talkmagic.co.uk

So if nothing else I'm sure this thread will stimulate plenty of debate.

I'm putting together a small piece for a tabled setting where in I am going to be performing at a dinner party. I wont bore you with the actual routine but I want to put something in there that is like a Q & A. Unfortunately though this isn't an area I've wandered into before and although I'm aware that there are plenty of methods out there, I have little knowledge of any of them.

I'm after some pointers to some of the good ones with perhaps the pro's and con's for them too.

I hope someone can help me. I know there are several people on here who perform these so maybe they will see this thread. I look forward to reading some responses.

Here's my Q&A. Depending on your performance style and what you want to achieve, it may not suit you. But I love it!

http://www.readerofminds.co.uk/page_26.html

^^^^ I use this, great, great, great

Bob Cassidy's Scorpio's Message is nice too and Jack Kent Tillar has a good routine in his Trio book. The best thing to do with a Q&A is to research as many methods as possible and put together your own routine, mixing and matching methods. My Q&A is a mixture of three different methods.

The thing is, Paul, Stephen, Lady of Mystery--he wants to perform a 'small' setting. No sign of his want ing to be a full mentalist.
The Q & A Act--my favourite side of mentalism--is very difficult to do at the beginning. It takes a very long time to learn & develop; how to cold read people, answer the questions in the 'right' way; to be prepared for silly, awkward and specific questions.
And for someone, inexperienced in this side of Magic & at a dinner table----!

What we need to know is--HOW long is this segment of Q & A.?
Is he standing up or seated at the table.?
Is it for one table or the entire venue?

EXACTLY what does hds want to achieve?

It sounds as if something like the 3 Billet Test by E G Brown, in Masterpieces of Magic, editied by Douglas Craggs. This is adaptable; I discarded the table knife idea & the chanpagne glass -it was originally intended as an after dinner effect. It served me well as a one off mental item for nearly 50 years.
And there is only 1 move and the one AH used.

Allen Tipton

A spot on post, Allen.

One of the problems with Q&A isn't the mechanics of it, but making it look good (not sure I am up to it, really).

And if you want to start with the basics..

Eddie Burke (Mr. E Enterprises) put out a 20 page book--'The Q & A Act', which contains a fair number of the methods etc.

Progression comes with experience.

Allen Tipton

Ok. . . the Q&A is one of the strongest bits in Mentalism FOR THOSE THAT ARE SOLID READERS. . . if you don't have solid reading skills you will look like a fool.

My questions are rather simple, starting with how accurate you want to be. . . what's your objective when it comes to delivery?

Not all Q&A type routines involve questions, there are several that involve character analysis which can be far more fun and funny be it Graphology or Tree Drawings or simply reading people's doodles. There is likewise the act of psychometry which plays exceptionally well and for a dinner party such as you describe, may prove quite practical. I have a spin on a Hilford piece, in which I use tarot cards; a deck is cut numerous times by guests and cards chosen. Apparently there is no way I could possibly know who has what card and yet I'm able to describe the energy and idea conveyed by said card and in so doing, deliver an eye-opening reading to the patron. The method is little more than a Si Stebbens stack and use of certain observational techniques (including the patron's name) that allow me to sew a canvass together.

The Name, Colors, Numerology of a person are all fundamental cues that allow a Reader to convey details to a patron, I covered this in my EASY READING book and much was echoed via my good friend TC Tahoe in his book RIDING THE RAINBOW. Both books however come as an evolution of older materials penned by Ken DeCourcy, Ron Martin & Richard Webster with Richards contributions being of tremendous value; his PSYCHOMETRY FROM A-Z giving you all you really need for delivering a potent Q&A sequence.

If you really want to work with billets however, take a look at your Annemann and the Burt Reese table routine, it's really all you need, everything else is just a variation to this elementary handling.

I saw a superb thread on the cafe with someone wanting to do Q&A with no experience as a reader. You do have to wonder what some of these people hang there presentations on. Craig's free pdf on learning to cold read is worth looking over it touches a little on Q&A if you haven't read it. From the situation your working in Voodini's routine psychic phenomena could be an alternative for you instead of Q&A. It could easily be adapted to a dinner table. It does make use of Tarot, so don't know if that's something you'd use. Psychometry again could be a good alternative as I imagine your working with smaller numbers. A psychometry routine could get everyone involved and mean they all get a reading of a sort.

Some wonderful suggestions so far. I'm aware that it's not strictly speaking, a Q&A but for a small and close up audience I'll often perfrom Mr Andy Nyman's Magician's Graphology. I'd highly recomend that you were to do a little background reading in reading before trying any sort of Q&A.

The thing is guys--hds does NOT want to become a mentalist. He is hoping to perform a SMALL setting at a dinner party.

IF HDS would answer my questions in my first reply we would ALL KNOW EXACTLY what he wants THEN WE could advise him his needs more accurately.

I read his post as-1 performance to 1 dinner party.
Not all round a restaurant.

Allen Tipton

Hello, and thank you all for the replies. Sorry it's taken me a day or so to respond. There's a lot of information to process here.

Well as for the venue and performance, it will be for a single group or people, seated at a table. The entire performance time will be aprox. 20-30 minutes, kind of an after dinner thing.

As it's been said, I'm not attempting to step into the mentalists domain, I am rather seeing if I can incorporate something like this into a close-up setting. Unfortunately the only methods for this type of thing I can think of are actually Rebecca's and another I remember from a while ago, both very cleaver but not really practical for what I want. I'd like to say that although I appreciate the replies regarding readings, I'm not planning on working with things like tarrot cards, graphology, ect. It's not that type of thing I'm going for. More the thing of finding out what has been written and placed in envelopes prior to the performance.

Sorry for the brief reply, I plan on getting some more time free later on.

Well, first of all I get very bent when it comes to magicians stepping in on Mentalist territory. I think it's a cheap PR shot most of the time. Secondly, I don't think the performer will benefit in doing such things because of how Mentalism invokes belief where Magic suspends it -- they are psychological opposites when it comes to how both work and those that see it as being "a trick" loose on multiple levels.

That said, you have a couple of simple options based on what you've described the best being that you do a bulk switch on the envelopes and secretly open the real ones, take some quick notes that you can conceal in some way (I usually use the top edge of a Legal Pad, where the paper tears off -- a Ted Lesley idea). The Dummy Slips should be destroyed during your performance however.

I'm hesitant to suggest the use of clearing liquids such as Ether, Alcohol and Dry Cleaning Solution but they are practical to your scenario, I'll leave it to you to figure out a method of application but would suggest you look up an old effect from the GEM Magic Co. here in the states called GEM SEE or check out Borodin's Tray in "Final Curtain".

NOTE: if you use clearing fluids during real time, you will want scented candles or some other olfactory "Misdirection" because of the smell said chemicals give off. Too, if you use ether, be exceptionally careful. . . it will knock you out.

I don't know how much preparation you can do, but it strikes me that this might be what you are looking for: http://www.leapinglizardsmagic.com/cssp ... mpleqa.htm
I found the method super clever. It was not what I was looking for, but I have no doubt it would kill.
If the performance whets your appetite, you could try the Eddie Burke book already mentioned, then follow with the works of Paul Bell, Jerome Finley (expensive!), and Bob Cassidy. They have been the most useful to me.