Bob Cassidy - theheresies.pdf - Bob Cassidy(1) - mcgregor2001

Bob Cassidy

A Brief Introduction

Until now, all of my writings about mentalism have included almost equal

amounts of theory, presentation, and method. The routines in this e-book, however, are

presented in the traditional “Effect/Method” format and it may be argued that some of

them cross the line between mentalism and mental magic.

That’s partly why I call them “heresies”. You’ll discover the other reasons as we

go along.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Grandfather’s Watch

Carrol’s Watch

The Pocket Watch Switch (But it’s not another watch effect!)

Bonus Material

The Halfelope - Sugar or Salt?

The Golden Key Box

The Heresies

Grandfather’s Watch

NOTE: Throughout this e-book I will

follow my usual convention of putting the

script in bold face type

EFFECT:

The performer exhibits an

antique looking pocket watch

claiming that it once belonged to his

grandfather, a once famous European

mind reader.

On the outside of the case is an

old photograph of a man wearing

uniform bedecked with medals. To

his right is the image of what appears

to be an owl.

The performer explains, “ He claimed that the medals were given to him by the

crowned heads of Europe. The owl represented his ability to peer into the darkest

recesses of the human mind and to capture a person’s most secret thoughts.

“He died when I was just a baby so I never got to know him. But on my

eighteenth birthday, my mother handed me a small box wrapped in shiny brown

paper and tied with twine. She told me that it was from my grandfather, who stated

in his will that I was to receive it on the day I reached my majority. She had no idea

what the package contained and was as anxious as I was to find out.

“It was, of course, this watch. There was a short handwritten note in the box.

All it said was ‘When you need me I’ll be there. Why don’t you play a game of

Countdown Solitaire?’

“That was it – no ‘Happy Birthday’ – no ‘Greetings from the Great Beyond’,

and no explanation whatsoever. Just a cryptic note that reminded me of The

Manchurian Candidate.

“I asked my mother if she had any idea what it meant. She told me that my

best bet was to do just as the note suggested and play a game of Countdown

Solitaire. I had never heard of the game, but apparently he had taught it to my

mother when she was a little girl and she showed me how it was played.

Bob Cassidy

“It was easily the oddest game I had ever seen. At first, it didn’t seem to have

any point, but then I realized that it was not the pointless game of chance it at first

seemed to be. I was, in fact, an incredibly difficult memory exercise. ”

That’s the setup I use for this interesting close-up effect. After showing the

spectators the watch, I explain how to play Countdown Solitaire. I ask a spectator to

thoroughly shuffle a pack of cards as I explain that aces count as one and picture cards

count as ten – just like in Black Jack. I take the cards from him and spread them face up

on the table.

“You are allowed to look at the cards for ten seconds and then you must turn

them face down. It is very important to pay attention to every card you see.

“You then turn the cards face up, one at a time, dealing each card face up onto

the previous one, thus forming a face up stack. On the first card you say ‘Ten’, on the

second card you say ‘Nine’, on the third you say ‘Eight’ and so on until you get down

to ‘One’. But, if at any time, the value of the card you have turned up matches the

number in the countdown – for example, you say ‘Seven’ and the card you turn up is

a seven – the countdown stops right there. The seven is left face up on the table and

the rest of the cards go to the bottom of the pack.

“This is done four times. When you are finished, you will have four cards

lying on the table before you. But they won’t all necessarily be face up – that is

because if you go through the countdown and NONE of the cards match the number

you are calling, ALL of the dealt cards go face down to the bottom of the pack and the

next card on top of the pack is dealt face down onto the table. It counts as nothing –

the face down card simply serves as a reminder that there were no matches on that

particular countdown.”

This is not nearly as confusing as it sounds in print. If you just take a pack of

cards in hand and play the game exactly as described, you will quickly see how simple

it is. [I am sure that many of you have already recognized the ancient mathematical

card trick I have disguised as a game – the trick is so old that no one seems to remember

it. But with the memory twist it fits the theme perfectly and is ideal for this routine.]

The Heresies

“Okay, when you are finished doing four countdowns you add up the values

of the face up cards lying before you – remember that picture cards count as ten and

aces as one. [Assume that you have finished demonstrating the four countdowns and

have an ace, a jack, a facedown card, and a nine one the table.] In this case, I would add

up these cards and get a total of twenty-one plus ten plus nine. The face down card is

zero. I would then count down to the twentieth card in the pack and deal it face down

to the side. (I don’t actually do this – I just gather up all of the cards as I explain how

they would normally deal down to the number represented by the total of the four

cards.)

“Now you must state the identity of that card. If you’ve observed and

remembered all of the cards you have seen and how they have been dealt, you will

soon be able to name that card every single time you play.

“At least that’s what my mother claimed her father could do. I told her that it

seemed nearly impossible unless you had an extremely quick photographic memory

She smiled and answered, ‘He said he’d be there if you needed him, didn’t he?’

“So I played the game again, but this time with the watch. Here, play a round

of Countdown. Spread the cards out before you and we’ll look at them for ten

seconds. Now gather them up, turn them face down and begin the first countdown.”

I shuffle the cards as I say the first two lines of the last paragraph. While I tell the

spectator to spread the cards out before him, I actually do the spreading. The spectator

then plays the game as previously described. When he counts down to the card whose

position in the pack is indicated by the four cards left on the table, I tell him to be

careful not to turn the card face up.

Once more, I show the pocket watch and then place it, photo side down, on the

final card. “Did you follow the cards carefully? Do you have any idea what card lies

beneath the watch? Don’t worry, neither do I. But I do think it is probably a low

spade – it might be a four, but I’m not sure.

“The point is - I don’t have to be. Not as long as I have the watch. I’ll show you

what I mean – turn the card face up. Ah – a five of spades. I was pretty close. But like

they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Turn over the watch.”

The participant turns the watch over and suddenly realizes that the photograph

has changed. Instead of the wise owl, the image of a playing card is next to my

grandfather’s picture. It is, of course, the five of spades.

METHOD:

Bob Cassidy - theheresies.pdf

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