Hello everyone,

Need help with a story and maybe presentation of a new routine that I am doing.

I want to do a drawing dup but it is turning out to be a little different than the norm.

Here is the routine (so far)in a nut shell.

I patter about a friend that I had when I was 13 years old. His name was Timmy and he was 12 at the time. We did everything together as if we were brothers from a different mother. Six days before Christmas we were drinking hot coco that my mother had made. We then started to talk about what we both wanted for Christmas and I told him what I wanted and he told me what he really wanted. Three days before Christmas during the night, Timmy’s house caught fire and burn down. Timmy and both his parents all passed that night.

Tonight’s experiment will be to try and call Timmy back from the grave and for someone here tonight to make contact with him. I use a spirit glass to show that Timmy is now in the room. A few questions may be asked from sitters. A person is selected and asked to sit in a chair in front of the audience. This selected person is holding a small pad and pen and told that in a moment he will be asked to think of the Christmas gift that Timmy told me he wanted all those years ago. He is now asked to just start thinking of gifts.

Timmy makes his way to the selected sitter in spirit form and finally the sitter is asked to close his eyes and to concentrate on any feelings that he is getting. When he feels that he is ready and has his answer, he is to open his eyes and record his thought on the pad. He is to do this only after he has a gut feeling of the toy that Timmy really wanted. Once the sitter has wrote his answer on the pad he is asked to place it writing side down on his lap.

The performer tells everyone that because he already knows the correct gift that his friend wanted that he bought a large drawing of it with him.

The performer walks behind the seated sitter and ask him to close his eyes once again. He is also told to visualize the gift that he wrote in the pad in his mind. The audience is reminded that the chosen sitter is thinking of a gift/toy and that he had also wrote it down on the pad that is lying in his lap. The performer also tells everyone that he holds a drawing of the true gift that Timmy wanted and that it is time to see if the sitter had guess correctly with the help of the spirit of Timmy guiding him.

With the person sitting there with his eyes close the performer (standing behind the spectator) holds up his drawing of a puppy (it can be anything) over the person’s head. The person is asked in a loud voice to call out the gift that Timmy really wanted. With a drawing of a Puppy over the person’s head, he yells out, “He wanted a PUPPY”. The drawing and the sitter’s free choice of any gift match.


What do you think? Is it too much? I was going to do the same act with automatic writing of the drawing, but thought that would be over k I l l. Since I already knew the answer and everyone in the room would know this, then a drawing dup wouldn’t work… But I felt that if someone is asked to think of toys/gifts in their mind and with the help of the spirit of a 13 year old boy he is able to be guided to select ONE gift sounded really nice to me. The routine I feel, comes together when I hold up the only drawing that I have above his head before he announces his answer. Both match proving that Timmy did guild the sitter to think of the correct gift from many.

Anyone have an idea to help improve it?

Do you think the idea of already having a drawing completed at the start of the routine makes it weak or stronger? It isn’t a drawing dup in the normal way but yet, it is still a drawing dup, yes? It makes the routine easier for me to have a drawing ready to go.

Anyone have any thoughts about this idea?




Ray

As a story, it kinda doesn't make sense... If séances are about connections, then it's YOU that would have the strongest one... So it doesn't make sense for someone else to do it on your behalf (or otherwise)...

Yes and no, Iain. I think the point is really that the audience participant is showing his ability to be sensitive to such things, not that he has more of a connection than the performer.

I think it could really creep people out or inspire a moment of wonder. Or, for anything less than a really strong performer, fall flat.

-Patrick

Disagree. The whole set up is about Ray's friendship with this kid. There's no real mention of the connection after the fire. And when there is, it's with someone else and a toy. There needs to be a meaningful reason to it all... And the things used need to somehow invoke an atmosphere to call the kid through the veil etc

Mediums would be the conduit for spirits to connect with someone at the circle...

I like the story and think when we relate things to our own lives, we help the audience identify with us through there own similar experiences. Maybe as a prelude to the effect, you might test the sitters in some way, for their own sensitivity? Then when you friend touches them, it would make more sense? Just thinking out loud.

Hello IAIN,
I agree with your thinking and thought about making the connection myself and played with the automatic writing idea. Then I thought that since I wasn’t doing a full séance only a routine, why not involve a sitter. I was trying to turn a mind reading bit into a little more interesting routine. It seemed interesting (to me) that a sitter could connect with a spirit and be lead to make the correct selection. This new idea turns things on its head and gave the routine a different feel. This way it is a drawing dup and then it isn’t, but it is with (hopefully) a BOO factor….

You mention, “There's no real mention of the connection after the fire”. I left that part out and just gave the overall feel for the routine.

I am not going for a 100% seance just a light feel for a spooky connection.

So, maybe I should scrap this idea and just have the person think of a memory or pictures in their mind and I then would pluck this memory or picture from their mind. Another run of the mill mentalism bit. For a drawing, I can draw this picture from across the room and if I asked for a memory, I would simply comment on the memory that I was getting from the sitter. This was actually the very first idea that I was playing with then it evolved. Either way that I do it, it is the same routine only dressed up differently, same workings and methods.

Thanks for your feedback.



Ray

Agree with the prelude idea and had something planned. Agree with the prelude idea and had something planned. It is all about setting up the right atmosphere to create a common feel and bond among the audience.



Ray

Some more thoughts...

you've told us about your connection with the kid, how close you were - then you involve a stranger connecting with the kids spirit and its mainly that which doesn't make much impact or sense (to me)… and I think you have a visual and a smell to play with via the hot chocolate...because you COULD involve others if you had a cup of hot chocolate in the middle of the table, and one or more people take a sip - that is a weird and low key way to get into the spirit (pardon the pun) of things...see what I mean? something evocative and gentle that reminds you of the kid...and then it becomes a ritual of sorts, right?

otherwise its just a kid spirit that is randomly approaching someone, why would he do that? what is (weirdly) the spirit's motivation in all this? the story mentions you two would talk about the gift you both wanted...

so is it coincidence, or just that now that he's dead, he still likes to play the game with you? and why?
i think thinking about this all adds some depth and texture to it, rather than "he's now dead, and this is your drawing"...
you could turn it on its head because once you know what's been drawn, then you can invoke Timmy's spirit via whatever means, and not only does he whisper to you who is thinking of their Christmas gift, but also tells you what they wish for - THEN that becomes a bit more of an interactive thing to do, and has a mini story arc too...

a) you were best friends
b) you talked about wishes/gifts
c) you drank hot chocolate and played the game
d) he kicked the bucket
e) you can contact him in spirit
f) he still likes to play the game!

so looking over that, maybe a living and dead test seems more appropriate rather than anything else...m&rk the papers, and each has an instruction on it...

MY IDEAL BIRTHDAY PRESENT IS "BLANK"
MY IDEAL SURPRISE GIFT IS "BLANK"
MY WORST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER WAS "BLANK"
ETC
and the final one says
MY FANTASY CHRISTMAS GIFT AS A KID WAS "BLANK"

and p**k that info (marked so you know who has it and what they wrote) but you're very hands off...

so now you have a bigger broader routine to mess with...and with more finesse and boldness, the important billet could have tick boxes and they tick one. You can have five gifts wrapped up on a table and as you and Timmy eliminate people, when you finally have the one person left, give them the present that matches...

give the other gifts away to the other people for taking part, thus showing them all different, and then you have the finale...

I have not processed Iain's suggestion above, but I think he raises a good point on the challenge of your routine. The good news is that can be rectified by explaining it in your story.

There is a bit of a gap on how you go from a bond with Timmy and him being able to reach out to strangers from behind the veil. You just need a reason for why the sitter can reach him tonight. Maybe for some reason you don't understand, he is always reaching out to people near you, but never you. Allows you to introduce a creepy story of what happened another time you tried this. Or whatever. Sounds like fun!

>Do you think the idea of already having a drawing completed at the start of the routine makes it weak or stronger? It isn’t a drawing dup in the normal way but yet, it is still a drawing dup, yes? It makes the routine easier for me to have a drawing ready to go.

Just saw this. In one of my parlour events I did it ahead of time (I always do something ahead of time) and it worked very well. Could it have been better if it was at the time? No idea. But there is no reason it cannot be powerful if done ahead of time with the right story and framing. I got my patter from an Osterlind video and it worked great.

Maybe include in the preface that Timmy was very outgoing and would talk to anyone ... something you really admired as a shy 12 yr old.

Thanks for all the advice.

IAIN, really nice thoughts and makes total sense. Thanks for voicing your thoughts in this matter. Much food for thought and something that I will think about.

bartleby, I also thought about how Timmy could be playful and liked to interact with others. Still working on it.

Station10, I like that idea of the performer being a shy kid.

Thank you all for commenting on this.



Ray

Ok, this stared out as a common mind reading routine and suddenly I thought for a moment about having a spirit of a kid helping me out. I have been asked to do something this week since I am now able to walk with two canes and can also drive. It has been a number of months since I have been able to perform and when asked, I felt like my old self. Since I love the bizarre and Christmas is coming up very soon, I thought, why not mix a story of Christmas and the BOO.


I didn't think this would be so difficult and can now see that this routine with Timmy won't be ready for some time. The original routine started as a mind reading bit as I began talking about how memories were something that we all have. No matter what, no one can ever take them away from us. I then talk about growing up and how much it would snow and how I interacted with my brothers and sitter during Christmas. I then asked if anyone in the audience also had memories of Christmas as a child. I then select someone to come up and sit in a chair. He is handed a pen or pencil and something to write on. He is asked to start thinking of happy Christmas memories when growing up and not to write anything until told to. As he is going through thoughts in his mind, I ask a few people to share their own personal memories.

After two or three have shared their stories, I turn toward the person on stage and ask if he has settled on a memory. He has.... I ask him to record this memory as I recap what is happening to the audience. I now take a seat in a chair across from the selected person with about 10 feet separating us and asked him to Imagine that we are connected by a golden thread running from his forehead to mine. After a brief process he projects his memory to me. Of course I am able to receive it.

From this start, came the idea of adding the spooky element of a passed friend and Christmas gifts.




Best
Ray

Selling the story of a dead friend or relative is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do in mentalism. Most people can see right through it if it's not 100% convincing ... 99% won't cut it.... Don Theo III has an excellent performance of this kind .. I think the key element is that Donny cried through the whole segment .. Even I believed he had such a friend ... He didn't ... just in our minds... so it was totally real to us...

I don't see anything wrong with using a spectator as the point of contact. Aren't mediums usually a disinterested third party?
Perhaps you could precede this routine with another one which, ostensibly, determines the most sensitive audience member.

My only qualm is with the name "Timmy." It kind of strikes me as a name that was just invented to take advantage of associations with frail youths, be they from literature ("Tiny Tim") or from pop culture...

Nice way of restating what I had said. Looks like great minds think alike

of course they are...the medium is the conduit so that each sitter gets a message from a spirit that THEY know intimately in some way...but in this case, the story's focus is on Ray and his friend...that's the link...so for the kid to kinda ignore ray and focus on everyone else can be a strain in some ways...

you could go another direction if its not really a séance, but use a chalkboard/slate reveal and pre-show the memory...make it a little bit of a thing, collect some people's memories before the performance... or maybe you could force it in some way... maybe equivoque some gifts, and on each label is the title of a memory...or even use a version of kioku, but make them up as birthday cards and mark the backs - each year Tim would send Ray a birthday card with his guesses in them...that kinda thing... you could even write them in crayon and do an additional effect by adding in a listo swami...

just throwing ideas around....

Svengali'd envelopes with birthday cards in too...or, if you wanted to go darker, the bereavement cards...