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BAIRN FOUR WORD FOREWORD FORWARD BY FRANCIS MENOm I can't count.
BA\RN CONTENTS Dedication Four Word Foreword Forward By Francis Menotti Introduction COMPLETE PERFORMANCE PIECES "Mr Golden Balls" Accidental Mental Square Bookend Nutcase (And The" Yes But No Principle Of Doom" ) Fussy Eater Step Up Errrm ... 1 Can't Remember Sensible Influence Predictagram (AKA E1) Who'S Got £he Mon€y? Afraid Of Dogs Order and Agender Magazine Test Of The Stars Theo and Cassidy Walk into A Bar In Ostin CLOSE UP AND CASUAL Sucking a Softy Snotty Nosed Nookey Attraction Tell The Truth, Kidda. 4 1 3 7 11 13 23 31 43 49 53 59 65 71 87 93 99 109 113 119 121 125 131 137 143
BAIRN CONTENTS Mind Turn 147 The One Short Way To Play Fair 153 Knowledge 157 Siapper 163 STRAIGHT FROM THE NOTEBOOK 169 The Lady Who Almost Made Me Faint, Who Then Bought Me A Drink 171 Focused Opener 175 Seance From The Past 181 Dinosaur Subtlety 187 Thoughts and Subtleties on Add A Number 191 Headlines In Black And White 203 And The Star Says.... 207 Called Out Thoughts 211 Reason To Write 217 The Distant Bet 221 As You Do Book 227 Breaking News 235 Tossed Out Death 241 Stacked, Borrowed, Remembered 247 An Act VS A String OfTricks 251 Crowd Control 255 Starting Strong 259 Add Ahead 263 Closing Thoughts 267
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BAIRN INTRODucnON Welcome to Bairn. And thank you for your trust and interest in my material. I want to give you something straight away: a promise. I recently fell out of love with mentalism. Not performing it, just reading about it as much of the new 'stuff' that was appearing. I was starting to become less and less inspired by the progress in our art. To be honest, I'm one of the few who is kind of against all this purist stuff. My thinking is that if mentalism became less visual and more linear, "you think of something, is it this ... ?" then yes it would be impressive to us, but it would be boring as sin and lose all theatricality, entertainment and just become a party trick. Instead, my personal preference is to make it visual, interesting and even surprising. My promise to you is that I've not wasted time writing up anything that is not tried, tested and worked in front of real people. Real people who have real expectations. Expectations that you are going to amaze them. Expectations that you will impress them, they'll enjoy it and that this can be the conversation for much of the remainder of the night. You'll see that some of these are described in full detail because I have worked them for a significant amount of time, with details, important moments, thinking and reasons. Others are brief because these are usually close up pieces that I only ever perform socially. I never receive payment for performing up close mentalism. It's only ever for the sceptical minds of friends and fellow performers that I share my close up mentalism creations. Another thing you ought to know is that I've put a lot of work into making this as interesting, confronting, offensive and strange to read as possible. This way you'll stay awake, interested and hopefully be so appalled that you'll forget all of my routines and never use them. If, however you do use them please be advised you do so with the caveat that if we were ever to share the billing at a gig I have first choice on all of this material, I also reserve all manufacturing, TV performance and performance rights on cruise ships worldwide for all of the material contained. If you want an exception, write to me. I'm pretty friendly - and I have great hair. 1
, . 8 BAlRN I am so very grateful for your time and your investment in reading what I am sharing here. In fact if you want to discuss any of these ideas further, you have questions, or you have an even better development please join me in my Facebook group at facebook.com/bairngroup Finally, I should briefly explain the title. Bairn is a word used in some areas of Scotland and the North East of England - where I was born and raised. A Bairn is a child. And these ideas have been through the process of conception, they are born and then they are raised - and finally once we let them free through passing them on here, they make their own way in the big wide world. Take care ofthem for me, will you ?Thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart, Ken Dyne
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BAIRN COMPLETE PERFORMANCE PIECES These are my most prized pieces of mentalism that I have and continue to use in my shows right up to date. You will find a lot of scripting and subtleties in these routines that go in to some detail as to how I make them work in real life performance. These really are like children to me, so I hope that you enjoy them too.
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BAIRN "MRGOLDEN BALLS" liMy father is a huge inspiration to me. He helps me become better at what I do and who I am. Mainly by using his catchphrase, "That's shite'~ A phrase which can mean he doesn't approve of the quality of something, or that he doesn't believe what someone is saying. However it is not this particular phrase of my father's that we are interested in tonight. To explain, let me invite four of you to join me ... " Four men are asked to stand in a row across the stage. "Inside of this slightly homosexual bag are five balls:' I don't do any jokes about balls, it's crass, too easy and ... okay sometimes I do make 'balls in bags jokes; and I sometimes mention the word 'sack' too. You're so hard to lie to. Behave! Right...back to it. "Please each reach in and take a ball, but do it secretly so not even you get to see the colour of the ball you take. And do not look just yet:' Now each of them has a ball. "What I did not tell you is that each of the balls is of a different colour. The colour of 4 of these 5 balls is not important. However, one of them is a Golden Ball. Please take a quick peek at what colour ball you have ... " They do so " ... and if you are the one with the gold ball, you are what my Dad would call, Mr Golden Balls. That means, you can do no wrong.
BA\RN In a moment I am going to ask you each a question. You must all make up an answer which is untrue. However, Mr Golden Balls, whoever you might be, you must always tell the truth - because you sir, can do no wrong. Now there are only four of you, and five balls. I just want to make sure that one of you is holding the Golden Ball. .. so let's see which one has been left:' You tip the bag up, and the ball falls out. It happens to be the red one, for example. I usually hand this to someone near the front just to hold on to for now. I do so dismissively, as it plays no part in the rest of the routine. "Great, so one of you IS Mr Golden Balls. The first question ... " Now, depending on the audience, you can go with rude questions or more innocent questions. What I have found is that the anticipation of the question is almost as funny as making the questions rude. My pool of questions I choose from is below. I would love to say that I spend time before the show carefully selecting the appropriate questions, but that is simply not true. I have them in my head and just pluck the ones that feel most appropriate, and that come to mind in the moment, live on stage. GOLDEN BALL QUESTIONS Where was your last holiday/vacation to? How many children do you have? When was the last time you had sex? (pause then follow up with " ••. with another person") What is the first name of your emergency contact? What is your biggest fear? Your dream woman is sitting opposite you, who is it? What colour is the underwear you are wearing? 14
BAIRN What make of car do you drive? HoW many pairs of shoes do you own? An even 'smarter' way of doing the questions is if you are set up to do a Q&A and have been able to peek some of the cards already*. You select people whose cards you have identified and base your questions on what they have written. For example, if someone wrote that they have a dog called Emmanuel one of your questions to all of the people in the row would be 'Name an animal that you own as a pet: Now when you go along the row they all give their answers. However when you go back to the person who's dog's name you know you say to them, "You sir are lying, you do not have a pet rabbit, am I correct?" he agrees. Then just before you dismiss him you can say, "You look much more like a dog person to me. Am I correct?" The audience is pretty impressed. You can then go even further and reveal the name of the pet dog! A seemingly unrelated effect where you can introduce the information gleaned from your Q&A into other routines in addition to the other intricate ways discussed in my own Banquet Q&Amethod. Of course it is not usually possible to craft four suitable questions from the peeked information, so you will almost always need to have a set of stock questions in mind too. After each question one of the four people is eliminated, with the phrase, "You sir! You are NOT Mr Golden Balls, show everyone your baill" upon which they do. Each ball is collected back into the bag from whence it came. Yes that was a real use of the word 'whence: Just to be clear, I eliminate just one person who looks the'least golden'in their response per question. 50 you will need three questions in total. However before I denounce he that is less than golden each time, I involve the audience in a vote. This is something I was doing when performing Larry Becker's 5neakThief** as it adds a real active involvement from the audience. The way this works is I very simply ask the audience to, "Please applaud if you believe that the least golden person here is gentleman number 1 ... " and so on down the line. One thing I have found particularly fun and effective is to call the first person * My'Banquet Q&A' approach works perfectly for this. *" Stunners and Stunners Plus by Larry Becker
BA\RN 'Gentleman Number 1; the second person 'Gentleman Number 2' and then to give the final two people increasingly acerbic nicknames*. At least this works for my style. This achieves two things. First of all the immediate humour. But secondly, since you'll refer to these two people by these nicknames throughout the show, you'll find that their friends and colleagues will begin calling them by these nicknames too and thus your legend lives on. This is something I learned by watching master hypnotist Paul McKenna, who never explained that this is what he was doing, so whether conscious or not (no pun intended), I thought this nicknaming thing was a very effective way of carrying on your legend long after the show. At the end of the routine, as the questions get more funny, bizarre or sick (depending on your style), you are left with one person, who opens his hand and out rolls his golden ball. I then pass him a small trophy which says 'Mr Golden Balls' with the date under it. Now comes the surprise ... the one you have all been waiting for. Just as Mr Golden Balls is about to leave the stage you call him back. You go back to the person in the front row who is holding the only ball that was not chosen. You remind everyone that they put their hand into the bag themselves and freely chose any ball at all. Yet tonight they left the red ball in still in the bag by chance. By chance? Perhaps it is not by chance. You have Mr Golden Balls read the engraving on the bottom of his trophy and it reads: "Chance for fate let it never be said, The remaining ball will always be Red" Surprise! I then let them keep the trophy. I buy my trophies from a local shop that specialises in sporting trophies and they cost around £30 each. Which is fine by me as it leaves this person with a real physical memory of the show - and they do tend to keep them. At least I've never seen a single one of them left behind after a show. * Nicknames I've used this week include: A man who is well groomed - "More Mirrors Than Sense" Someone with unusual hair - "Hair-Style" Someone wearing an unusual shirt -"Le Shirt Tragic" A man who looked like Jerry Springer -"Jerry Springer" 16
BAIRN However I did at first consider having the following message engraved on the bottom: "This trophy belongs to Mr Golden Balls and let it be said, Kennedy may only retain it, if the remaining ball is Red:' In this case, you get to keep the trophy to use again for a future show. I think taking the trophy back is a really big mistake. Not least of all because it's giving something to someone only to take it back, and that feels bad not only to the person themselves but to the whole audience who are watching. The main reason I don't like to take it back is because it then looks like every show the red ball must be left over somehow, in some mysterious way that although they do not understand, it must always be the red ball. However by giving away the prediction it seems that it is so much more fair. And yes, it really is engraved. This is no Medallion. THE TRUTH Some time ago now I scribbled something in my notebook about surprise. One of the problems with mentalism is there is often no surprise. The set up often implies the finale. In almost all mentalism we have someone do something to begin with where the audience is anticipating the outcome. For example, someone thinks of a word from a book, at which point the audience is almost certain that you are going to work out what that word will be. So my mind often turns to how we might include surprises, unexpected twists and turns in our plots that the audience does not expect. This probably comes from my passion for mystery drama where twists and turns are par for the course. Here I take the often 'improved' Kurotsuke/Body Language (Maven/Gaucci) routine and add an extra impossible, surprise climax. The whole routine is as per the classic old method of having the gold ball be the only magnetic ball among four other coloured balls that are not magnetic. The main thing for this to work is that rather than all white and one gold as per the standard sets, each ball must be a different colour. I actually just painted a standard set using spray paint.
BA\RN I'm not very good with DIY but even my crappy skills could make a mess with a spray can. And what's nice is that once you've sprayed the balls, there is so much paint left in the cans of spray paint that you can use to turn your neighbours cat into a tiger or a panther! So that's the standard bit out of the way. Now how about the prediction? Well before we get into how, let's wax on a bit about why this works and why it does not. Put simply, this is an impossible prediction. A chance-like fate-esque prediction. If you are presenting purely as a psychological performer I'm not sure how you could frame this as psychological in nature. The choices are made blind, no influence was made so it's a bit of a stretch to explain this away as amazing psychology. Just sayin: So how is this possible? I really enjoy the simplicity of this. Plus explaining it is a hoot because the number of innuendos I have to gloss over are simply penis! To get this final surprise, unexpected prediction to happen you actually require six balls! The colours of my balls are: Gold (magnetic) Red Blue Green Purple White The reason for these choices is that they all look quite different under most lighting conditions, including stage light - which often screws the colour of things up. Notably there is no yellow, as white can be mistaken for yellow very easily. The most important thing is that none of them look like gold or could be mistaken for gold. Like yellow. Yellow might be seen by some (foolish as they might be) to be 'golden' in colour. In this case I predicted the red ball to be the one left over. The reason again for this is that the red shows up clearly. Where as white might look red if you stand on a red 18
BAIRN spot on stage. Red is red. The same can be said for a good solid blue. And a nice green. I would only ever predict one of those three colours personally, but I'll leave that up to you. So we have our coloured balls. Now it's time to give some attention to the bag. The bag is gimmicked. Booya! Sorry ... But in a really simple and, I think, pretty cool way. Inside of the bag there is a secret pocket. However this pocket is not as deep as the bag. It is significantly shallower. It is into this narrow, shallow pocket that you place your force ball. As you have people remove a ball from the bag you hold the bag from the corner where the pocket is, and you hold the force ball, through the bag, in your hand. This just ensures no one aCCidentally feels it whilst dipping their hand into the bag. Now each of the people can freely take a bailout. Your other hand with the magnetic ring on does it's work to figure out which person is holding the golden ball. Once all four people have removed a ball each you still have one ball left in the bag. Now here is the really nice part: You tip the bag to make the ball roll to the opposite corner to where the force ball is, and then grab the last remaining ball through the bag with your hand. In the same motion you tip the bag up using this one hand that holds the remaining ball back, and the force ball will drop out of it's pocket into an awaiting hand of someone seated near the front. Now the method is over. You proceed with your presentation of discovering Mr Golden Balls. Which is hysterically good fun. And then you can reveal your engraved prediction of the left over ball. What is even nicer is that, for the lazy among us, the process of collecting each of the balls back in the bag and then collecting the remaining red ball and dropping it in its secret pocket as the prediction is revealed totally resets the routine as you go. Not that you'd need to of course, but you can.
I· BA\RN Let me address the terrifying question on your mind: "what if the remaining ball in the bag happens to be the gold ball?" - there is a chance. Here is how I would handle it, although I've not had to use this 'out' just yet. Step 1: Offer each person the opportunity to take the 'still unknown' ball from the bag with their other hand and drop their ball into the bag - swapping balls. You do this to every single person. This would be done before they look at their ball. If this doesn't work out I'd then ask them all the very first question and then say "either you haven't understood the instructions or you're all lying and the Golden Ball is still in the bag! Then pour it out and start from the top again. I hope you enjoy some element, either the theory of building surprises into your mentalism, the method for the prediction in this routine or even just the presentation for Mr Golden Balls. BONUS! 2.0 You can see performance clips, receive updates on this and the other routines plus additional, previously unreleased material by visiting: www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook . .. ..
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BAIRN ACCIDENTAL MENTAL SQUARE You're 15 years old and your mathematics teacher is looking up at you, squinting. "Did I hear you correctly? You want to be excused from my class to rehearse for a PLAY, in DRAMA block?" "Yes Mr Perrywinkle:' "Think about it, where will 'drama' get you compared to my mathematics class? Where will it get you boy?" You look into your crystal ball key-chain your old aunt Valerie gave to you and see yourself in 15 years'time. You've performed at hundreds of corporate events, people are laughing and cheering, you've toured in a theatre show, you're performing on six star luxury cruise ships, rubbing shoulders with millionaires and performing at celebrity parties. You drop the crystal ball and leave Pythagoras in exchange for Stanislavski. Or in this case - the school's shitty performance of Bugsy Malone. Where you're playing 'Boy 3'. Maths is boring. But it's sometimes useful in mentalism. Kind of. One of the worst things about Magic Squares, (apart from them being wildly over done) is the name. There is little if anything magical about them. They're really a task of mental ability to create an impressive grid of numbers - clever, but not magical at all. I came up with this presentation amidst a panic, trying to create an opener for my show that would work for an audience of a few thousand. Thankfully it is just as effective for a group of eight people so it has that nice versatility that I quite like.
BAlRN On stage is a large whiteboard. The performer throws a ball to select a person at random, who is asked to think of a two-digit number. Obviously he has to take a public berating by you before he names his number. "I'm going to be calling out a lot of numbers in a moment and I don't want anyone losing track of which number is yours, so please take this pad and write down that number and keep the paper yourself, and the number secret. We will use it for reference later on:' While he writes using his crooked left hand, the ball is tossed again and a second person is asked to stand, and he too is to think of a 2-digit number. "Sir, you are our backup in case I cannot do what I need to with John's number. We'll get the pad over to you too so you can make a note of your number so you don't get confused in a few moments'time. Mainly because I don't trust you:' Returning to the first guy, John, you say, "I want to make sure your number is completely random so please take whatever your number is and add ... say, twelve to it. Now you have a random number that as well as me not knowing, you did not know you were going to pick before now. Is that correct?" "Excellent! Please help me to warm up my mind, call out your new two-digit number:' "Forty-five;' comes the reply. "The number forty-five is an interesting one. Let me see if I can do this. And if not, we'll use the other one:' You now fill each cell of the grid on the whiteboard with a number. Once they are all filled you step back, looking proud. "Forty Five. Excellent. I've been trying to get the hang of this for a few years now and I think tonight we nailed it!" You proceed to show that the digits in the grid total the volunteer's number (forty-five in this example) in every direction. Vertically, horizontally, diagonally, the centre four squares, the four corners in fact any four squares that touch - they total forty-five! Amazing! But it's not over. This would be a (shudder) magic square. "Thank you. Now I realise that I also asked you sir (pointing to the second guy) to think of a number. It felt like you just thought of a random number didn't it? Please do not 2.4
BAIRN change it because I had a feeling that your two numbers would some how be related. Could you call out your number please?" "Twenty-eight" "No, not the same number. You see I didn't know which number you would choose sir, and I didn't have a clue what you would choose sir. However, what IS forty-five plus twenty-eight?" Seventy-three! I did have a feeling whatever you said tonight might total..:' The performer turns the board around and printed large and bold for all to see is the number "Seventy-three!" THE TRUTH I'm pretty excited about this effect because it adds a significant unexpected revelation at the end of the 'magic square' routine. (I love surprises!) I remember reading a Magic Square routine by Geoffrey Durham in which he would end it by having predicted the number that was called out. And although the method is ingenious, presentationally it doesn't work for me. If the performer knew in advance that the number would be, say seventy-three, then he never did learn the maths to make the magic square work, did he? So that was all a sham. Now the audience feels badly let down. So I moved on and forgot about it. Until I read about someone performing two simultaneous magic squares, on two separate grids. Another idea I thought was weak in that performing it a second time doesn't add anything, in fact probably takes away from the effect. Now the concept of adding two numbers together and predicting THAT came to my mind. So imagine if you could do everything you just read, the whole effect without any
BA1RN secret writing at all. You can. In fact there is absolutely no secret writing required here at all. I have the prediction total typed up on my home computer and printed on my printer, stuck to the back of the whiteboard I am using. There is no mechanical switching or anything at all. No pre-show. No stooging. No switching. I shared this with my two magician friends Mike and Mick, or Mick and Mike as they like to be called, and they said how much they loved the method at work as much as the effect. So what is going on? This is as direct as it comes really. Let's start by printing off your prediction on your home printer. Let's imagine the prediction is the number ... oh I dunno, seventy-three. It can be any number. In fact I change my number often just to keep it spicy for any repeat audience members. Print it off and tape it securely to the back of your whiteboard. Recently I've been using an A2 pad of paper. Since this is a show opener for me, I have the grid on the first page of the pad and the prediction on the inside front cover of the pad itself (I prefer the pad over the board because it's not so reflective so the audience can see it easier). On the front of the board (or on the page of the pad) draw a grid for your favourite magic square method (check out Chuck Hickock's in his book Mentalism Incorporated, or my friend John Archer's method on his DVDs through Alakazam). I'm not presenting you with a method for making all the numbers add up in all of the directions here, there are MANY resources around for that and you can take your pick at your favourite one. I'm all about the amazing, surprising prediction effect here. Have two people chosen at random, and use your favourite method to peek the number they are each thinking of. In your mind total those two numbers. You now know how far out the total is from your prediction. For example, let's imagine that John (person #1) is thinking of the number 33 and person #2 is thinking of the number 28, which together total 61. 73 (our prediction) minus61 is ... 12. I calculate this while staring at John (person #1) and apparently weighing him up. Now you simply need say to him, "Whatever your number is, I want to make it more random so please add 12 to it:' - remember no-one knows that you secretly know the two numbers so by saying this there is still no suspicion.
BAIRN Now have him call out the number (which is now the number he thought of, 33, plus the number you told him to add, 12) which in this case would be the number 45. You now proceed to do construct a magic square for the number he called out, this 45. In terms of method it is all over now. Once you have revealed the hundreds of directions in which the grid totals the number (45 in this case) everyone thinks the effect is over. Method-wise it is. Presentationally, you're about to kick them hard! NoW you simply have to ask the second person who is thinking of a number (again which you apparently do not know) to call out his number, have the audience mentally total the two numbers which will of course come to the sum total of your prediction. Now turn your pad around and watch them EXPLODE! Simple maths and a couple of peeks and we're home dry. To answer your burning questions: WHICH MAGIC SQUARE FORMULA DO I USE'? I use the one Hickock references in Mentalism Incorporated, which is a Karl Fulves one. WHICH PEEK DO I USE'? I actually use an electronic clipboard to gain the information. However I'd also consider the following billet handling: Hand billet one to volunteer #1. Have him write his number down. Retrieve the card and switch it for a dummy. Leave the dummy in full view. Go to pocket and palm a second dummy in position to switch, but bring spectator #1 's billet out at finger tips as if it is a new blank billet. Explain you'd like spectator #2 to write his number on 'this card; you say as you open up the card, peeking spectator #1 's number. Switch the billet for the blank one you have palmed en route to handing it to spectator #2. Have spectator #2 write in a place suitable for your favourite peek. In my case I like my friend Alain Bellon's full billet Obsidian Oblique, but just as practical are Millard Longman's Acidus and its variations.
BA\RN HOW DO I DO THE CALCULATION ON THE FLY? Truth is, my mental mathematical skills are poor, and it turns out through asking fellow performers to achieve this effect on the fly, it's not just me that has a problem doing the mathematical jiggery-pokery required for the effect. So the question remains, how do cheat it? Well I use a bold presentational ruse. You probably expected that thought, right? You mentalist you! When I ask for the numbers I demonstrate how I want them to think of the numbers by removing my iPhone from my pocket. I use it as an illustrative device to say, "I want you to imagine your mind as a miniature computer, and I want you to press the random number generation button to create a number" Now I place my iPhone on the table. I then peek the two pieces of information I require. Now, returning to the first person (who I will have make the addition or subtraction) and, picking up my iPhone say, "Now to make this even more random .. :; I gesture at my phone, "I want you to open your mental computer's calculator function:' I open the calculator on my iPhone and show it to him as an apparent visual aid, of course without directly mentioning it (the fewer senses I stimulate the more likely they are to forget I ever did this, which is what I want). " ... and imagine typing in whatever your number is, and seeing it boldly on the screen;' I turn the phone back so only I can see it and type in his number. " ... type it in, in your mind right now;' I press the plus key and type in the second person's number, then type minus the prediction total. All of this wile telling the person what to do. This done, I now have in front of me the adjustment that I will ask the first person to make. If you prefer not to use your phone for fear that it infers technology, then have the person imagine a note-pad in their mind, the kind of thing they'd use in those maths classes at school. Again, use the pad and a pen to gesture what you want the volunteer to do, you can do your workings out right under their noses, on the pad. I do sometimes feel more comfortable just picking up the pad I've been using throughout as a way of gesturing. But it does depend on the circumstances. 2.8
BONUS! BAIRN You can see performance clips, receive updates on this and the other routines plus additional, previously unreleased material by visiting: www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook
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BAIRN BOOKEND You casually stroll down to your local HSBC bank to withdraw some fifties to give to the homeless. Everything is going well, you're having a nice chat with the rather hot bank teller, she's been telling you how, as it's a Wednesday, all the bullet proof glass has been taken out for cleaning. Lovely. suddenly, out of nowhere, a gang of criminals bursts into the bank. "This is a robbery!" . they scream. The armed men grab two innocent children and are holding guns to their heads. You're not sure whether to run or piss yourself in fear, but suddenly ... you have an idea .... You shout, "STOP!" Everyone turns to look at you. Transfixed. "What if I perform a really good mentalism show, right here, right now ... Then will you not kill those children and steal all the money?" They slowly stare at you ... One of them turns to the other and says, "I saw that Darren Brown on telly and he was pretty good. Let's say yes" The pressure is on, you better blow them away. The children's lives depend on it ... Before I was performing 'Theo and Cassidy Walk Into A Bar In Ostin; what you're about to read were my opener, middle and closing routines. If you're skimming this book, this looks like a helluva long trick - that's because it's not one trick but three. However the three tricks work together to deliver a strong opening routine, a middle that allows you to achieve the method, and an ending that's a surprise kick in the nuts that defies explanation. As I've said a billion times (actual statistics supplied by the Global Association for Statistical Horticulture), the main thing mentalism suffers from is a lack of genuine surprise. The set up of a routine will generally indicate the ending of it. Think about most routines we know of ... A book test. Someone thinks of a word, the audience knows that you're going to reveal it.
i I I· Add a number. A prediction is on display. People write numbers down, they're totalled ... the audience looks right at the prediction and assumes you're going to have predicted this total. No surprise. I mentioned this earlier. I want to bleat on more about it though. What I did was create a prediction that was a surprise, even though it was on display the whole time. To describe this I'm going to have to share with you my entire act structure, namely the first routine, the 3rd routine and closing routine from my act. Here is the performance: 31
BAIRN PART ONE THE LOCK OPENER After I've performed Focused Opener, I've selected another person (and those of you who know my Primal Prediction* routine, know that I'm ready to do it now) and invite them, and their partner to the stage**. As they make their way up, I hand out a small padded envelope to someone sitting near the front, for safe keeping. The size I use is called (5 in the UK. The lady removes her ring, I hold out a combination padlock and extend it in front of her. She places her ring on to the padlock, and the moment she does I shout the word, "THAT!" I continue, "That is exactly what tonight is about. Non verbal communication. Did I ask you to place your valuable ring on to this grubby looking lock? Have you ever done that before? You see, sometimes we just know things. We don't know why, we just know. This is a combination padlock, it has 4 digits, do you know the combination?" She confesses that she does not. "Wouldn't it be amazing if I had set it to the first 4 digits of your private mobile phone number? Here dial it in:' She does, but it doesn't open. "Give it a good hard tug. No? Nothing? That's because I didn't know the first 4 digits of your phone number:' "I want you, in a moment to imagine that last wheel of the combination spinning around, starting at zero and spinning around and around and around and NOW ... what do you think that digit is?" 'Four' * Available as an instant download at MentalUnderground.com I only perform this for social events as the connection ofthe couple is important to the feel of the routine.
BAlRN i I "Turn it to four, does it open?" j. I 'No: .' "Correct! Because you've got to get the next digits too. Now I don't want you doing this logically so, tell me the name of your favourite drink?" Just as she finishes replying 'Banana Mojito' (a great choice, but always hold the mint), you bark at her, "and the next to last digit?" 'Two: "Perfect. You have no idea where these numbers are coming from, have you? Please turn the second last digit to two:' She does. "Perfect. So we have 'something; 'something, 'two' and then 'four' if everything is going to plan, right?" You say without looking at the lock, as if you already knew them. "Would you please name an animal out loud for me?" 'A snail: "Ha! A snail, that's a very interesting ... what's the next digit?" 'One: "Dial it in. And, thinking about it now, name something apart from mathematics that you might do at school" 'Lunch break: "Funny! My favourite part of the day. So what do you feel is the final digit?" 'Nine: "Dial it in and give the lock a tug ... and what do you know you found the perfect combination nine, one, two, four. Give them a round of applause". EXPLANATION OF PART ONE I use an Allan Wong Dream Lock. The workings are such that so long as the first digit is not a zero, the lock will open. The important thing presentationally is that this rou34
BAIRN tine places importance and weight on the selection of the digits, as if they are really important. I also like the subtlety I came up with, which I realise will only work for my UK friends, of having the volunteer test the lock by dialling in her mobile phone number. All UK mobile cellular phone numbers begin with a 0, so it will not open the lock. Simple, and subtly proving that the lock doesn't just open when the dials are moved at random. Apparently. Of course you do not need to buy one of these gimmicked locks to do this routine, in fact my buddy Patrick Redford has some amazing work on using ungimmicked locks for this exact type of thing, you'll find these in his book Glemm. What is new here? Not much really apart from the placing importance on the digits, the subtlety with the mobile phone number and, of course the fact it is setting us up for something far greater, and unexpected later. I'll get to that. It is at this point, I usually go right into my Primal Prediction - no gimmicked-envelope, envelope routine*. Still available at the time of writing from my website www.MentaIUnderground.com
i I I· ,. . . ' . . ' BA\RN PART TWO THE BOOK TEST CENTRE SPREAD A volunteer is asked to confirm that the first word on the top of each page of the book is indeed different, and that you've not had a special edition printed with the same word over and over. This is for real. You will then flip through the pages, she is to call stop whenever she likes and you will have her think of the very first word at the top of that page. This is done. You pick up your pad, scribble on it for a moment, look at her ... go to change your mind, and then decide to stick with your gut instinct on the matter. She calls out the word she was thinking of, it happens to be the word 'Doctors; you turn your pad around and everyone can see you clearly wrote the word 'Doctors: EXPLANAnON OF PART TWO The word is forced. I just take a pair of scissors to a page of the book and make a short page. I actually shorten 8 pages so that I can REALLY feel that'click'with my finger tips. I don't want to risk missing it under performing conditions . What is new here? Nothing, nothing at all it seems. That is until the fourth section when I tell you what was really going on ... 36
BAIRN PART THREE THE ADD A NUMBER ENDING You have three people stand, they are to each think of a three digit number. You pick up your pad and take a look at the first person, and then make a secret note to yourself. Looking at the second person, you ask them to please settle on the three digit number and not change it. You again scribble something, before moving on to the third person who you look at and comment about it being a number that has some small significance to them. You scribble something and then look down, you puzzle for a moment before tearing off the sheet, screwing it up into a ball and throwing it away. On the new sheet you write something large and then place the pad to one side. Pointing to a fourth person, you ask how their maths skills are. However they answer you have person number one call out their three-digit number. Let's say their reply is ·749. You enquire with the second person as to their three digits, they say 923, looking at the fourth person you coldly say, "749 multiplied by 923" This gets a laugh. Believe me, it does. Ha de ha hal And just in case it doesn't, here one for you: RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH~ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH~ HAHAHA. HAl HAl AHHHH.
I· ,. .' To help them out, you hand them a calculator that you've borrowed from behind the bar, from reception or wherever. They mUltiply the three numbers together and come up with a total. .. they call it out and boom it matches your prediction when you turn your pad around! EXPLANA nON OF PART THREE Again, nothing new method-wise here. I use a forcing calculator which will generate the force number. These days we can use a borrowed iPhone and employ the amazing TOXIC force. Back when I was still using this, the TOXIC thing was not around, so I would frame the calculator as having been borrowed. A word on borrowing the calculator, I used to be pretty paranoid about it and so would actually borrow a calculator from the front desk or behind the bar, so if anyone did enquire everything would match up. I don't think they ever did, but then again I have no way of knowing. Probably a case of running when not being chased here. I'm like that a bit. Presentationally, I like the section of having them stand up and think of their numbers and then apparently doing the mathematics with the numbers they are thinking of and making that my prediction. Rather than predicting the total before they even think of the numbers. It just seems a bit more real to me ... even though it's far from it. 38
PART FOUR THE SURPRISE BAIRN only that ladies and gentlemen:' I say immediately after spinning the pad . ".null .. to show the prediction matching the total of the numbers, "but at the _' __ 'M'_ of the show I handed a padded envelope out to this gentleman here. would you please open the envelope and carefully take out what you find bring it up here, and open it. You can see there is just one £10 note in this please take it out:'They do, and they hand the wallet back to you. PRead our the serial number on the note please:' He does and it matches the total of the numbers from the add a number. ffBut that is not all. Reach inside of this pocket and you'll find a folded piece of paper. Unfold it and read it out for everyone to hear:' They unfold it and read out, "If all goes to plan tonight I am hoping that the number created will match the serial number of the £ 10 note I placed in my wallet. I'm also hoping that of all the animals in the world, someone will name a Snail. The same person will love lunch break at school and if I'm right I'll also buy them a banana mojito after the show. Signed Kennedy:' A big climax to the show, and the audience is dumbfounded! EXPLANAnON OF PART FOUR The first part is the serial number. Well that's simple enough, the serial number is the number you force using the calculator or TOXIC force in the first place. What I love about that is you're setting them up for something they have no idea is even going to happen. It's a double payoff, for absolutely no extra work what so ever. The written prediction is really what this whole section is about, it's what I've been leading up to and I hope that by outlining a big chunk of my act you've been able to see the impact and surprise it gives in the end.
i I j. BA\RN Each of the routines I've described in this section contributes to this final surprise. Let's take things one at a time. All of the information that is predicted, whatever you decide for that to be, is gained in an off-hand, apparently merely presentational bit near the beginning of the show, under the guise and another totally unrelated routine. At no point do I allude to the fact that the information the lady is calling out might be useful or important. In fact I really focus on the numbers. I am of course remembering all three of her choices and repeating them over and over in my head. The second routine I described here, the book test, is when the dirty work actually happens. Inside the pad of paper you have placed the prediction, already somewhat folded, with the blank spaces showing, where you will fill in the choices. So to clarify, the whole prediction is written out before the show, leaving blank spaces at the end of each line for me to fill in whatever the volunteer calls out in the lock routine. You are going to force the word for the book test. So my force word is 'Doctors: So on the page in the note pad where I have placed the folded and prepared prediction, I have already written the word Doctors nice and large. During the book test, when it looks like I am writing down my thoughts I am actually filling in the prediction. Once filled in, I fold the prediction one more time (it is prefolded so this is nice and easy) and palm it off, at the same time as turning the pad . .' around to show the word Doctors. The audience are amazed by the book test, and their minds are occupied so there is no chance they suspect I'm filling in anything for later - after all they don't even know it's coming. Moving on to the surprise - I have the volunteer open the envelope and take out the wallet. There is an important reason I use a wallet rather than anything else like a prediction box, least of all being it looks like a natural normal object and not a magician's prop. They take it out and will almost always try and hand it to me. Why? Because it's a wallet. And we all feel awkward handling other people's wallets. But I vocally resist saying I 40
BAIRN don't want to touch it and that they should open it up. wallet I like to use is the Stealth Assassin, so when they open it they can see the bank note straight away. I have them remove the bank note, this is apparently the prediction, so now there is no heat on the wallet at all, so they hand it to me. It is at this time I use the Sight Unseen facility of the wallet to load the prediction into it from the back. Once the serial number matches, I then direct the volunteer to take the folded paper from inside of the wallet. She does and of course you are done. Important things I love about this routine are that the bank note is in there. This is crucial to me. Why? Because I don't want to have the moment of them opening the wallet to have me ask for it so I can load the prediction. Instead, the moment they open it they can see the bank note. Now they think that this was the only thing I want them to focus on, the heat is totally off me. Again, the audience and volunteer think it's allover and I surprise them again with the written prediction. Finally, it's a wallet. Wallets aren't famed for containing predictions and small notes of paper of events that will come to pass. So without the bank note, the wallet makes no sense and has no context. Audience's minds work episodically, so they see each trick or routine as a separate element. It is this that stops them from seeing the surprise coming, and this precise thing that stops them suspecting the secret writing. This is without a doubt one of my favourite pieces of routining, this and the Theo and Cassidy Walk into A Bar In Ostin routine. I hope you enjoy it too. The combination lock element of this is actually a version of'Nutcase' (elsewhere in this book) that I developed for use in corporate settings, where 'Nutcase' was developed first for my theatre show. BONUS! You can see performance clips, receive updates on this and the other routines plus additional, previously unreleased material by visiting: www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook A'
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BAIRN NUTCASE (AND THE llYESBUT NO PRINCIPLE OF DOOM II) Throwing caution to the wind and embracing your ignorance, it's opening night of your brand new show 'The Subliminalist' in a local 400-seater theatre and for some reason the majority of your town haven't bought tickets to your silly little mind reading show - instead they've opted for going to the pub to watch England's first match in the World Cup. Your skills in planning are impeccable. Nonetheless, as the lights go down and you stand back stage you get a peek at the audience and you're stunned to see it's sold out. You've somehow managed to find the only 400 people in the whole of your football crazed city who would rather watch an Albino-alike do a billet switch. Cracking good fun! The first act goes well. You accidentally got a standing ovation at the one routine you shoe-horned in, because you needed an extra twelve minutes of material and it's time for act two. You throw a paper ball out to someone and have her stand. She's a big bosomed 20-something year-old from Yorkshire. Her name is "Gemma': You introduce"Gemma"to a briefcase that's sitting on the table. The briefcase is secured with a shiny silver chain, which in turn is fastened with a sturdy-looking padlock. "Gemma, do you have any idea what the 4-digit combination to this lock is?"
i I , .. I· • .' . . ' . . ' . .' . .' . BAIRN You're hoping this will work like a dream and she won't get it Wong. But she admits that she hasn't a "Scooby Do" - which is northern-speak for, "No:: She joins you on stage. She's attracted to you, her eyes give her away. By that I mean, she has eyes. "Make it up, but just go with a single digit what do you think the last digit of this combination lock is? It's between one and nine:' "Eight:' comes her reply. "Okay, now I am going to try and distract you, name some currency!" "Dollars:' is her reply. Now remember I'm in England, so Dollars not such an obvious choice. It's not Vietnamese Dong, although if she'd blurted out"Dong"the show might have taken a nasty turn . "Now name the next digit ... "you almost interrupt her . "Seven:' "Good, so something, something seven eight ... the next two are for five and six love. And just to confirm, you are just making this up, yes?" She agrees. "Name an item of clothing:' "Underpants:' "Classy, thanks. Any particular brand you fancy?" "Calvin Kleins:' "That was a rhetorical question, but never mind, what's the next digit?" "Two:' "Okay, something, two, six, seven ... name a book:' "Errrrr .... errrrr ... The Hobbit:' "Wow, you look a lot more like a 50 Shades Of Grey girl to me ... the final digit is ... ?" "Nine:' "Try the combination. 9, 2, 7, 8:' 44
BAIRN approaches the case, dialling in the combination and then with a 'click' it pops The audience applauds wildly. as it dies down you pull the case free of the chains (insert metaphor as you see fit). popping open the case, you remove, "A dollar bill! A pair of Calvin Klein underpants ... and a book ... The Hobbit!" Bam! A surprise that sends the audience wild! THE TRUTH This was the predecessor to the routining I shared in Bookend elsewhere in this book. This piece works very well for theatre-type performances. However I wanted to create a version that packed a similar punch but was suitable for corporate shows, and that is what Bookend is. What we have here is a combination (oooerrr "punny") of things going on. The first is the lock. I bought Alan Wong's Dream Lock for this effect. This lock can be made to unfasten on any combination. The surprise physical prediction combined two elements I love. Firstly the unexpected surprise the audience didn't see coming. Secondly, the fact that the prediction is not just written, but is a set of physical items which preclude the idea that the outcome could be altered in any way. The secret here is a pre-show method that is pretty well hidden with subtle language. During the interval I had my assistant, a guy called Mark Conlin head out to the theatre bar and select someone for use in the effect. After a little chat I introduce a number of blank business cards, each with different things written on them. "I want you to just cut the pile of cards and take the first three cards wherever you've cut to. In fact, here, just say stop as I flick through the cards" - I riffle force the cards. I then tell her that once she looks at the cards I will be attempting to confuse and make her forget these during the show using numbers and all kinds of other psychological strategies.
. ' . . ' . BA\RN During the show, I lead the audience to believe she is just making these items up, how? Look at the subtle language. I am actually having her agree to making up the digits, and no mention or attention is placed on the items she calls out. The concept here is that she is agreeing to one thing, when the audience believes she is agreeing to another entirely. That'll be the 'Yes But No Principal Of Doom' in action. And yes, I've called it this shitty name just in case someone wants to reference it in a future publication so I can bring the classiness of that publication down to my level. Be thankful I didn't call it the 'Lovely Jubbly Principal' or something more crass. By the way, the idea of getting people to agree to something else other than what the audience believes is as old as the hills and has been used on TV for years. I didn't invent it, but I have named it. Plus I've not seen it mentioned in print anywhere . BONUSI 46 You can see performance clips, receive updates on this and the other routines plus additional, previously unreleased material by visiting: www.mentalunderground.com/bairnbook