NAVI2WATERMARKED
Peter Turner
7,290 wordsMentalismintermediateThank you so much for purchasing Navigator 2. Those of you who know my work and have been performing ‘Navigator 1’ will know that this has gone through vigorous testing before sharing it. Navigator 1 was a very proud moment in my life, and this book seeks to expand on the first one.
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INTRODUCTION Thank you so much for purchasing Navigator 2. Those of you who know my work and have been performing ‘Navigator 1’ will know that this has gone through vigorous testing before sharing it. Navigator 1 was a very proud moment in my life, and this book seeks to expand on the first one. You do not need to purchase Navigator 1 to use this book's effects. Navigator 2 stands alone. A little about me - I got into magic by watching my uncle perform a simple trick at a young age. Fast forward a several years, and I found myself performing mentalism and producing video projects that captured my work alongside Peter Turner. During my time working alongside Pete and ‘The 13 Souls’, I grew as a mentalist and performer to a level I never thought possible. I have once again returned to the country divination plot, not to try and better Navigator 1, but to continue my journey (mind the pun) in that area of mentalism. The 'country divination' plot has always been an obsession, and every time I sit down and think about it, I continuously find myself fascinated with the plot all over again. It's hard to describe the feeling of achievement I felt when I awoke one morning to discover Penguin magic had listed Navigator 1 in the 'best sellers' list. I continued to let Navigator evolve and change direction, continually trying new methods and finding ways to guess what country someone was thinking of accurately. Notebook after notebook piled up until finally, I had 'Navigator 2'. Many of the ideas in this book were written whilst on the road. My wife and I own a camper van, and whenever we can, we explore the length and breadth of the UK and beyond. Finding the wildest places and moving from place to place with no real agenda or plan other than following the open road. Our adventures on the road have found us driving through France and Spain and spending considerable time in Ibiza camping in the van. There is no feeling on earth like packing up the van and driving over thousands of miles of the open road. However, more important than that are the people we have met along the way, especially in Ibiza. I am not talking about the party side of Ibiza but of the ‘East Coast’ where people gather from all over the world on the hippie markets and beach gatherings. These interactions have been inspiring and integral to the way I think about my work in mentalism. I have been able to gain insights into the world in ways I would never have dreamt was possible if it weren't for travel. I've learnt about culture, tradition and adventure. I have travelled to many places, including Canada, the US, South Africa, and Europe. My travels have certainly inspired the material in this book. I am aware that you have bought this to learn an effect and not read a biography about my life, but I thought it would help give you a glimpse into who I am if you're not familiar with my work. Without further ado, let's delve into Navigator 2. I hope you enjoy it, Reese Goodley Howarth 2020 W H Y A C O U N T R Y D I V I N A T I O N? In the world of mentalism, we have many different divination plots, Star signs, names, dates of birth and so on; however, I wholeheartedly believe nothing is more powerful than a country divination. Performing a country divination, we can take our participants on a journey that exists only in their minds; it is a journey that can feel very real once they begin to visualise the sights and the sounds of the place. It's an authentic feeling version of 'Astral Travel'. Once you know which country the participant is thinking of the possibilities of what you can reveal are endless. For example, if they think of China, you are not limited to revealing just the name of the country, you are free to reveal a famous landmark or an animal also. The participant if they want can focus on the state of the weather, the traditions associated with that country, and you can quickly reveal that information. Today is 12/11/20, and the UK is in lockdown (like many other parts of the world). Many people didn't get to travel this year, so having a person visualise a place and travel to that place mentally can be a therapeutic exercise for the participant. The experience can be very emotional, which they will never forget. Many performers are currently favouring online performances on platforms such as ‘Zoom’, this will work perfectly in those arenas. Travel and culture are at the very heart of who we are as human beings. The world is so beautifully diverse with landscapes, nature, traditions, music and of course people, and it's this very idea that we will explore in Navigator 2. Just as a quick note, this routine provides the perfect foundation to one-ahead from and reveal anything that a participant might think of. THE SCRIPT (Author's note, the performance opens up with a short, simple script that I recommend you remember. However, it is not crucial. Follow it along, learn it and then change it to suit your character.) PERFORMER: "There are over 190 different countries in the world. Each of which has specific things that we associate with them. For example, if I said baguettes, wine and onions what country would you think of?" PARTICIPANT: "France". PERFORMER: "Exactly likewise if I said bright lights and Harleys you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "USA". PERFORMER: "One final one, Siberian Tigers?" PARTICIPANT: "Siberia?" (Author's note, this is a technique called 'limiting via inclusion' It kills these choices from being selected later, and reduces the field of possibilities.) PERFORMER: "I know that sounds silly, but it's going to be important in a moment. We are going to go on an imaginary journey in our mind. Instead of thinking of one of the 190 countries, to make the trip more enjoyable, think of an animal specifically associated with a country such as a lion, which is related to Kenya or parts of Africa. Please think of the animal and the country that animal it is linked to. (Author’s note, we have made it appear that the participant can choose any country in the world. In reality, we have used the 'restricting without seeming restrictive' principle; there are only a small number of countries that the spectator will naturally be able to think of. The next line of scripting will make the number of choices seem more considerable than the selection of 190 countries.) PARTICIPANT: "Ok, I've got one". PERFORMER: "The reason this is far more interesting is that there are thousands upon thousands of different types of animal in the world, from Flamingo's in the Bahamas to Canis Lupus in Estonia. You have one animal locked in your thoughts and a country also. ". (Author’s note, if you want to ensure that the participant definitely doesn’t pick one of the aforementioned countries say, “Of course don’t go for an animal from the places I have mentioned as that would be too easy”. Notice that I didn’t mention ‘country’ I said place as earlier I mentioned Africa which is a continent. We have now lured the participant to commit to a thought from a restricted list. This is the restricted list I stick to. Camel- Egypt Panda- China Koala/Kangaroo – Australia Bald Eagle- America Elephant/Tiger – India Elephant – Thailand Moose/Bear- Canada I have found that 99% of the time these are the animals that come up. Out of every time I have performed this, only one time I happened by chance to perform for an animal enthusiast. You can quickly poll at the beginning of the performance to prevent this. Most people are not so it is unnecessary. The method I use to know the exact animal and country that the participant is thinking of, is the trusty anagram. THE ANAGRAM This anagram is very easy to perform and remember as it is only uses three letters. This anagram works in the same way as any other anagram. You call out the letters in the list and if you get a "Yes" from the participant move down to the next letter. If you get a "No" move to the right. A - Egypt (Camel) | I - Canada (Moose or Bear) | L - China (Panda)/ India (Tiger) | Thailand (Elephant)/ Australia (Kangaroo or Koala) Note to Reader, one of the great benefits of this anagram is that you will only ever receive one "no". I have also provided several techniques to hide that “no”. Not that I believe it should be hidden. If I hit a branch on the anagram that leaves me with two possible countries, there are a few ways to hone in on the participant's exact thoughts. For example, the India/ China branch. The first method is to switch from the country's letters and say, "I see black and white, does this make sense to you?" If they are thinking of a Panda in China, they will confirm it makes sense. If the participant says, "no", then you are down to India and can quickly follow up with, "I am sure you're are seeing black letters on a white sign in your mind. I am 100% sure you're thinking of India, and you were thinking of a Tiger". The participant's reaction will confirm that you were right, and then the comment about the colours will never seem a miss. You can also use Derren’s 'repeat it ploy', again let’s imagine you are down to India or China say, "keep saying your country over and over in your mind, like India, India, India". If the participant reacts, you know it's India, if not, you know it's China. If the participant does not react, continue quickly, "over and over in your mind, are you doing that?" Instead of using the colours or 'repeat it ploy', you can describe the animal and if the participant reacts, you know you are on the right path. For example - "I am feeling this animal is dangerous" (Gauge the participant's reaction) if they agree, you know if it's out of India/ China, a Tiger is going to be perceived as dangerous. If the participant says no or looks as though they are thinking "not really", quickly follow up with, "Even though what you are thinking of is a herbivore, I wouldn't want to cross a wild Panda's path mid feed!" They will react, and the 'miss' is washed right away! If you want to be creative, you can clean up the miss of the letters in the anagram process in some instances. Let me explain, on the first branch of the anagram the letter you throw out is the letter 'A', and if it misses you know, the participant is thinking of a 'Camel.' When the participant says "No" to you calling out the letter ‘A’, follow up by saying, "I am 100% seeing the letter 'A', hmm, it must be in the name of the animal. There is an A in the animal's name, right?" Of course, the answer will be "yes" because you know the animal, which washes away the miss. Of course, the performance is more important than just throwing out letters. The anagram process has to be presented in a fun and interesting way. Let's look at the anagram with the presentation surrounding it. PERFORMER: "I want you to imagine you get on a plane to this country and as you come out of the airport you envision the sights and sounds. Close your eyes and start to experience this, you feel excitement as you look up at a huge sign that says, ‘welcome to…’ and your country's name is written in big letters on this sign. All I want you to do is begin by focusing on those letters for me. It's hazy at first as I start to tune in on your thoughts. I believe I am seeing an 'A'. PARTICIPANT: "Yes". PERFORMER: "There's the letter 'I'". PARTICIPANT: "YES" PERFORMER: "And an 'L' also". PARTICIPANT: "NO". PERFORMER: "Hmm, I see black and white does this make sense to you?" PARTICIPANT: "Not Really no". PERFORMER: "I am sure you are looking at a white sign, with black letters. Is it a black and white sign?" PARTICIPANT: "YES!" PERFORMER: "Good, imagine visiting a place in this country where your animal would naturally be, imagine you are looking at it from a distance. Be careful though this animal is dangerous but beautiful. You are looking at a Tiger in India, right? PARTICIPANT: "YES!". Note to reader, in this example; you can see the point at which we knew the participant was thinking of India. We eliminated the other possible countries with ease through a quick and easy process. I chose this as an example of how this routine plays out - because it is the most complicated outcome! If this outcome is the most complicated to execute, think of how seamless the other outcomes are! Never assume the participant saying "no" during an anagram is terrible. It allows the audience and the participant to believe that you do not know their thought, making the revelation more powerful. If you wanted to dismiss the anagram process entirely, you could apply this beautiful principle. E X T I N G U I S H – Peter Turner This principle will allow you to wash away the miss in any anagram process to completely wipe the slate clean in the participant and the audience's mind. All you have to do is find a piece of information that contains all of the letters in your anagram. In this case, the anagram uses the letters, 'A', 'I' and 'L'. 'Latvia' contains all of these letters. Ask the participant to imagine sending you the letters in their country's name, look at the spectator, pretend to read them and write down 'LATVIA'. Do not let the spectator see this, but the audience is free to see it. Performer: "I am going to call out letters in the place I am thinking of and strike them off if I am correct, I feel I have this". Now run through the anagram. If you get a "No" in the anagram, look at the participant and earnestly ask them, "You weren't thinking of Latvia then?" They will state that they were not, tear up the piece of card and say, "We will have to try this a different way". The audience wash away the place and with that the letters also! You are free to use the reductive processes on the branch you are on to get to the spectator’s thought with ease. If you do go through all of the letters in the anagram, say, "Wait, I knew all of those letters were in the place, but I feel I was a little presumptuous". Tear up the piece of card. Now move into reading the spectator 'differently' and reveal the animal and place from the anagram's last branch. For the sake of hammering the point home, let's go from the start of the script again and look at a different outcome so you can see how the routine plays out without any breaks. PERFORMER: "There are over 190 different countries in the world. Each of which has specific things that we associate with them. For example, if I said baguettes, wine and onions you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "France" PERFORMER: "Exactly likewise if I said bright lights and Harleys you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "USA, America" PERFORMER: "One final one, Siberian Tigers?" PARTICIPANT: "Siberia?" PERFORMER: "I know that sounds silly, but it's going to be important in a moment. We are going to go on an imaginary journey in our mind. Instead of thinking of one of the 190 countries, to make the trip more enjoyable, think of an animal specifically associated with a country such as a lion, which is related to Kenya or parts of Africa. Please think of the animal and the country that animal it is linked to. PARTICIPANT: "Ok, I've got one". PERFORMER: "The reason this is far more interesting is that there are thousands upon thousands of different types of animal in the world, from Flamingo's in the Bahamas to Canis Lupus in Estonia. You have one animal locked in your thoughts and a country also. ". PERFORMER: "I want you to imagine you get on a plane to this country and as you come out of the airport you imagine the sights and sounds around you. A feeling of excitement washes over you as you look up at a sign that says welcome to and the sign finishes with the name of your country written in big letters underneath. To begin with, all I want you to do is to focus on those letters for me. It's hazy at; first, I think I see the letter A?" PARTICIPANT: "NO". PERFORMER: I am sure I can see the letter A, hmmm. I can't stop seeing it. Ahh, there is an A in the animal's name, right? PARTICIPANT: "Yes". "I know why it was hazy; I saw sand storms and pyramids with camels; you are in Egypt!" Of course, the reaction will be great, and it is that quick and clean. The animal category allows me to naturally reduce the number of possibilities massively whist, seemingly making the choice larger. You can see how the script forces the participant into thinking of a particular country as we did in Navigator 1. Navigator 2 gives more of a feeling that the participant can think of any country in the world. That’s what makes this much more powerful. The animal category allows me to naturally reduce the number of possibilities massively whist, seemingly making the choice larger. A TIP WHEN USING ANAGRAMS If you are not familiar with anagramming, this is a must-read section. It is very short but is the key to appearing credible. Whenever anagramming as we go through each letter, we tell the participant what letter it is we are seeing, WE ARE NOT ASKING THEM. This point is vital to the overall illusion of the effect. For example, "There's an L in this" or "I am seeing an L". not "is there an L in this??" Remember, you are a mind reader; don't ask the participant. Author's note, the ONLY exception to this rule is the first letter as you would naturally not be in tune with the participant. H O W TO M E M O R I S E T H E A N A G R A M In terms of memorising the anagram, it is a case of saying it repeatedly and practising the anagram over and over. Learn the script line by line and break it down slowly, don't try learning the whole thing off by heart in an hour, take your time and practice. Say it to yourself in the car on the way to work; I always find that helpful. In terms of learning the anagram, I have tried to simplify this even more than I did in Navigator 1. Navigator 1 while great was a lot to take in, whereas I wanted this to be quick, straightforward, and easy to remember. However, it will still take some memory work. That is the nature of anagrams. That is of course unless you are lucky enough to have a photographic memory – which I don't, creating this and remembering it took work. I 100% know it can be performed after hearing/ reading it once. I know this because I was on the phone to Pete Turner and Pete listened to me explain the effect (just once) and performed this back to me with added detail. So, it can be done. I have several systems in place to help me remember the anagrams I use. I stick the anagram (drawn out) above my bathtub, I save it as a screenshot and have it as my phone background. This way of thinking forces me to look at the anagram every time I pick the phone up or get a bath. I record the anagram and play it back as I fall asleep. I live and breathe the damn thing until I can say it backwards. Once you have everything memorised, the next stage is practice, practice, and more practice. I also begin by performing this type of effect on my family and friends; that way, it doesn't matter if you have to start again. When you are practising this, it's a good idea to practice your pacing and speed of delivery, practice how long your pauses will be as well. Practice will build up your confidence to confidently deliver the effect, thus making the overall illusion of mind reading even stronger. Don't worry if you mess it up the first time, take a breath and go again, a lot of people give up on the first few attempts and therefore miss out on how the effect plays out once it is mastered. This is easier than learning a card stack and the effect in my opinion is much, much more powerful. FORCING THE CATEGORY Now you have the core concept of Navigator 2 down; it is essential to know that you are not restricted to asking the participant to think of the animals category. You can also give the participant the choice of a few other categories and guide the participant towards the animal category. This will make the selection process seem much greater and when the participant or the audience try to backtrack the effect because of how open the first choice seems it will only intensify the impossibility of the effect. A couple of great categories are music genres and films. The reason these categories are so good is even if the participant against all odds chooses one of these categories you can handle it with ease. Peter Turner shares a brilliant tip that forces the spectator to go for the animal category later in the book. Remember though in an ideal world, the participant will always choose the animal category, which is my preferred outcome. I have shared several techniques (again later in the book) that will nudge the participant firmly in that direction. Should the spectator choose to be awkward and go for music genre or film genre, the whole routine is designed to accommodate. The music and film categories are not so random; I have chosen them as they also fall into the 'restricting' without seeming restrictive category. Let's say you have got to the end of the script and the participant selected the music genre category. We will analyse under a microscope the scripting. PERFORMER: "We can see how different countries have different cultures that we associate with them. What I would like us to do is go on a journey in our minds to a country. To make this more interesting, I would like you to think of something associated with a country. For example, I would like you to think of an animal that is specifically associated with that country such as a lion which is associated with Kenya. If it's too challenging to think of an animal associated with a country, then think of either a music genre or a film associated with a country and let me know when you've got one." Author's note, the participant, will not want to admit that they cannot think of an animal associated with a particular country; therefore, they will always try to do that first before thinking of a film or a genre of music. In the rare instance that the participant does think of a musical genre, the restricted list is as follows. Rock/Metal/blues/jazz/country/- America Rock/metal/pop- Britain Reggae- Jamaica Opera- Italy Irish folk- Ireland These are listed in the order of the popularity of how often they come up. Performer: "There's a letter I in this". There is an 'I' in all of the countries listed associated with music genres. Performer: "It's not the first letter in this country, is it? Author's note, this is a closed question you can frame the participant's answer as a hit regardless of how they answer. If the spectator answers, "yes", then the country is either Italy/ Ireland. If the spectator says "No" continue, Performer: "I didn't think so, glad we are getting in tune with each other. There is definitely the letter A?" (I know the answer will be "yes" as it is in each country listed. Performer: "An M as well?" If the spectator says "Yes" = America or Jamaica. "No" = Britain/ Great Britain Take your time to read over this and memorise it as described. I don't mean to be repetitive, but I'd like to fit this scenario into a script so that you feel confident in how this plays out in a rolling performance. PERFORMER: "There are over 190 different countries in the world. Each of which has specific things that we associate with them. For example, if I said baguettes, wine and onions you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "France". PERFORMER: "Exactly likewise if I said bright lights and Harleys you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "The USA". PERFORMER: "We can see how different countries have different cultures that we associate with them. I would like us to go on a journey in our minds to a country. To make this more interesting, I would like you to also think of a category to go with that country. For example, I would like you to think of a country and think of an animal that is specifically associated with that country such as a lion which is associated with Kenya. If it’s too challenging to think of an animal associated with a country, then think of either a music genre or a film associated with a country ad let me know when you've got one." PARTICIPANT: "Got one." PERFORMER: "Out of all the countries in the world, you selected one, and you also decided upon the category, which was a free choice. Which category did you decide upon?" PARTICIPANT: "Music genre." PERFORMER: "I want you to do is to imagine you get on a plane to this country and as you come out of the airport, you imagine the sights and sounds around you. A feeling of excitement washes over you as you look up at a sign that says, ‘welcome to…’ and has your country written in big letters on it. All I want you to do is begin to focus on those letters for me. PARTICIPANT: "Ok" PERFORMER: "There's a letter I in this." PARTICIPANT: "Yes". PERFORMER: "It isn't the first letter, is it?" PARTICIPANT: "Yes". PERFORMER: "Perfect we are starting to get in tune with one another. I would like you to explore this country in your mind. See the sights in your mind, and hear the sounds around you, imagine what the scene looks like. As you do this, say the country over and over inside your mind. Like Italy, Italy, Italy, (no reaction from participant so carry on) repeatedly. I see lots of greenery, this isn't a hot country, there are lots of mythical legends and stories here and a strong, beautiful accent coming from the people. I almost want to do a jig, are you in Ireland." PARTICIPANT: "YES". Take a moment to look at how clean that is. The participant was asked to think of a country and think of a category to attach to this country. They were asked to imagine this country written in the air, you then immediately got a letter correct and knew that it was the first letter. You then went on to describe the country in detail. Notice also the use of the 'repeat it ploy' to distinguish between Italy or Ireland. Another point to take away from this example is how we don't just come straight out with "Is this Ireland?" Instead, we pause, take our time and begin describing aspects of the country. Always remember we aim to provide the participant with an experience they will never forget; we are not merely showing them how clever we can be. To hammer the point home, Let's take another look at the Music genre category with a different outcome. In this example, I want to discuss British music; there are many ways to go about it. It is likely to come up due to British music's influence from examples such as The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Oasis, Iron Maiden etc. Due to us being an awkward little Island, people associate a few names with UK, United Kingdom, British Isles, Great Britain, Britain, or just England. Because this is a mentalism effect and not a history or politics lesson, I won't bore you with the reasons why. I have found consistently that because we are talking in terms of music, it is most often than not referred to as British and most people will then think Britain or Great Britain which is why they are both in the anagram. If you don't feel confident in this you can always give Britain as an example and use the safety of saying "but don't go for the same as me, make it completely different" this usually then forces them into America anyway. I don't do this but it’s an option if you prefer. Let's take a look at an example of how this plays out in performance. PERFORMER: "There are over 190 different countries in the world. Each of which has specific things that we associate with them. For example, if I said baguettes, wine and onions you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "France". PERFORMER: "Exactly likewise if I said bright lights and Harleys you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "USA". PERFORMER: "We can see how different countries have different cultures that we associate with them. I would like us to go on a journey in our minds. To make this more interesting, instead of thinking of a country, I would like you to think of something associated with that country. For example, think of an animal specifically associated a country. A lion, for example, is associated with Kenya. If it's too challenging to think of an animal associated with your country, then think of either a music genre or a film associated with a country ad let me know when you've got one." PARTICIPANT: "Got one". PERFORMER: "Out of all the countries in the world, you selected one, and you also decided upon the category, which was a free choice. Which category did you decide upon?" PARTICIPANT: "Music genre." PERFORMER: "I want you to do is to imagine you get on a plane to this country and as you come out of the airport, you imagine the sights and sounds around you. A feeling of excitement washes over you as you look up at a sign that says welcome to and has the name of your country written in big letters on the sign. All I want you to do is begin by focusing on those letters for me. PARTICIPANT: "Ok". PERFORMER: "There's a letter I in this." PARTICIPANT: "YES". PERFORMER: "It's not the first letter, is it?" PARTICIPANT: "No". PERFORMER: "I thought not, I am glad we are getting in tune with each other. There's definitely an A, I can see that…. And an M as well?". PARTICIPANT: "No, there's no M". PERFORMER: "I'm struggling here to pick up on these letters, let's try a different way, can you imagine exploring this country in your mind, imagine maybe a famous landmark, or food associated with this country? Imagine the scenery in your, (PAUSE) ok that's good I am getting something here. Lots of grey, I see history here, lots of history and the colour green seems to be covering the landscape. Are you in Britain? PARTICIPANT: "YES" The first thing to take away from this example is how I use the "no" to my advantage. As discussed before, I admit that I am struggling and change their direction of focus. Trust me when I say this only makes this process stronger in the participant's mind as they now honestly believe that you have no idea when of course we knew all along which country they were thinking of. Another little subtlety (a coincidental gem) that you can apply when you know the participant is thinking of Britain. Instead of revealing Britain change the reveal to "UK". Doing this will throw them off the letters and anagram completely. Trust me when I say this hits hard when the opportunity arises and kills any notion of the method even further. I must stress again that the added categories are only to help the illusion of a free choice. Nine times out of Ten (because of the wording) the spectator will be lead down the animal category. I will (after the next section) provide a few other methods to ensure the animal category is chosen. To provide a well-rounded view of how this plays out in each scenario, let's look now at the films category. Again, this category has been selected deliberately to take advantage of the 'restricting without seeming restrictive' principle. Before we look at the anagram and available options, do this yourself. Think of a country that a film is linked to or a movie associated with a country. Here is what continuously comes up for me. America Britain /UK India (Bollywood) Japan That once again is the order that they most frequently appear in the performance. I feel that this category is slightly riskier as there are more film buffs out there than any of the other categories provided. Let's take a look at the anagram for this category, again remember that they are more than likely going to choose the animal category. Still, if you get a participant who chooses films, we need to cover every angle. I - Japan | N - America | D - Britain | India As far as anagrams go, this anagram is probably the easiest of all the anagrams to remember in this book. You are basically spelling out ‘India’. It IS worth noting that the United Kingdom has a D in it. Again, people tend to go for Britain because movies here are classed as British Movies. However once again please feel free to use Britain as an example if it makes you feel more confident and once again if you know its Britain switch to the UK on the reveal. Once again look at how this plays out over the entire script; please don't skip past the script, it is so important you read it repeatedly and see the different examples of how it plays out in performance. PERFORMER: "There are over 190 different countries in the world. Each of which has specific things that we associate with them. For example, if I said baguettes, wine and onions you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "France". PERFORMER: "Exactly likewise if I said bright lights and Harleys you would think of?" PARTICIPANT: "USA". PERFORMER: "We can see how different countries have different cultures that we associate with them. I would like us to go on a journey in our minds. To make this more interesting, instead of thinking of a country, I would like you to think of something associated with that country. For example, think of an animal specifically associated with a country. A lion, for example, is associated with Kenya. If it's too challenging to think of an animal associated with your country, then think of either a music genre or a film associated with a country ad let me know when you've got one." PARTICIPANT: "Got one". PERFORMER: "Out of all the countries in the world, you selected one, and you also decided upon the category, which was a free choice. Which category did you decide upon?" PARTICIPANT: "A film." PERFORMER: "I want you to do is to imagine you get on a plane to this country and as you come out of the airport, you imagine the sights and sounds around you. A feeling of excitement washes over you as you look up at a sign that says welcome to and has the name of your country written in big letters on the sign. All I want you to do is begin by focusing on those letters for me. PARTICIPANT: "Ok". PERFORMER: "Ok, straight away, I am getting the letter I." PARTICIPANT: "Yes" PERFORMER: "and the letter N." PARTICIPANT: "YES" PERFORMER: "Definitely a D as well." PARTICIPANT: "YES" PERFORMER: "You are so good at this, I think I have it but to be sure just imagine the sights and sounds of this country for me……Pause, ah ok yes I see a famous landmark, I'm pretty sure it's the Taj Mahal which confirms the letters, this is India correct?" PARTICIPANT: "YES" Again, we can see how clean this looks to the participant. In this scenario, everything is very direct. However, notice how we expand on the revelation. Instead of just revealing 'India' we ask the participant to imagine the country and reveal a landmark or how the country looks before stating its India. Doing this adds to the overall performance and experience. Feel free to restrict the participant to animals; you don’t necessarily have to mention music or films. I do not think there is any detraction of effect by asking the participant to think of an animal. O T H E R M E T H O D S TO R E S T R I C T T H E C A T E G O R Y Should you decide that you want to offer the participant, several other categories to choose from you have options. The first option is simple, 'Equivoque'. Use a magician's choice to make the participant feel like they have a free category choice. Another option is using envelopes - Take a billet and write on one side 'Animal' and the other side 'Music'. Place the billet in an envelope and mark the envelope, so you know which side to pull the billet out and what the categories are. The marking can be as simple as a faint music note on one side of the envelope. You know that if you remove the piece of card music note side up, you know the category will be music. If the card is removed with the envelope facing the other side you know, it will be animals. Take another billet and write on one side 'Animals' and the other side 'Films'. Seal this in an envelope and mark the film side. Take one last billet and write on one side 'Animals' and the other side 'Names'. You can make as many of these 'category envelopes' as you desire. The spectator can mix them and select one at random. You open a few to show them some of the categories they could have had and then orientate their envelope the correct way to reveal the animal category. You might be thinking that this detracts from the prop-less process, as you are finishing the rest of the routine verbally it doesn't detract from the power of the routine. Arguably it may seem easier to force the participant a card with a destination on it, but I can tell you that the participant will be more impressed when they think of the country and never tell anyone. Another method might seem on paper like it won't be deceptive but trust me in the real world the participant's 100% feel this is a free choice. Performer: "I am going to change through categories over and over, and I want you to say stop when you want me to stop. Places, Names, films... (Pretend to mouth categories like you're saying them to yourself) when the participant stops you say "Ok, you stopped me on animals. I want you to think of an animal that is associated with a particular country. Now you have a country and an animal inside your head. Two random pieces of information that have been different". Another dodge is to perform this routine on multiple spectators and have each of the spectators think of an animal and a country and then perform the 'Hoy principle' and nail the lot! I must again stress that there is nothing wrong with only offering the animals category. P E T E R T U R N E R ‘ T E C H N I Q U E’ This technique fell into place quite by accident whilst reading this book. I will use this for many other applications as it quickly forces the spectator to into a restricted category whilst seeming very fair. I'm calling this 'reigns supreme.' After you have asked the spectator what country they believe, baguettes, onions and wine belong to, and the spectator answers 'France', then the brand 'Harley Davidson' and they say 'America', and you finish with the Siberian Tiger question follow up with - Performer: "There are many different things, from many different categories that can be associated with specific countries. Whichever category you deem is the fairest and most vast, that's the one that we will use". (Note to reader, as you read these next questions answer them in your head). Performer: "Do you believe worldwide that there are more music genres or names of people?" (I would personally say names) Performer: "Ok, so names win that round". Performer: "Do you believe there are more brands than there are names?" (I would say this could go either way and it’s a close call but if I were to choose, I would say names). Performer: "Do you believe that there are more names or more types of animal?" (There are millions of animals so that category wins this round). Performer: "Finally, do you believe there are more types of animal in the world of films?" (This time the spectator will take a few seconds and then concede in their mind that there are more animals). Performer: "Ok, so you decided that animals reign supreme. You decided that was the vastest category and that's what we will use". Now you are safely using the 'animals' category. The spectator believes that had they chosen any other category the outcome would have been different, but it seems they could have chosen from thousands of different options. It is a small tip but makes a big difference to the overall feel of the performance. CLOSING WORDS I hope you have enjoyed Navigator 2. It is simple (with practice) it is straight to the point, and it finally allows a feeling of think of any country in the world. If you haven’t picked up Navigator 1, I strongly advise you to seek a copy as it is still worth getting and it is worth combining Navigator 1 and Navigator 2 with two participants. If you have Navigator 1 already, I presume that your mind is racing with that realisation. Enjoy that. For those unfamiliar with my previous work also check out. Pocket Pal Simplicity In the name of Bob Down the rabbit hole The Devils Triangle Order of the Magi Also, check out the Navigator Facebook group. Until the next time, OH WAIT… Before you go. Do you really think I provided the same examples of scripting repeatedly by accident? I purposefully did that to drill the script into your head without knowing, I’ve cut your learning time down by half! To infinity and beyond, Reese Goodley 2020