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So I was out doing a gig last night using my Imp pad for a name revelation.Afterwards one of the lads came up to me and said.The one with the notepad is a special notepad.I said no I showed that nothing seeped through on the page after the person ripped it out.He said ''yeah but it must be something that it skips a page or something like the bookies paper i dunno''.I said no way its nothing to do with it then he said ''Ah it is,it's magnets or something''.

Now the strange thing is that the crowd I was showing were totally convinced in what I was doing and said it was all to do with intuition and the likes etc.I just find it strange that the guess was so close if not spot on.

Then tonight I did the same thing for a young lady who put her hand underneath the page holding it as if she thought beforehand that something was going to seep through.I quickly adjusted things and it seemed to go down well after that.

I just want to know how many of you guys use Imp pads and do you ever have this sort of thing happen?

Hi,

obviously I use our ParaPad when I proceed a routine that utilizes an imp device.
And the ParaPad set contains a second ungimmicked substitute pad in addition to the gimmicked one.

So whenever I perform a routine using the pad, I have the ungimmicked pad in my pocket anyway and switch it against the gimmicked one in an off beat.

A request about the pad being somewhat prepared or "special" comes about 1 out of 50 times. In this case I simply present the switched-in regular pad and without any further quibbling or justification I say: "Keep it as a gift!" and I'm done.

Cheers
Th.

Thanks for your reply.the switching out is a good idea but I'd rather just carry around one pad.

It's interesting how you say 1 out of 50 people question the pad.this leaves me thinking about the people who out of the 49 others would be too shy or nice to say anything at all and just let you go about the routine.

Well, my estimation of 1 out of 50 was obviously a rough guess and not based on a valid evaluation.
But anyway, more often than not I perform in environments and for spectators where critical requests and challenging the performer is the rule rather than the exception.

Knowing this, I choreograph the performance in a way that on the one hand the imp pad isn't realized as an important prop (it goes unnoticed for the main part), and on the other hand it CAN be "inspected" if they want to.

The latter means NOT that I make a topic of the pad's innocence - but I "forget" the (switched-in) pad "randomly" on the table after the performance for example. This is a VERY clear psychological trigger, inducing the impression of fairness. Because, if you would have anything to hide, you would rather take care about the pad. To act absolutely carelessly with the pad demonstrates its innocence better than any explicit invitation for exploring the tool could be.

Apart from this, it is of major importance to choreograph the routine in a way that the imp pad and the act of writing becomes either virtually invisible (in retrospect at least) or the act of writing (on a pad) has an inner logic. This means that the act of writing isn't somewhat artificial and superfluous but reasonable and indispensable concerning the plot from the audience's point of view.

If we get the participant to write something on paper, the audience must think that there is good reason for this. If we don’t give them a good reason, they might start to look for a reason. It would be all too easy for them to deduce that we are playing a trick on them!
If there is no other motivation for asking the participant to write or draw something than our trick technique, sooner or later skeptics will probably query the request to write down something and then start to look for reasons to explain how the act really works.

It is therefore imperative that we take great care to provide the audience with a legitimate reason for the use of an impression device and the request to write something (which is superfluous, theoretically) so that we avoid any suspicion and disbelief.

There are several ways to induce an implicit justification for an impression device and there are several psychological motivations of writing down informations or drawing something.
So before one questions the innocence of a pad as a tool, he should rather reflect about the choreography of his performance.

Best
Th.

I've not heard of the ParaPad. . .

I use the Rigg's Butterfly more than anything but I have several other imp devices that I use for special situations. The thing is, I purposely have the Butterfly set for a series of effects in which people jot things down or else I remove slips in prelude to doing whatever. . . there are dozens of routines possible with a single pocket sized notepad and because of this I can completely remove suspicion that I'm somehow stealing information with the thing. Thanks to certain sods on the Television the clipboard has been exposed as has the use of NCR paper so it is wise to vary your methods, especially if you work the same location on a regular schedule.

That is what i tend to do. For example on saturday i was doing a table-to-table mind reading set and when i did drawing duplication i used various methods throughout out the night. One was a butterfly, one used business cards and a p**k and i also used a wallet (Which i know the craig hates! but i like them )

Stephen Ward wrote:That is what i tend to do. For example on saturday i was doing a table-to-table mind reading set and when i did drawing duplication i used various methods throughout out the night. One was a butterfly, one used business cards and a p**k and i also used a wallet (Which i know the craig hates! but i like them )

Not that I "hate" them, it's like playing cards, they have a place. The problem is, too many of us become overly dependent on the gimmick vs. learning how to do real work such as Billets and Peeks.

Now, doing mentalism in the same way you would close-up magic. . . now there's something I really hate

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Craig what is your opinion in regards to my question?0

To impression pad users.when getting the peek,do you get it in the act of closing the pad.if so do you use added misdirection or do you simply do it as you close the pad?

Depends on the pad you use!

Cheers
Th.

Interesting.i currently use a notepad made from psypher materials.

The thing is that I have to pick at a page and then get the peek.all covered under the act of closing the pad up and putting it away.I personally don't like the idea of looking down at the pad after the name or drawing is written.I was thinking of occupying the spectator a little as I get get the peek although this may even arouse more suspicion.It should go without saying that getting the peek should be done in the most nonchalant manner but I always feel the need to improve things

When you made a pad on your own, it will be difficult to offer you an appropriate advice.
For example, it makes a huge difference where exactly you stick the particular material to; - on a sheet or on a cover, on a front or on a back side, whether you flip the first page over to the back to write on it or not, etc.

All those technical aspects determine the process of getting the peek.
With the ParaPad for example you simply close the pad once you've got it back from the participant and you're done.
Whether you throw it on the table afterwards or pocket it makes no difference.

But as I said, the options that you have are definitively determined by your exact construction.

Cheers
Th.