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"Have you ever tried to see through another person's eyes? I would often find myself wondering what it's like to see and feel things from the point of view of random people. When riding my bike to do errands or just for exercise, I see a lot of people sitting on benches, waiting for buses, or just walking. I would try to see what they see, just out of curiosity. The world must seem completely different."

Performer takes out a piece of paper and scribbles something onto it.

"In a moment, we're actually going to send you into my mind- well, kinda. You're going to have to use your imagination to see through my eyes like I tried to do to others. I wrote a two digit number on this piece of paper. In a moment, I'm going to need you to relax and use your imagination- and I sense you have a fairly good one."

Wait a couple seconds.

"Now. Close your eyes if you should want to and relax. Look at me from where you are and see how I am. Reverse the perspective so you see through my eyes. See yourself standing in front of you as you do, try to get the image clear, but you will feel an odd sensation in your mind as you do so. Strange, isn't it? Now look- in your mind- at your or my hand. See the piece of paper. You can see it, can't you? Sorry, it's a bit messy, but you should be able to make out the numbers. When you're good and ready, come back in yourself and tell me what you saw."

Of course, they saw the correct number.

Would this be a good presentation for a simple swami effect? I'm been thinking about incorporating the idea of the spectator seeing through someone else's eyes and this approach seemed pretty good. I tried incorporating some Wonder Words, but I'm still fairly new to WW, so I hope it doesn't come off as too weird for those of you who are expert at it.

Thanks,
MH

[edit 10/8] Thanks, I altered the patter to fit the advice given so far.
[edit 10/13] Changed it a bit more.

That sounds excellent Mr Sleight.

Very visual and has a good participation aspect to it.

My only hesitation however is having the spectator close their eyes. I know in this case it's a Swami presentation and it'll afford good cover, but It's always been a sticking point for me.
I mean, you could be doing absolutely anything when the spec's eyes are closed. You aren't (obviously ), but if a spec thinks back and says to himself "well I had my eyes closed for a bit" then it can take the edge off an effect. Even if logically it doesn't make any difference to 'how it could be done'.

I try not to have a spec close their eyes unless it's absolutley necessary. Sometimes they do anyway, and I have to remind them to "look at me", or something similar.

Anyway, thumbs up.

Thanks. I can probably cut out the part where they close their eyes. I figured it would be easier for them to picture it (if they actually try) when their eyes are closed.
Thanks again,
MH

You might say something like "if you'd like, you can close your eyes" this gives them the option to close their eyes and if they do they can think back and say "but he didn't force me to close my eyes"

sounds good though

Thanks. I changed it to fit your advice. I'm going to give this a shot tomorrow at school.

sleightlycrazy wrote:Thanks. I changed it to fit your advice. I'm going to give this a shot tomorrow at school.

tell us how it goes! Sounds like it could really be a great presentation.

Sadly, I didn't get an opportunity today. I'll let you guys know when I do.

I did it twice today! The first one killed- the guy (my friend) was completely fooled and said he like the idea of it. The second person (at a totally different time) said he liked it too. Now I have to think of where I can fit it in an act.
Thinking about presentation should be more important than learning new sleights.

[edit 10/13] I got to use it again. The person I originally invited to see through my eyes got stuck and simply said she couldn't do it. Do you guys have any thoughts on how to handle people who don't have the adequate visual imagination?

I switched to a different person, and she played along, but I have a feeling she didn't actually try to visualize the scene. She saw a number, though and was surprised to see that the actual written number (17) looked as ambiguous as I said it would (I do so for misdirection)- she saw both 17 and 12, but decided on 17.

This presentation is actually very fun for me. If any of you use it, I'd love to hear your experience.
Thanks,
M

OOO

I found a neat subtlety using wonder words. The pre written part of the card (which is the top half) says "See the #" with the blank for the swami (if that's exposure at all, mods, please feel free to edit it). After the effec tis over, I said

"You know, last time I did this, the guy I did this for looked at my while seeing through my eyes and said 'Hey, the number sign looks a bit odd. It's supposed to be italicized.' I had a brick wall behind me and the sun was behind him so he couldn't see through the paper or anything. He told me what number I wrote and laughed when he saw that he was actually correct about both things."

I think this can plant a lot of neat ideas in people's heads.

not clear on the first have of that, but the second half seems like a great subtlety. Good job

Yes It's a good presentation. It is good this way in that it takes away the emphasis of them telling you the number. For example if you asked them to think of a number, then asked them what it was, people tend to be reluctant. Whereas, this way, they are visualising something you are sending them and you want to know if they are correct. It turns the 'test' around. For those reasons it's my prefered presentation too.

sleightlycrazy wrote:[edit 10/13] I got to use it again. The person I originally invited to see through my eyes got stuck and simply said she couldn't do it. Do you guys have any thoughts on how to handle people who don't have the adequate visual imagination?

I switched to a different person, and she played along, but I have a feeling she didn't actually try to visualize the scene. She saw a number, though and was surprised to see that the actual written number (17) looked as ambiguous as I said it would (I do so for misdirection)- she saw both 17 and 12, but decided on 17.

M

Some folks are more audio than visual. Others, more physical. If they have trouble "seeing it", they may have no trouble "hearing" or in some other way "sensing" it - so you could work in these options...

Best to you-

Steve

Your presentation was great! I do a similar swami presentation, where I ask the spectator to concentrate on their birthdate. Then I act like I've failed and show them a two/one digit number which is their age.

.:Ham:.

Mahoney- I can't agree more. I didn't appreciate the swami a year ago when I got it because the lame "Tell me so I can tell you" suggestion was the only way I could think of doing things. To be honest, the idea of them seeing through my eyes came before the idea of using a swami as evidence.

Shufton- thanks for your thought on the types of people who are around. I found that in a small group situation, people who do the same thing react with a "Heey! I do the same thing!". Obviously, they should be the ones used. Again thanks for pointing out the different types of thinking. I might be able to add a few words in to allow specs to get the number any way they can, while pushing them (not hard) to try to see it.

Ham- That sounds interesting. Unfortunately, the people who make up my audience are usually from my school. Telling a freshman that she's 14 years old lacks impact... It would be a nice opener, I suppose, at a party environment full of various people.

Thanks for the input, guys.

Well, I do it for a variety of ages, I usually have the audience decide on a volunteer while my back is turned. Then go into it with my back turned.

.:Ham:.