To P e r f o r m. Say, “ESP and mind reading are very popular these days.” Turn to a woman who’s watching and continue

Say, “ESP and mind reading are very popular these days.” Turn to a woman who’s watching and continue, “Would you like to try a little experiment in ESP?” Bring out the box of crayons and say, “Let’s use something simple for our experiment—a box of sixteen crayons, all different colors.”

Give the box to the woman. Watch which hand she takes it with— you need to know if she’s right-handed or left-handed. About 90 per-cent of the population is right-handed, and men are almost two times more likely to be left-handed than woman. That means only a small

percentage of women are left-handed, so let’s assume she takes the box with her right hand.

Say, “In a moment I’m going to turn my back. Please select any color crayon, remember the color, then hand it to me.”

Turn around so you are facing away from the woman. Put your left hand behind your back (photo 1).

After she has chosen a crayon and put it in your hand, face forward. Immediately scrape some of the crayon off with your left thumbnail (photo 2). Glance down at her hands and apparently notice, “Oh—I see that you’re right-handed. We really should be in sync here, so let me switch hands.”

Bring your right hand behind your back and take the crayon from your left hand. Then bring your left hand out and raise it to your head, placing your fingertips on your forehead (photo 3) as you say, “I’m going to concentrate on the color you chose.” As you raise your hand,glance at your thumbnail and you will clearly see the color of the cray-on she chose because of the bit you scraped off (photo 4). Do not pause and stare openly at your thumb! A quick glance as your hand reaches your face will suffice.

Now that you know the color of the crayon, the rest of the effect is based on presentation. If you simply blurt out the color, it’s not nearly as effective as if you make the woman believe that you’re unsure at first and are in fact truly reading

her mind. I know it sounds silly, but you almost have to believe it yourself in order to make it con-vincing to everyone else. Let’s as-sume she chose the red crayon.

So, start talking, “I’m getting

the impression of a color...a dark color... a rich color. Warm... al-

most hot... not cool... not cold... I think you chose the red crayon.”

After you announce the color, bring your right hand out from behind your back and return the crayon to the woman. Have her put it back into the box and return the box to you.

Now, suppose that it’s your lucky day and you happen to choose a left-handed woman... what do you do? Simple: if she takes the box of crayons and you realize that she’s left-handed, when you turn your back put your right hand behind your back to receive the crayon. When you face forward and supposedly notice at that moment that she’s left-handed, switch hands, bringing your left hand behind your back and your right hand, which has the bit of crayon scraped under the nail, out from behind your back. The rest of the trick works the same way.

39.

Houdini’s

Favorite Trick

Criss places a coin under a handkerchief and passes it around so everyone at the table can feel the coin under the handkerchief. A moment after the last person has verified that the coin is under the hanky, Criss tosses the handkerchief into the air and the coin has vanished. His hands are empty.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-24