talkmagic.co.uk

I have an effect which ends with two people playing a game. At the end of the game a prediction is read out which matches the outcome.

One player, Susan, has already read the prediction. This is integral to the smoke of the effect.

The other player, Mike, has not read the prediction.

Once the game has been played, who do you think should read out the prediction.

My instinct is that I should read the prediction out, given that Susan has already read it, and therefore verifies that I'm not just pretending to read whatever the outcome is. My reasoning is that this easily runs in to the applause cue for the participants as they make their way back to their seats.

That said, I can see an argument for Susan or Mike reading it out.

What say you?

Instinctively, I shy away from Susan. The prediction is your reveal after all, she's not going to have that great reaction by reading the prediction is correct because she already knows it to be correct. You run the risk of her just nodding in agreement, not a brilliant applause cue by anyone's standards.

How is the prediction formatted? It's safe to assume it's not swamid (what's the right vernacular there?) if Susan's already read it. Could it be made large enough for the whole audience to read? Maybe have Mike hold it up and you read it out while everyone else is doing so?

in what setting is this?

Colour me eshly, but I'm thinking of an audience of 100+. The effect can be played out in parlour though.

I quite like the idea of the big prediction.

i'd have Mike read it... but then again, got no experience of stage-work...

how do you stop Susan from reacting to the prediction throughout though?

You don't. It's a game of chance; and she has read the prediction openly to herself. Ideally she should react.

How about a sheet which you unroll behind the back of the participants so that the entire crowd are in on it thus leaving only the one person that is awaiting the result??

If the sheet is unhooked slyly then it could play out like a massive card in mouth?!

Alec

kobain wrote:How about a sheet which you unroll behind the back of the participants so that the entire crowd are in on it thus leaving only the one person that is awaiting the result??

This could play VERY strongly depending on the effect itself. If Mike has somehow thought he's won this game, the prediction is rolled out behind him, out of view then that's going to get a very strong audience reaction.

Mr_Grue, any chance of elaborating on the nature of the game without giving too much away?

Can you not show the prediction? Otherwise it could just read 'play along, pretend I'm right'...
Unless it does?

I voted for Mike because he'll react as he reads it, and the audience will be watching him and not Susan (who *may* react when she hears what she already knows).
T.

I tend to agree with those performers who say that it's much better for the performer to read out a prediction, because they should be better at timing and maximising the impact of the revelation.

However, in this case, I think it might be better if Susan reads it out. You would say something like, "Susan, before you and Mike even played this game, I asked you to read a prediction [or whatever you're calling it Mr G]. For the first time for Mike and everyone else in the audience, will you please read that statement out loud."

This reminds people that she read it beforehand and that there's no way you switched your prediction. Obviously, people should remember what happened, but why not make it clear?

Susan's reaction will be the first part of the revelation. When/if she reacts, people should have an idea that something has happened, but they might not know what (again, it depends on whether you've made it clear that she read a prediction). I think in this instance, having her read out the prediction helps to distance it from the performer. Of course, some would say that it's best for the mentalist to be in the limelight the whole time.

However, without knowing the whole effect, it's hard to say. I don't think there is an unshakeably correct answer anyway.

Certainly much of the point of this, which is the final phase of a longer piece, is that I remain totally hands off throughout. I suppose having one of the participants read out the prediction holds to that.

The structure will allow me to jazz it slightly in terms of who reads out the prediction, but it's always better to have a path to stray from than no path to begin with.

Mr_Grue wrote:it's always better to have a path to stray from than no path to begin with.

Very profound!

Mr_Grue wrote:Colour me eshly,

Love that.

I go for Mike, as prompted by yourself. He's played the game and been in the dark all along, his reaction to it should be strong. If you get the feeling he's not an expressive type, not going to make the oomph that the reveal deserves, read it out yourself.

I would also stay away from having Susan read it out, she won't have any surprise to add to the whole thing, Mike will.

My two cents worth

can you make the prediction physically "big"? then you can just get both of them to show it...

but if this is eshly-vision, then having some kind of screen and handy-cam would sort it all for you wouldnt it...

its what derren does afterall...

if its cards on stage, how will you make sure the audience are involved in some way (if you've not got the cam/projector thing that is)?