have
trouble, find a friend or professional skilled in these areas and let them give
you the experience. As far as a professional, a skilled certified hypnotist is
probably your best bet.

For some lucky souls this seems to happen right from the get go, as they are
more easily able to accept suggestion. Others of us have to work harder at it
but I believe anyone can achieve the desired result.

I have no proof, but I suspect that those folks who experience trouble
effectively using suggestion in their performance to induce participants to
feel a key bending, a coin getting warm, a thought being plucked from their
mind (or inserted in via a psychological force), have not yet really felt it
themselves.

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When YOU can feel it, you’ll know what it will feel like for your participants.
You will know in your bones what this is all about and be able to far more
easily and elegantly share the experience with others.

 AFTERTHOUGHTS 2008
Since writing the above, I have had some experiences that I would like to
share.

We often talk about how to identify good subjects for hypnosis and effects
that use suggestion. Many authors have chimed in on this of late, especially
with the surge of interest in these areas.

A common piece of advice is to begin a performance with a presentation that

involves the entire audience and that can be used to differentiate those most
likely to be cooperative from those whose thought style might interfere with
their responsiveness.

Examples include classics such as “Magnetic Fingers” and “Light and Heavy
Hands.” These are old effects that can serve multiple purposes.

First, they are entertaining and effective in their own right. What better way
to engage a crowd than to involve everyone from the very beginning?

Second, people who respond well to these are more likely to do well with
effects involving suggestion and/or rapid induction. Check out Anthony
Jacquin’s Reality is Plastic! The Art of Impromptu Hypnosis
(http://www.anthonyjacquin.com/) for several wonderful examples.

He refers to them as set pieces and as the “first rung on the hypnotic
ladder.” Anthony encourages us not to overlook these gems and I absolutely
agree with him.

Several years ago I saw Millard Longman and Gary Goodman perform a
show together and use these very pieces to open. They had an exceptionally
strong effect on the audience and had everyone participating and laughing
from the very beginning. Even though there was no hyp act involved, it truly
set the mood for the entire evening.

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I have done the same and love these kinds of effects to have on hand for a
truly impromptu performance that will carry a small or large crowd and
requires no props. I am not alone.

In “The Fource” (http://www.outlaw-effects.com/store/the-arsenal/e-

books/the-fource.html) I devoted a chapter titled “Group Dynamics” to
effects that engage the entire audience. This was at the encouragement of
Alain Nu who shared that he felt there is a dearth of such material available
to performers and was among those who contributed “whole audience
effects” from their own repertoire.

Another contributor, Lior Manor, the popular Israeli mentalist and the mad
genius creator of “Mobile Opener,” which in my opinion sets the modern day
standard for such effects, (Product-Mobile Opener) had this to say about
such presentations:

 “Workers know the value of effects that capture the imagination of the
entire audience and gets those hands up. Performing effects with all of the
spectators is something that many mentalists and magicians miss out on.”

Recently I found one of the cleverest approaches to “trolling for the

suggestible” I’ve ever come across and uses none of the above! In a video
released in 1998, “Secrets of Magic and Stage Hypnosis,” Ormond McGill
performs a classic hyp act and one of the only true Q & A’s I’ve ever seen. If
you can get your hands on a copy, I can’t recommend it enough.

While watching it, I kept waiting for the suggestibility tests. When they
didn’t come I assumed they’d been done pre-show. Then he asked a single
question that accomplished everything inherent in a suggestibility test and
then some: “How many of you have guardian angels?” Absolutely brilliant!

What more do you need to know to determine if someone is going to be

cooperative and suggestible? I don’t mean to insult anyone or tread on
personal beliefs. It’s just that it doesn’t get any better than this!

Of course this was over a decade ago and you will need to update your
questions to tap into the current zeitgeist. Not long ago the movie, book,
website, soundtrack and every other marketing possibility for “The Secret”
skyrocketed to incredible popularity.

I won’t go into my feelings about this as a psychologist but as a performer

the phenomenon suggests a question or two that serve as well as Ormond’s
devastating approach. For example, “How many of you have successfully

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used the Law of Attraction?” Or how about, “Who in the audience is familiar
with using intention to manifest your deepest desires?”

I hope my readers can see the versatility of such questions and create
unique queries of their own to meet their individual needs and
circumstances. I offer this up with the best of intentions.

Switching gears now before someone hurts me , in 2004 I began working

for a private psychiatric hospital. A significant portion of the population are
diagnosed with DID.

I run groups at the outpatient program so have the privilege of witnessing

people who are overcoming their struggles not while hospitalized but rather
in the context of their day to day life. Seeing the extremes of dissociative
behavior on an almost daily basis is an educational and humbling experience
beyond compare.

A certain portion of our therapy involves teaching patients to recognize the

signs of dissociation as they first occur and how to use this knowledge to
ground themselves and stay in the present. Group members also work
together to help one another achieve this since they are the true experts. It
is one of the most absolutely inspiring places I’ve ever worked.

I mention this to explain an aspect of the nature of dissociation that I

glossed over in the above essay. Dissociation is a gift. It is a survival skill
that is literally life saving. It allows children to separate themselves from
pain that would otherwise be intolerable.

There is an incredible level of respect present in program philosophy,

training, staff and ultimately among the patients. It is impossible to work in
such an environment and not come away with a tremendous admiration for
the capacities of the human mind and the resilience of the human being.

We speak of things that initiate the dissociative process and how to

recognize them, avoid them or if need be defuse them. In a very real sense
anything that can initiate a flashback and the resulting dissociation is a form
of suggestion. This has taught me to be aware of the many pathways
available to express a suggestion.

Also, it has given me the certainty I referred to in the essay of the existence
and power of suggestion. That I can take this knowledge away and utilize it

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