Please comment on this mentalism routine I sort of patched together using four different “effects”:

I am going to tell a spectator that they are indeed psychic themselves. I’ll prove it by showing them that they can also aid the police in solving a crime that occurred recently at a hotel where a well-known card shark/gambler was found brutally murdered.

Here is the story: Last week, a well-known, big-money card gambler was found murdered on one of the floors of a certain nine-story hotel. A certain method was used to kill him, and when his body was found, he was still holding a certain playing card from his last gambling venture. His hotel room card-key was also in his pocket. On the table will be a sealed, brown envelope marked “Crime Scene Evidence and Report.” The envelope will contain the hotel card-key and the playing card found on the dead man’s body. The envelope will also contain the police report stating what floor the body was found on and how the man was murdered. Remember, these items are all in the sealed “Crime Scene Evidence and Report” envelope which is kept in full view the whole time.

First of all, we need to determine which of the nine floors of the hotel the man’s body was found on. To do so, I will take a calculator and type in any “random” 3-digit number. I give the calculator to the spectator and tell her to multiply my 3-digit number by any 3-, 4-, 5-, or 6-digit number she wants. When she gets her answer, she is to add all the digits together. If the sum of all the digits is another 2-digit number or greater, she is to add THOSE digits together until she ends up with a single digit answer between 1 and 9. Let’s say she ends up with the number 9 after doing all her calculations. Remember, she got to choose any 3-, 4-, 5- or 6- digit number to multiply with my number! She secretly writes this single number down on a notepad so as not to forget it later on. Her number will represent the hotel floor number that the man’s murdered body was found on. Let’s say she gets 9 as her final number – this means the ninth floor of the nine-story hotel.

Next, we must determine how the man was murdered. I’ll present the spectator with a fancy, laminated sheet of paper numbered 1 to 100 in table format. Next to each number will be a way of murdering someone (poisoning, strangulation, shooting, stabbing, drowning, etc.). Some numbers will duplicate the various ways of murdering someone, but it truly appears to be a random table. The spectator will be told to think of any 2-digit number and then add those two digits together and subtract that sum from her original two-digit number. She then takes that new number and looks it up on the chart to determine what method was used to murder the man. This is, I believe, what is called the “casting out of nines” force if I’m not mistaken (also sort of the same principle used in the first step above to determine what floor the body was located on). The beauty of this step is that I can have several different tables with what looks like random ways to murder someone assigned to the different numbers (for example, #99 on one sheet can be strangulation and on another sheet #99 could be drowning and on a third sheet #99 would be poisoning, etc.). The only ones that would be the same from sheet to sheet would be the “key” numbers, if you know what I mean! The spectator will write down on her notepad how the man was murdered once she has done her simple calculation. This will be written below the floor number she wrote earlier. This is to insure that it is not accidentally forgotten later on. Let’s say he was murdered by being poisoned to death.

Third, we need to determine the name of the hotel the man’s body was found in. For this we use Andy Leviss’ “It’s A Match” effect. I’ll show a small brown lunch bag to be full of different matchbooks from different hotels by pulling out four or five and showing the hotel names on them to all be different. Then I’ll have the spectator reach in herself and pull out a matchbook that “feels” right to her. She’ll keep the matchbbook in front of her. Let’s say she selects the “Carribean Hotel” matchbook.

Finally, to determine what playing card the man was found holding, we will use the Prophecy Pack card effect. This quick card effect really seemingly gives the spectator free choice over cutting the deck into four or more piles and then selecting one of the top card s to be their card. The other top cards that aren’t chosen can usually be shown to be all different ones as well, thus furthering emphasizing that it was truly a random choice. Let’s say she selects the 4 of Diamonds after cutting the deck into six piles and choosing one of the top cards.

So now the spectator holds a matchbook from the Carribean Hotel, has a notepad with the ninth floor written down as well as “Man was poisoned to death.” She also holds the Four of Diamonds playing card that she selected at random from a deck of cards.

The brown envelope labeled “Crime Scene Evidence and Report” is finally opened and the contents dumped out. It will be seen that the hotel name on the spectator’s randomly selected matchbook will match the hotel name on the card-key that belonged to the victim (in this case it’s the “Carribean Hotel”), the crime report will state that the man’s body was found on the ninth floor of the Carribean Hotel and that he was apparently poisoned to death. The playing card found on the man’s body will also fall out of the envelope, and it will match the one selected by the spectator (there could even be a bloody fingerprint or two on the playing card that is in the “Crime Scene Evidence and Report” envelope!).

Any thoughts or ideas on this routine would be appreciated. I don’t think it is too long-winded. I do think that the murder “theme” gives it a sense of unity and cohesiveness as well as a touch of the macabre. I also don’t think the two mathematical forces that are utilized (even though they are somewhat related) will be “picked up” on by the spectator. After all, both do use a totally free random choice of numbers on the spectator’s behalf. Using the Prophecy Pack to generate the card selection also seems to be very good in my opinion since that is a strong effect by itself. Also, Leviss’ “It’s A Match” to generate the hotel name speaks for itself very well in that it is a good effect on its own. I also think doing the two mathematical steps first is a better arrangement. They sort of lead up to the final two steps using the “It’s a Match” effect and the “Prophecy Pack” effect which are larger, more elaborate and “killer” effects that have more of a “wow” factor.

Any comment, suggestions, or advice would be appreciated. I am thinking of doing this routine in a couple of weeks for my family when I go visit them back East for several days. Thanks!

Frank

I like it. There are a few changes I would make if I were doing it.

I would use four spectators as a "team of detectives," instead of one for all four predictions. Each spectator determines a different "fact" of the case. This gets more people directly involved and allows you to banter with each participant.

I'm leery of using two mathematical forces and then two non-mathematical forces. Using a mathematical force for the floor is okay - you want a number so that feels natural. But I'd come up with a different way to force the method of the murder. PM me if you want some simple ideas for that.

Hi again Frank,

Two words of caution;

First, every time you invite a spectator to do something either mechanical or mathematical you are risking their failure and your embarrassment. Number forces sound sweet but in action they can (and often do) kill an otherwise solid routine.

Second, you're there to entertain the entire audience. Look at how long your explanation of the routine is. How entertained do you think the rest of your audience will feel as you spend your time guiding your on stage volunteer through the procedures?

Great story line. Research your forces.

Best regards,
BlackSalt

Frank,

The routine sounds like it could be lots of fun to perform. If I was doing it, I would have to be very sure that the audience was "up" for following all the details. I couldn't go from a simple ESP card effect to this fun story in a single leap.

What methods have you found effective for preparing the audience for this type of routine?

Regards,

Crippen

Hi Frank,

I like the story line. Ultimately I think this will come down to how entertaining you can make the story.

If I were you I would reconsider both number forces. The first one seems really convoluted to me, I think it would be tough to keep them interested and entertained during this. Same for the second one.. Compare these to the matchbook force, which fits perfectly.

As for the laminated sheet containing lists of ways to kill people... it may be tough to justify the prop. However, it reminded me of those books they have to teach the art of writing mystery stories. These books have info on poisons, guns, etc... Maybe you could use one of these books, and force a page on them?

As you write the patter for this, you could try to have the suspense/tension/interest build throughout the routine to a climax. For example, will the revelation of the fourth prediction be more amazing than the first?

-Steve