Hello everybody!
I would like to know if anybody would like to share (via email) tricks which require ESP cards.

The last one I had been working on is one of Derren Brown’s.

One of my favorites is Paul Curry's Matchmaker with 2 packets of 5 ESP cards. It is detailed in 'Paul Curry's Worlds Beyond'. It is also in Paul Harris' Art of Astonishment, re-named the Break-room boredom buster.

Check out Max Maven's Videomind Volume 2 for a couple of my favorites.

Here are some other ESP card effects books that you may enjoy. Nick Trost has two, i.e., ESP Card Magic and ESP Sessions. They are typically Trost, but have some stong effects. I think they are out of print but check some of the bigger dealers and/or used book dealers.



Possibly one of the best books on the subject is Stephen Minch’s Mind Nova’s.

It was published by Micky Hades in 1980. Contact Hades or used book dealers.



Please remember that one or two ESP card effects go a long way in an ESP closeup routine, also, do not fall into the trap of doing "A four ace or torn and restored card trick" with them, also, I suggest that unless you are playing for an acedemic audience or as part of an ESP lecture, forget telling long stories about Dr. Rhine and his develpment and use of these cards at Duke University in the ’30’s, etc..

Besides Zenner is the developer.

Why not just tell your audience that these are symbol cards used by parapsychologists as one of the tools for testing ESP.

Hope this helps.



_________________

For those who believe, no explanation is needed. For those who do not believe, no explanation is necessary. Dunninger

Thank you everybody for your replies, that was good. Now Ian I love the Paul Curry one, but Derren’s one is far better. Only 10 cards (2 sets of symbols, no fakes, no marked cards etc...) this is simply the best version and the best trick made with ESP cards.



I also found a subtle way to force the eight of hearts verbally, it’s really easy. I think I should e-mail it to Derren.

Hi Mandragore. I’m glad you’re finding ESP tricks you like. I confess I’m a little puzzled by part of your last email. The Curry effect I referred to is often written up as performed with five cards (of whatever type) which as a packet are ripped in half, giving you five pairs to play with. However, you can just as well present it with any 5 pairs of cards (e.g. 2 x 5 ESP cards). The latter is how I prefer to present it. As such, it too uses "2 sets of symbols, no fakes, no marked cards...". So I don’t really see there’s any distinction to be made on that basis, although, of course, everyone will have his own preferences.

When you say ’Derren’s trick’ with 10 ESP cards, could you perhaps help me pinpoint which effect you are referring to? I’m familiar with DB’s excellent repertoire, but I don’t readily recall any ESP card tricks of his invention in his books or on his video. Any more clues?! Are you referring to the ESP card trick he performed in ’Mind Control II’? If so, you may be aware that this presentation was, (and I’m unsure how to express this in this forum,) enhanced by the context of its performance.

I’m sure DB will enjoy hearing of your psycho-vocal force of the 8H.

_________________


The most amazing cards in the world and the famous Levitating Cat.

Ian thank you very much for your reply, that was quick. The trick from Derren is not in his books or videos it was on Richard and Judy last thursday night. Saying that I am sure that you can use the same principle for what was done in mind control 2.



I really appreciate what D. Brown does and recommend his books and videos.



Ian, I am sorry if I confused you but I am french, so my english is not really good at times.



tell me this; when is Sense of Touches coming out? Because I am really looking forward to having a look at it.

How much would it be?



By the way the full fact book on cold reading is brilliant.



ben

Hi Mandragore. Alas, I did not see all of DB's appearance on R&J - only the later part of his first appearance and then the item at the end. So I missed the ESP cards entirely! Thank you for explaining!



Sense of Touch will be out in the New Year. The manuscript has been finished for ages but I had a really serious problem with a printer that has cost me a lot of money, and this caused a long delay. It's a shame, but that's life (ou peut-etre je dis 'c'est la vie' quand je vous ecris!). Price will be fixed when it is printed and ready for sale. Don't build up your hopes too much! It's a nice principle that you can have fun with but it's not that special.

Ian said about his next release;

"Don’t build up your hopes too much! It’s a nice principle that you can have fun with but it’s not that special."



Thanks Ian, from your advert I thought it was, I almost shelled out for it. But I guess it can be used with ESP cards



There are loads of ESP card matching effects out there,and many performers throw it away.The method of Derren’s was unimportant, the way he sold it, was. That was the finest presentation I have ever seen of the ESP card match up.



It’s possible to learn from Derren not by trying to figure out how he did it, but from how he is presenting it. Most performers are wasting too much time scratching their heads when they should be looking at their own presentations



Rather than all the Rhine background. I usually comment they may have seen the cards used in TV documentaries and in the film Ghostbusters (I figure more people can identify with the latter!)

I believe that ESP cards tend to be more suspect than playing cards. Everyone has seen and is familiar with a deck of playing cards, but ESP cards? Almost no one has seen them before. And the Dr. Rhine patter? Very few of the living have the slightest knowledge of Dr Rhine or his experiments.

I prefer to do my "ESP" effects with a regular deck of cards, using them simply as incidental props which just happen to be convenient for the experiment.



There is certainly room for disagreement here, but I have to laugh at those who say playing cards should never be used in a mentalism routine, and then proceed to pull out a deck of Bicycle rider back ESP cards...

Loads of laughter, or "LOL" in typical internet parlance. Well said, greatscott.

I was once asked why I don’t use ESP cards. I thought for a moment... then answered...

"I already have a thousand decks of these regular cards, and I am too cheap to by those expensive ESP cards. "...noooo.

I didn’t say that. But I did say that ESP cards only have 5 symbols. I could then easily find your card by making a simple guess. But with a regular deck of cards, I can’t just guess as there are 52 different cards. Much harder. ha ha ha...



Chad

I’m with Scott as well (along with such notables as Banachek, who writes on the subject in his notes Pre-Thoughts). In my new book Ramblings & Revelations (shameless plug ;o ) I suggest one possible way of getting around ESP cards being too unusual, which is to draw the symbols on blank index cards and use those instead. There’s something organic about the symbols drawn on cards that seems to say that there’s no way they could be gaffed, which is important to me.



--A



P.S. - For those interested, follow the link in my sig. to check out the book!



_________________

Andy Leviss

Check out my new book for mentalists, Ramblings and Revelations (and other products for magicians and mentalists) at:

http://www.asquaredproductions.com

I’m with Andy on that one… Anybody who was at Mind magic 2001 would have seen a neat little routine that involved a billet on show (sticking out the performer’s top pocket) and when a city of the world was called out it was revealed that the prepared billet contained the name of the city. It was neat and it was quick, but it struck me that, using the same method, a performer could take a piece of paper, draw on it sight unseen, an ESP symbol, and place it so that it stuck out of his pocket. The spec calls out a symbol, the billet is removed, and handed to an audience member – and blow me, they match. For a variety of reasons, this would work just as well, if not better, than the names of the towns. Additionally, if ESP cards were being used, the spec could select one of the face down zener cards, at the same time the performer hands the billet to the audience member. Then, for the first time, both card and billet are revealed as a perfect match.

greatscott and Ian are right. If you are going to do ESP card routines please do not use those with playing card backs. You can still get the original "star" backs, but they are not well made and some, now have a border. This takes away some things that could be done with the old decks.

I also agree that doing "one out of five" type effects is weak (By the way, this goes for the bulk of "one out of five" effects. I say the bulk because somewhere out there, there is probably a mindblowing effect of this type) Most experienced mentalists agree that the audience is not impressed because of the high probability that it could be gotten by chance.

Do not think that people are totally ignorant about ESP cards. Late last year one of the Colorado Lottery commercials had a lottery winner trying to name cards in a lab test situation. Guess what cards they were using in the commercial? You are right, ESP cards?

Finally, you need to determine why you want to do an ESP card effect.
Are you demonstrating what a Parapsychologist would do in the lab or what? If you can't answer this question, don't do it. Happy Holidays!!

Try http://www.allmagicreader.com.
They have a free ebook on ESP effects.
You can also download Microsoft reader for free

Possibly one of the biggest disgraces to the internet I've ever seen. Please don't visit for the sake of all that is good in this world.

The cards supplied with Beyond ESP2 are very practical and also come in a box that "makes sense" as it has the name of a professional(?) research facility printed clearly upon it. (PLUS you receive 2 decks and a booklet of effects AND the cards are cleverly marked.)

I second this. Absolutely wonderful deck and that box has saved me from the skeptics a few times.

Julie,

Are the BeyondESP2 easier to read from afar then the Royal ESP Card?

Candini