VOL11 HYPNO EFFECTS

Vol#11 Hypno-Effects
Introduction
Welcome to this month‖s instalment, in this month‖s instalment we will look at
―hypno effects‖ – The title of this introduction is inspired by the term ―Hypno
trick‖ (a term coined by hypnotists), a hypno trick is a trick that from an
outward perspective looks like real hypnosis - when in-fact it is pseudo hypnosis
and relies on mechanical methodology.
I have always felt that term ―trick‖ in the context of mentalism or hypnosis
cheapens the process of what it is you are proposing to perform – hence changing
the term to ―hypno effect‖ I think that the term ―effect‖ suits the definition of
what we are doing much better than ―trick‖.
In this volume you will find a range of ideas, from a range of artists that
utilise a series of techniques to give the illusion of being able to hypnotise a
participant in order to create an effect. Some of the effects in this volume will
read on paper as simple physics, don‖t overlook the power of these routines and if
you do I promise you, you will regret it. I think there is a strong lesson to be
learnt here, many is the time that people read something and dismiss it as
impractical, not interesting or too simple to be effective and then sometime later
those same people see the effect performed live or on a video and are totally
fooled by the effect/ method they read sometime earlier. Those same people fall
into the same trap months later and the cycle continues.
Take time to try the techniques in this volume, watch the effect that these
routines have on the people around you and judge them based on that.
My interest with actual hypnosis started when I was about 12 years old, a few
years before my interest in mentalism. I remember vividly imagining making
people go to sleep and mind controlling people to do whole hosts of things. In
all honesty my interest probably started from watching a cartoon with a
hypnotist in and having unreal expectations of what hypnotists could do.
I remember at the time telling my grandma and granddad that I wanted to do
hypnosis and I remember my grandma turning her nose up and saying “You
shouldn‖t mess with stuff like that”, instead of this detouring me it spurred me
on because if she thought hypnosis was this powerful what 12 year old wouldn‖t
want to mess with it?
I appeased my grandma and didn‖t speak a word of it for the rest of the day.
A couple of weeks later my granddad picked my brother and I up for an afternoon
out and it was one of the rare occasions that my grandma came along. We went to
a quaint little village not far from us called ―Howarth‖. Howarth is a small
village that has a series of cobble streets with bookstores and antique shops that
sell war memorabilia and the pubs all serve very traditional home cooked
Yorkshire food. Whilst on the subject of food, if you ever get a chance to visit
this beautiful little village the food is amazing. As you are wandering up the
narrow little streets you can smell the aroma of the home made gravy drifting
from the public houses.
It is almost as the village has never moved forward in time; ―stuck in a moment‖
is probably the best way to describe the village. Whilst every village around
Howarth has moved forward and changed with the times Howarth has always stayed
the same. When you enter Howarth it is almost like going into a portal that takes
you back in time, the shops are tiny and there are littered with all manner of
strange artefacts, the village has several new age shops that stock all types of
oracles and the book stores… the bookstores are full of old texts, booklets and
books that have been lost and long forgotten about.
My grandma was more of a worrier than my granddad, my granddad would have let
us run ahead and go through the stores on our own as long as we met him at the
top of the street at any given time he had given us to meet him. Whereas my
Grandma on the other hand never wanted us out of her eye line. I always hated
moving at the slow pace my granddad and grandma moved at, I was 12 and full of
life I wanted to run around and explore. My brother and I managed to convince
my grandma that everything would be ok and off we ran full pelt racing each
other to see who could get to the shops first.
I always looked around the book stores for magic books, the old women behind the
counter now is but a distant memory I cannot remember how she looked, all I
remember is that she was very helpful. Sadly there were no magic books in the
store and on the way out I remember building up the courage to ask if there were
any hypnosis books. I nervously waited for her answer, was she going to chastise
me for asking? Was it a taboo subject?
…I waited for what seemed an eternity and her response surprised me, she said
she remembered having a few that had been sat there for a long time. She led me
over to the section that contained the self-help books and low and behold there
were four or five books sat there in front of my face. It was for me like
finding a treasure! To give you an insight into how finding these books felt,
imagine going on a treasure hunt and finding a treasure chest and then opening
that chest and there is a gold light beaming out so brightly that it lures you in.
My mind started to race at all the things that I would be able to accomplish
after reading these books, but which one to choose?
After a moment or so of standing in front of the books in a world of my own, my
brother did the thing that siblings are SO good at doing, with one sentence he
brought me crashing back down to earth “Grandma said you shouldn‖t mess with
things like that”.
How was I going to get one of the books now? Surely he would tell on me. How
could I silence him? If I was to purchase a book how would I hide the book?
I had to have one of them. I promised my brother that I would give him a pound
in return for his silence and picked one of the books – If I remember rightly
the book that I chose was the ―A B C book of hypnosis‖ (don‖t quote me on that) I
took the book to the woman on the counter to ring it up, the book cost 25p!
I hid the book down the back of my trousers and pulled my jumper down to hide
the book so that when I met my grandma and granddad they couldn‖t see it. The
rest of the day went by so slowly and I feel a little bit ashamed to say this
next bit knowing now how much I miss my granddad; I couldn‖t wait to get home
and read the book.
I got a knot in my stomach and a tear in my eye writing that -
When it turned dark my Granddad drove us home and I went straight to my bedroom
to read the hypnosis book. I didn‖t make an attempt to hide it around my house,
you see I grew up with my nan – I never lived with my mum or dad and my nan
she never cared for magic, mentalism or hypnosis – She still doesn‖t now.
I remember reading the book cover to cover and finding a series of therapy type
techniques, I assumed there was something missing from the book as it seemed like
a set of instructions instead of a key to opening the hidden dimensions of the
human mind. I practiced the scripts and the visualisation techniques from the
self-hypnosis sections – They played a fundamental part in my bedtime routine.
It wasn‖t until about 6 months later that I successfully hypnotised my first
volunteer, the amount of embarrassing moments I endured from failing time and
time again over that six months is not even funny.
I wish I had back then a series of techniques like the ones that are shared
within this volume.
I really hope you love the ideas and routines shared in this volume,

Peter Turner 2016
P.s In-case you were wondering who won the race to the shops in Howarth between
me and my brother it was me.
P.P.S – I don‖t think I ever gave him that pound for his silence, I am going to
call him up now and make good on my word.
Ambidextrous – Peter Turner

Effect
The performer asks the participant to imagine going back in time to the first
classroom they attended to hone their penmanship skills.

The performer asks the participant which hand they write with to which the
participant replies - "my left".

The performer continues "Can you write with your right hand?" The participant
responds "No, not at all if I did it would look like a child's writing".

The performer asks the participant to close his eyes and imagine going back in
time and stepping inside of this room, walking up to the front of the class and
instead of picking the pen up in his left hand to imagine picking the pen up in
his right hand and very shakily writing down the name with his right hand.

The performer asks the participant to look around the classroom imagine is
favourite teacher standing watching him.

The performer then asks the participant to step forward in time to going on his
first real dinner date. Imagine that the meal has finished and that he offers to
pay the bill. The card machine gets brought out and instead of instinctively
reaching forward and pressing the buttons with his left hand he does so with his
right hand.

The performer again jots something down and after he has finished he asks the
participant to imagine coming back to the present day and when he reaches the
present day open his eyes.

The performer asks the participant the name of the teacher and he turns over the
first piece of card he made a note on and it is revealed the performer has
successfully divined the name of the teacher!

The performer then asks the participant to tell everyone his old pin code, the
one he used at that meal, after the participant calls it out the performer turns
around to show that again he has successfully managed to deduce the code!

The room settles down, he looks at the participant, I want to give you a gift a
gift that is going to last a lifetime.

You came up here and stated that you were left handed and you couldn't write
with your right hand. I had you close your eyes and imagine going back in time
and writing with your right hand and using your right hand your entire time
instead of the left.

The performer hands the participant a pen and a piece of card - Try write your
name with your left hand now and you will see you no longer can.

The participant struggles and the writing is a mess. The performer asks the
participant to place the pen into his right hand and he will be able to write his
name beautifully.

The participant tries and to everyone's astonishment he can write it perfectly!

The performer takes hold of the participant's wrist looking him square in the eye
and says "Look at me, what you have just witnessed goes to show that anything is
possible, in a moment you are going to return to your seat and if anyone ever
asks you if you were ever left handed you will say no, you will be 100%
convinced that you were always right handed. So convinced, that you will imagine
that I asked you to imagine being left handed and not right handed. Which the
audience of course will tell you is not the case. This has been a positive
experience even if you are slightly confused as to what happened".

The performer returns the participant to the audience.

Breakdown
This effect was born off of the back of/ inspired by an old story that I read
years upon years ago (but not the same so don't read the story and think you
understand this effect) the story goes as thus -

During a hypnosis show one volunteer comes forward and it looks like that
volunteer is not going to be hypnotisable. It is destined to be a nightmare BUT
you have a secret up your sleeve!

There is one way to remove yourself from this undesirable situation and it is
this; you whisper to your one volunteer that if he plays along, you will give
him £50 after the show.

After a couple of tame routines, in which the propositioned participant plays
along you should now be able to get more people to volunteer and you will be
able to bluff your way through your forty minute slot.

At the end of the performance, you tell all your subjects that all the suggestions
you have given them will be completely cancelled out – except for the initial
volunteer.
In front of the audience and in a confident tone of voice, you simply tell him
that when he wakes up he will firmly believe that the hypnotist promised him
fifty quid to play along and that he was never really hypnotised.

The participant rapidly opens his eyes and says, "I did play along, he offered me
fifty quid honestly!!" - To which the crowd respond with a huge reaction and
round of applause.

I first heard of this story as a child, when I heard it I grinned from ear to
ear at the sheer cheek of it I instantly started using it on my friends (offering
them five pounds) it was fun and I was young.

When I started taking a serious interest in hypnosis the story never had the same
charm it did when I first read it. The participant left with nothing and it was a
cheap way to get what I wanted which is something I did not want.

I re-read this story years later and I smiled for nostalgic reasons and always
wanted a way to incorporate it into a set in which the participant left with
something. This routine is a result of trying to give everyone an effect.

There are multiple ways to achieve this effect, I am going to outline the main
method that I have used in the past (and will use again as I'm feeling re-
inspired).

The first is the 'almost' real time method. This is going to be utilising a ―one-
ahead‖ type method.

During your set, you propose to get one participant to read the other participants
mind. Address one participant - I am going to teach you how to read somebody
else. I am not going to tell you out loud what to look for as I don't want
everyone knowing what I'm focusing on to get information.

This is where you need to have a spectator as mind reader routine in your
arsenal - During giving them instructions add onto the end of those instructions,
"nod if you are right handed".

This is important; you need to know the participant's dominant hand. If they nod
follow with - If at any point tonight if I ask you if you are left or right
handed state left instead of right, this will enable me to read you like a book,
if I ask if you can write with your right hand simply state that you can try but
it will be messy. The moment you trick your brain, is the moment I will be able
to read you".

Lean out.
Ensure that the participant confirms that you didn't tell them what information
the other participant is thinking of. They will confirm this is true and then
openly state -

Performer: "I also stated a very simple way into tricking the brain making it
possible to get a good read".

This will rein firm that you want them to say the opposite of later and if you
wanted to push it you could literally follow with -

Performer: "That is literally all I told you".

When they say "yes" that's almost your job done.

Let the spectator as mind reader routine play out and then seat the participants
let an effect or two pass and then look toward the participant you utilised to
read the participant earlier,

Performer: "I know you came up earlier but I think you may be great for this.
Are you left or right handed?"

If they call out left you invite them to participate if however they do not
(which shouldn't happen) you have the choice of bringing them up anyway and
performing something else or simply saying "oh I thought you were left handed,
do we have any left handed volunteers?"

Then move into another routine with that person.

However we will assume that the person states that they are left handed invite
them up onto the stage.

The next part of the process is to quiz the participant gently as to whether they
can write with their right hand. To which they will respond what you asked them
to respond earlier.

Note to reader*** such a time delay has occurred that the audience will never
even be able to connect the dots to get close to figuring out the method.

Plus the question seems so innocent that the audience will take the participant's
answer as gospel truth.

End of note***

The participant is going to sit next to you (be it on stage, in close up etc.)
This is where you will apply any one of the inductions outlined in this volume.
Theatricality think about what you want the induction to look like, how does it
fit into the choreography of the overall routine - personally as the participant
is going to be seated (preferably behind a table) I would utilise a seated
induction.

I ask the participant to imagine going back in time to a classroom where they
honed their writing skills and imagine writing on the board -

This piece of information can be any piece of information you desire. This is
completely up to you which piece of information you have the participant think
of. This is where I feel good prop-less material plays a part as the participant
for obvious reasons cannot write something down. One such piece of information
might be the participant's star sign for example (Vol #9 has a variety of).

The revelation of information is what the participant takes from this routine,
whilst simultaneously proving that you were telling the truth when you whispered
and thus bringing that full circle. I have found revealing two pieces of
information to be the perfect amount of information.

I then bring the participant forwards in time to the present day/ time and I am
about to move into the kicker - Changing which hand the participant writes
with. The beauty of this routine is that the participant could never write with
their left hand at all (but the audience believe that they can) - So when the
participant tries to write they are not going to be able to anyway!

But the most beautiful moment comes when you tell them to put the pen in their
right hand and write and they write beautifully (as the participant was always
right handed) but to the audience you just changed their dominant hand! This is
where the routine comes full circle and you tie up all of the loose ends. The
script I have created to tie this up is very remnant of the story I shared at the
beginning of the breakdown section of this effect.

-

The performer takes hold of the participant's wrist looking him square in the eye
and says "Look at me, what you have just witnessed goes to show that anything is
possible, in a moment you are going to return to your seat and if anyone ever
asks you if you were ever left handed you will say no, you will be 100%
convinced that you were always right handed. So convinced, that you will imagine
that I asked you to imagine being left handed and not right handed.

Which the audience of course will tell you is not the case. This has been a
positive experience even if you are slightly confused as to what happened". The
idea is to make this a moment of tension, try to capture the participant's entire
attention - retain eye contact and confidently deliver the script while nodding
from time to time. This will if delivered correctly get the participant to nod
back, which will seem like (from the audience‖s perspective) that they are
hypnotically accepting what you are suggesting.

         You could also utilise pre-show in a very simple but clever way to
          achieve the same result. Pre-show is I feel a nice solution as you can
          have the participant write down information that you can reveal during
          the routine and don't have to rely on prop-less techniques. If you were
          utilising pre-show you would openly say to the participant the same
          thing you whispered during the aforementioned live variant.
Robin Hood – Peter Turner

Effect
The performer invites the biggest sceptic out of a group take a seat next to him,
the performer openly asks the sceptic whether he believes he could ever be
hypnotised or have his mind read to which the sceptic laughs and replies that
there is no possible way.

The performer only asks that the sceptics tries and but a moment later the
performer has the sceptic in a trance. After a few words in the sceptic‖s ear the
sceptic sinks deeper into a trance.

The performer counts from one to five and the sceptic awakens and instantly
reaches into his pocket and starts to give the performer his keys and wallet. The
performer cheekily with a smile on his face says "the watch too" the sceptic
without missing a beat takes his watch off and hands it to the performer the
performer snaps his fingers and the sceptic instantly falls back into a trance.

The performer has proven he can hypnotise any sceptic at will, he now sets out to
prove he can read the sceptic‖s mind.

He awakens the sceptic and then reads the sceptic proving that even the biggest
sceptic can be read just like anyone else.

Breakdown
The methodology of this effect is very much like the aforementioned effect
(Ambidextrous).

The secret is extremely simple -

Choose a volunteer whom is purposefully sceptical, all that you ask from them is
to listen to what you ask of them and what will be, will be.

Address the participant -

Performer: "Before we go any further, do you believe it is possible to hypnotise
you?"

Participant: "No".

Performer: "Ok well don't worry about that, do you think you I could read you to
guess information about you there is no way I could know?"
Participant: "No way!"

Note to reader*** these questions are the most important questions in this entire
routine as they allow everything to come to fruition. They also set up the entire
scene for what the audience are about to see.

End of note***

Utilise one of the inductions in this volume to seemingly put the participant
into a trance.

This is where the beautiful moment takes place, lean into the participant and
whisper,

Performer: "In a moment I am going to try and read things about you, nod if you
are ok with that (the participant nods) I do this by holding your possessions
things like keys and your wallet for a few seconds. When I ask you to open your
eyes not yet I want you to hand me your things. When I snap my fingers I want
you to close your eyes and I will begin to read you.

Nod if you understand.

(The participant will nod, raise you voice slightly so the audience can hear you)
I'm going to count from one to five, when I get to give open your eyes and give
me your things.

1...2...3...4...5".

The participant will open their eyes and start to give you their possessions. If
the audience start to react you are going to apply the "Dunninger modesty ploy".

Look toward them and almost stop them reacting while gently saying "you don't
need to react"

This is a subtle dual reality as the audience think you are being modest whilst
the participant believes that you are telling the audience that they don't need to
react as nothing has happened as of yet.

After the participant has handed you their things, always push it one step
further. If you notice they have a watch ask for it. If they haven't give you the
phone ask for it, always ask for one more thing. If the participant doesn't have
anything more to give you there is a beautiful moment that occurs here from a
theatrical point of view. The participant will verbally state that they having
nothing left and this is a beautiful moment.
Look at the participant, this is where you are going to hold your fingers in the
position to snap them but do not snap. Linger for a few seconds, the idea is to
subtly remind the participant that you are about to snap your fingers. As you
have told the participant that when you snap they should close their eyes, the
moment you do snap your fingers the participant will close their eyes and
seemingly go back into a trance.

This is the moment that you would move into any type of mind reading routine
that you desire, as long as you successfully read the participant everything will
seem to come full circle.

If you are bold you can openly ask the participant why they gave you their
possessions. You will find that the participant's response is something along the
lines of - "because you told me to". Which re instils to the audience that you
hypnotised the participant.

These ideas are simple and straight forward but are routines that served me well
gigging in even the worst environments.

If you don't like the idea of using a whisper and are flirting with the idea of
using this in a stage scenario there is another technique open to your disposal
that enables you to give someone instructions in plain sight yet the audience
will never hear them!

This idea is a very, very old idea which is little known but I can tell you it is
beautiful. Whilst reading this technique, think of how powerful this is.

Plain sight and sound

For this you will need to record your voice, record you saying things such as,

"Take a deep breath in, hold it and now breath out. Place your feet together and
close your eyes. I am going to count from ten to one, each number I count you
will relax more and more...

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1."

Place this onto a disc of a media stick and take it to the venue that you are
performing at. Set it up so that it sounds as similar to your live voice through
the microphone as possible.

Create a signal with your sound man/ woman so that they are aware when to run
the disc.

When you invite the participant onto the stage, ask them to take a few steps back
while guiding them so that your back is briefly on the audience (I know this
breaks the 'never turn your back on the audience' rule but I think whilst
utilising hypnosis it's ok briefly) and your head is slightly over the
participant's shoulder.

The sound starts to play, mute your mic. When the sound says "take a breath in"
lift your arm up as though directing the participant. When it says "put your feet
together", point to the participant's feet and when it says "Close your eyes"
gently lean the participant's head forward.

Say to them off mic (while the sound continues to play out) -

Performer: "Keep your eyes closed and ignore the sound of my voice playing over
the sound system, I want you to..."

This is where you give them any instructions you want (such as the ones in the
aforementioned routines) the audio is counting down from 10-1 so you have a good
amount of time to tell the participant what you want under the guise of this
happening.

As long as the audience cannot openly see your mouth then this will work
amazingly. This is so strong because if the participant tries at any point to
suggest that you told them what to do the audience will fight your corner and
tell them that they are wrong, the same way that they might at the end of a p.k
touch routine. Think about it what can the participant say?
Jedi Mind Push – Peter Turner
Effect
The performer stands in front of the participant and has a second participant
stand behind the participant to ensure that if the first participant falls he
will catch them.
The performer places his hand in front of the participant standing roughly a
foot away and then pushes the air (never touching the participant) – The
participant falls backwards being caught by the second participant.
The performer pushes the participant over without ever touching them!

Breakdown
This effect is an effect that I have used in a range of situations; it plays out
so strong and performed in the right contexts it absolutely kills!
I am thinking of filming a series of videos utilising this subtlety as I think it
will play out really in the right contexts – Keep your eyes peeled!
The preparation for this is the thing that is important; you need to ensure that
the participant is standing in a very specific way and that they are not afraid
of falling. If I was to do this for video, this would be taken care of before the
camera rolls (so all the camera captures is the epic moment that you knock the
person over).
First things first, the participant MUST trust the person catching them. Have a
second participant (I am calling them the second participant for ease of
instruction) stand behind the first participant arms extended and stand the first
participant with their feet together and get ensure that they are relaxed keeping
their legs straight, relaxed to the point that if you swayed them backwards they
would fall rigidly into the arms of the second participant.
This just ensures that they are comfortable staying rigid and comfortably fall
backwards.
The secret is simple from here.
Without the presentation, if you lean the participant back very slightly and tell
them if they feel themselves going backwards to let themselves go wait a few
seconds the participant will start to sway and then they will fall backwards.
This in itself will not sound impressive, but if you learn to ham up the
performance and press on the participant‖s heart then sway them backwards and
forwards - step away from the participant a couple of feet and mime holding
their heart (you are just holding thin air) wait for the participant to start to
sway and when you see them going backwards push your arm forward as though you
are pushing them and they will fall into the arms of the person behind.
This will seem to the audience as though you have pushed the participant over
when in reality you have just utilised the natural sway and fall of the
participant to your advantage. This is physics, when you see it from an audience‖s
perspective it looks startling and the participant will always swear that they
have experienced the sensation of being pushed over.
The important thing here is to understand how to create an interesting premise to
fit this type of principle into.
IPI: Instant Pseudo Induction – Peter Turner
This effect perfectly describes Dual Reality. You never tell the subject to close
their eyes, but the subject believes you have done so.
If you are in a close up situation (which is what I use this in the most
frequently) position the participant is facing the audience. If you are on stage
then the participant will naturally be facing the audience.
You are going to stand facing the participant so essentially your back will be
facing the audience. I KNOW, I KNOW THIS BREAKS THE GOLDEN RULE – never turn
your back on your audience BUT it is only for a very brief period and if you
angle your positioning standing one step to the left of the right of the
participant the audience will still be able to see the participant clearly – If
you find you cannot do this and you have to stand directly in front of your
participant I would become part of the audience (moving as close to them as
possible, so you are literally one step in front of them) that way they will be
able to see the participant‖s face clearly.
Address the participant,
Performer: “When you feel your eyes want to close, just keep them closed.”
If the participant‖s eyes happen to close right away have the participant keep
their eyes closed and place their feet together. This happens in-frequently but
due to the nature of some participant‖s they can either A) be totally susceptible
and go into a hypnotic trance (which is rare but happens) or B) they can assume
that you want them to close their eyes and comply. For the most part they will
nod to acknowledge that you have told them when they close their eyes to keep
them closed.
Address the participant,
Performer: “I want you to follow me and copy my actions so that we are
essentially mirroring each other”.
I place my feet together – The participant will copy, I then place my hands to
my side and wiggle my fingers and the participant will naturally follow. This is
where I will remind the participant,
Performer: “When your eyes happen to close, just keep them closed.”
Stop your fingers wiggling and they will stop wiggling their fingers – I then
place my hands into my side and the participant will follow. This is where the
Dual Reality happens (really pay attention here and read this a few times) the
audience hear me say -
Performer “...and just...relax...breathing deeply...staying as you are now until told
otherwise.”
At the same time as my Jedi waving my hand in-front of the participant‖s face
and they seemingly fall asleep. To the audience the participant has gone into a
trance, when in reality this is what the participant experiences.
As you say to the participant, “...and just” look them dead in the eye and flutter
your eyelids and close your eyes… THE PARTICIPANT WILL COPY YOU!!!
As you see the participant close their eyes you keep talking saying,
“...relax...breathing deeply...staying just as you are now until told otherwise.”
Remember what you said to the participant earlier, when your eyes close keep them
closed, so they will naturally keep them closed and with the careful scripting
when they are closed asking them to stay as they are until directed otherwise
ensures that they follow your suggestion.
When you see the participant close their eyes this where you wave, so that they
cannot copy you as they cannot see you.
Imagine this from the audience‖s perspective, they never heard you say “close
your eyes” and could not see your eyes, therefore they just saw you wave your
hand and the participant goes into a trance.
When it comes to asking the participant to open their eyes, imagine that you are
waking them from a trance. It is a very simple thing to do, when you are ready
for your participant to open their eyes instead of just asking them to do so
address the participant,
Performer: “I want you to take a deep breath in for me, I am going to count from
one to three and as you hear each number you are going to slowly bring yourself
back into back into the room opening your eyes and completely relaxing as you
do”.
When you count from one to three the participant will naturally open their eyes,
when they do this ask them to shake themselves off and ensure that they feel
great. This is for two reasons, there is nothing wrong with your participant
feeling relaxed and great and at the same time the theatrics are all you need to
suggest that they really were in a hypnotic trance.
I have had people go into trance when using this in the past and have used this
as a rapid induction. Some people will genuinely trick themselves into believing
they are in a trance, this is nothing to worry about, if you find this has
happened simply ask them to open their eyes in the manner described above and
everything will be fine.
As you can see this is a very simple yet visual alternative to the ―handshake
induction‖ which is also a great way to seemingly place the participant into a
trance but is a technique I have not used as much as the IPI induction as the IPI
induction suits my performing style greater.
Now we have taken a look at the induction section of the routine let‖s take a
closer look at the routine.
2 quick, simple but powerful routines
Note to reader*** this first effect was something that almost didn't make the cut,
not because it isn't a powerful effect, it seriously is, but because of its
dangerous nature. I hold no responsibility for the reader‖s actions and accept no
responsibility for injury caused as a result of playing with effects like this.

End of note***

Flame roulette - Peter Turner

Effect
The performer removes two zippo lighters from his pocket placing them upon a
table. He asks the participant to choose any of the lighters.

The performer explains the idea of mind over matter and that pain is something
that can be controlled as long as you learn mind of matter.

The performer lights his zippo placing it standing upon the table and then
invites the participant to light theirs. The performer extends his palm and asks
the participant to check to ensure that there is nothing on his palm. The
participant examines the performer's palm and is happy there is nothing unusual.

The performer proposes that they both hold their hands over the flame until they
can no longer bear to keep them there.

Performer: "We will do it at the same time".

The performer hovers his hand over the flame the participant follows. The
performer slowly lowers his hand onto the flame, the participant copies.

The performer closes his eyes, and slows down his breathing keeping his hand
over the flame he slowly opens his eyes. He can see that the participant is
struggling; the participant then pulls his hand away as he can bear to keep it
there no more.

The performer keeps his hand over the flame breathing more and more deeply,
after 20 or 30 seconds the performer moves his hand.

Proving that even pain can be controlled with the power of the mind.

The performer will 100% of the time be able to hold his hand over the flame
longer than any participant.
Breakdown
This type of routine is something that I have tinkered with for such a long time.
I have tried everything from blocking the holes on the front of a lighter to
trying to create a gimmicked lighter with a cool flame.

One method that had limited success was a method outlined in Ormand McGill‖s 'new
encyclopaedia of stage hypnosis'. It is suggested if you keep the lighter moving
(or your hand) the flame from a match will not burn. This is true (to a degree)
with a lighter, you do however have to keep the lighter moving somewhat
rapidly.

I didn't want to have to keep moving my hand or the lighter. I also didn't want
to risk burning myself.

After talking with several sources that work outside of magic/ mentalism working
rather in special effects and film, they shared with me this solution - it is
perfect.

This is going to have to be something you purchase but for the effect it is well
worth it!

         Fire stunt gel

Take a look at the demo,

https://youtu.be/NduDBlwovQs

You will see how it works perfectly for what we need.

To purchase the gel, visit here -

http://store.afstunts.com/AF-Playn-with-Fire-HydroGel-p/af-gel.htm

I know what you are thinking - I said in the effect description that the
participant checked my palm and yet now I am talking about applying gel onto my
palm. The participant can check your palm as you are going to apply the gel
AFTER the participant has checked.

I will detail the mechanics of this in a moment, before I would like to briefly
share how I carry the gel.

Take a lip balm; remove the content of the tube. Thoroughly wash and dry the tube
and then use a wooden take out coffee mixer (or the handle of a tea spoon) to
scoop in the gel into the lip balm tube. You have created a mini natural looking,
stunt gel dispenser that is light and takes up virtually no pocket space.
One lip balm tube should be enough for three performances.

There are two ways in which you can apply the gel to your hand - one is fairly
bold, the second would be what I would recommend for TV.

Option#1
When the participant is checking your non dominant palm, your dominant hand is
operating under the table the dispenser placing gel onto your fingertips.

All the focus will be on the palm of your hand.

The move is simple after a few seconds have gone by and you have explained what
is about to happen. Stretch your non dominant palm towards the participant while
addressing them,

Performer: "keep your palm stretched, (tilt your hand slightly toward yourself)
you will hold your hand over the flame so it lights this area of your hand".

As you say "This area" apply the gel across your hand and you are ready to
perform.

Option#2
This option was inspired by an old effect in which a magician with short sleeves
places a coin under a handkerchief, the performer asks before he attempts to make
the coin vanish for a couple of spectators to check to see that the coin is still
there.

The spectators both confirm that it is.

The magician waves his hand over the handkerchief and then lifts the
handkerchief to show that the coin has vanished! His hands and the handkerchief
are totally examinable.

I used to love performing this effect as a child, I read it in a pocket coin book
made by a company called 'Collins' I have not managed to track the book title
down or find it on the internet. If anyone manages to locate it, I would love to
hear from you.

The method for the coin vanish is going to be the same method we will use to
apply the gel (some of you may already be ahead of me). During the coin vanish
effect, the first person checks to see if it is under the handkerchief and
confirms it is the second person whilst checking if the coin is there removes it
and confirms that it is still there.

Then ham up the moment the vanish happens and everything is examinable.

If I was performing this for television or a medium that was being recorded, I
would have the second person who is checking the hand actually applying the gel.
It is a ruse that would fly so far under the radar it would go completely
unnoticed.

The rest of the effect is simple; you ham up the breathing and pseudo relaxation
and hold your hand over the flame. Hold it there for a while after the
participant.

If possible have two wet clothes on hand 'to cool yours and the participant's hand'
after the demonstration has taken place.

Simply wipe the gel off under the ruse of wetting your hand. I have only played
with this live for a very short period of time, I wear black jeans (rarely
wearing any other colour) so when I finish I simply wipe my hand on the leg -
there is very little gel applied and it doesn't leave a mark.

If I was performing this more frequently, I would find a better solution. Most
tables have napkins.

That concludes the first simple effect.

Friction - Peter Turner

Effect
The performer places a deck of playing cards onto a table the participant is
asked to place their first and middle finger on top of the box and imagine that
the box gets heavier, sticking to the table so much so that if the participant
tried to push it, it would not move. In fact it would stick so solidly that the box
will stay in place but the participant's fingers will slide across the box.

The participant attempts to push the box, it locks solidly in place! The
participant tries harder to move the box and as the performer suggested the
participant's fingers slide across the box. The performer asks the participant to
lift their fingers and gently pushes the box proving that it was never stuck and
it was simply all in the mind of the participant.
Breakdown
This effect looks amazing! It won't work in every location but works all of the
time - Let me explain.

This is simple science.

It depends on a couple of factors, the surface you are attempting this on and the
directions you give the participant.

First try this for yourself.

Place a deck of cards onto a table in the box, take your first and middle fingers
and place it upon the deck. To try and describe the location I will reference the
back of a bicycle card.

There are two angels on the back of a bike deck if you orientate the deck like
you might if you were to ribbon spread the deck and place your fingers on the
angel closest to you.

(This is where you want the participant to place theirs - you will utilise this
same position even if the deck is not a bike deck).

Press down the cards apply a good amount of strength and whilst applying this
strength try push the deck.

Depending on the surface the deck shouldn't move!

Whenever you decide you want to perform this, simply test the surface briefly in
the manner just described. The idea is to use scripting to make it seem like you
are controlling the participant's actions. Get the participant to push down on the
box while they are pushing down on the box down address the participant,

Performer: "I want you to imagine as you push down on the box that it is not a
box that you are in-fact pushing down on a weight. A weight that is so heavy you
wouldn't be able move it with your fingers alone.

Whilst retaining the pressure, try pushing the deck".

This is a simple idea that is very throwaway in nature but is strong. With the
right amount of language this becomes something that looks incredible and is
very interesting as a lead into something that is framed around using the power
of the mind.
Mirage – Peter Turner
This effect is more suited to video work; it is simple yet effective and from the
audience‖s perspective looks exactly like hypnosis... Even though it's not!

Effect
The performer hands the participant an envelope proclaiming that inside is a
prediction of things that are about to occur.
The performer proposes to try an experiment; he places a ball in the centre of
the participant‖s outstretched palm and asks the participant what they are
holding... The participant looking a little impatient proclaims that they are
holding a red ball.
The performer instructs the participant to take a deep breath in and when the
participant reaches the height of their inward breath the performer snaps his
finger and the participant goes into a trance.
The performer talks to the participant for a few seconds and then asks the
participant on the count of three to open their eyes.
1...2...3
The participant opens his eyes and the performer points back to ball,
Performer: "Looking at what's in your hand, describe what you see now".
Participant: "It's a rectangular shape, its blue and it‖s solid".
Performer: "Ok, what are you holding in your hand?"
Participant: "A Lego brick".
Performer: "You're being 100% honest; you're not lying to make me look good?"
Participant: "I'm being honest"
Performer: "Stare at it and your eyes will start to get heavy".
The participants eyes start to get watery,
Performer: "If your eyes start to hurt close them and keep them closed".
The participant goes back into a trance.
Performer: "When I count from one to five open your eyes and you will notice
that you are holding a ball and that everything is back to normal".
1...2...3...4...5
The participant opens their eyes and proclaims everything is back to normal. The
performer asks the participant to open the envelope - inside it says,
'I will make you see a Lego brick'.
The participant freaks out!

Breakdown
As mentioned earlier this involves no hypnosis whatsoever - Yet clever pre-show/
dual reality. The participant gets an incredible effect (a bigger one in-fact than
the audience). When the participant watches the effect back, it will also be how
they remember the effect playing out - Leaving us clean and in a beautiful
situation.
This effect relies on a few clever moments of actual psychology and directorship
to pull off before the camera rolls.
Start by having a stack of business cards with different items/ objects on.
Address the participant,
Performer: "I have an envelope that is going to be important later - Before we
get to that, I want you to select anyone of these cards, look at what item or
object is on the card and place it back into the stack and mix them back up.
Please don't forget what object or item you saw on the card.
Later I am going to place this ball into your hands, I'm going to ask you to
describe it to me without telling me what it is and then when I ask I want you to
tell me it's a ball. This might seem ridiculous but it will help your brain adapt
to what is about to come after that.
I'm going to get you to close your eyes and re-open them after you have said it's
a ball. When you open your eyes and I ask you to describe what is in your hand I
don't want you to describe the ball... I want you to describe the object/ item you
saw on the card.
To quickly reiterate, first describe the ball, tell me what it is close your eyes
when I ask, open your eyes and then describe what ever object you saw on the
piece of card. Follow what I ask after this moment and when you hear me say
THINGS WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL
Freaky Friday – Peter Turner
Note to reader*** this principle long pre-dates my existence on this planet, I
first read of this principle within Ormand McGill‖s 'New encyclopaedia of stage
hypnosis' and it has subsequently been featured in many other sources.
In each instance the write up of this principle is relatively short and lacks a
performance of any kind. I have tried to find an interesting and fresh way to
apply this premise which I feel takes it to the next level.

Effect
A burly man and petite woman are invited to participate in an experiment based
on suggestion.
The man and woman sit facing each other. They are both asked to stare at the tip
of the performer‖s finger. The man and the woman start to slip into a trance and
when both participants‖ eyes close the performer starts to suggest they imagine
being sat in the other chair looking at themselves.
The performer explains that it will almost feel like an out of body experience
and when they start to feel this way they are to imagine slowly becoming the
other person.
The woman is asked to imagine being more burly and strong and the man is asked
to imagine that he is dainty and petite.
And when they have fully seen themselves changing places open their eyes.
The male is asked to relax back into his chair and the female is instructed to
press her forefinger into the male participant's forehead. The male is asked to
try and sit up and get out of the chair with all his might.
The male cannot not stand! The female has managed to hold him into a chair using
nothing more than a single finger!
The participants are returned to their normal states and then returned to their
seats.

Breakdown
This is a self-working effect that requires nothing more than chops as a
performer to make your audience believe you are utilising hypnosis.
The method works as thus -
Ask the male to scoot forward in the chair so that he is not sat totally back in
the chair. Guide the male participant to lie back in the chair so that his head is
rested against the back rest of the chair. Have him relax his legs and lay them
out.
If you rest your finger against the forehead of the participant and ask him to
try sit/ stand up he will not be able to. The reason he will not be able to move
is that he needs to be able to lift his head to sit up in the chair or attempt to
stand and this will make it impossible.
This is the method that we will be employing in this effect.
I always felt that the flaw in this routine was that you are hypnotising the
participant in the chair. It was too simple and the line back to the method was
too linear. One might argue that I am being over analytical but stay with me; it's
always nice to have options.
I always thought that by utilising a second participant and 'hypnotising' that
participant to be strong the process becomes more real and more impossible to
backtrack.
I also think that visually it is more appealing.
The line back to the method in this variant is also blurred simultaneously,
making the whole thing a neater package.
The participants are going to sit in the chairs facing toward one another. To get
them to close their eyes (in a trance like fashion) you have several options.
Option #1
The I.P.I induction (described earlier)
Option #2
The light / finger method.
This is an old technique that is utilised in hypnosis, I came across this technique
years ago in a therapy book but it works perfectly and looks visually great in
this context.
Ask the performers to refrain from moving their heads. Ensure their heads are in
a natural position (facing forward, not pointing upwards or down) and ask the
participants to stare at the tip of your finger (or you can ask the participant to
pretend that you are holding a ball of light) ask the participant to follow the
tip of the finger with their eyes.
This is where you lift your finger up above the participant's natural line of
sight (so they are starting to look up) - Keep raising your finger until the
participant has to raise their brow to stare at your finger. The participants eyes
will naturally get tired in this position.
Address the participant,
Performer: "You will notice that your eyelids start to get heavy, take a deep
breath in and slowly let it out and as you do this you will notice your eyelids
getting even heavier.
If your eyes happen to close, keep them closed".
This is an important line; it ensures that the participant keeps their eyes
closed.
Option #3
Performer: "When I snap my fingers close your eyes and keep them closed".
Simply snap your fingers.
Option #4
This option is the option that is seen very frequently on the Derren Brown
special. It is the handshake interrupt pseudo induction - This pre dates Derren by
many, many years (the original source is not known).
Address the participant,
Performer: "Hi my name is xx"
As you say this extend your hand to take the participants (as though you were
about to shake their hand).
The moment the participant passes you their hand, grab the participant‖s wrist
with your spare hand and lift their hand over their eyes whilst simultaneously
saying "Close your eyes and relax your head". As you say "relax your head" with
the hand you used to shake the participants touch the back of the participant's
head and bring their head forward.
This all happens very rapidly, practice the above until you have it flowing
beautifully if performed correctly this looks visually stunning.
Option #5
Flashlight induction - This is very similar to the staring at the fingertip
induction, the only difference is that you are going to use a mini led
flashlight.
If you have ever tried staring into an l.e.d light you know it is difficult. The
best kind is the kind that utilises a dim control on it. Set it so that it is not
startling bright, but not so dim that you can stare at it. It needs to be in-
between.
Have the participant stare at it, flicker the light in a pattern of repetitions.
Use the same scripting as the fingertip induction.
The reason that this type of pseudo induction is great, is because if the
participant googles what they have seen - Which people might very well do these
days it will instantly give credibility to what you are doing when the
participant finds information about a 'Flashlight induction'.
-
Once you have induced both participants, you are going to suggest that they are
to imagine switching places. The male is asked to imagine being dainty like the
female and the female is asked to imagine being strong.
Try to create the vision in the audience‖s mind that the participants are mentally
changing places. Don‖t rush this process. Take your time, have the participants
open their eyes a couple of times and re-close them and imagine what you are
suggesting to a deeper degree.
When you are ready to move forward simply lay the male into the chair as
outlined earlier, have the female place two of her fingers onto the males
forehead and direct her to close her eyes and press down onto the male
participant‖s forehead.
Ask the male participant to try and sit up, he will not be able to! It will look
as though the female participant is holding the participant down with just two
fingers! When you have demonstrated this impossible looking feat, de-convert the
participants. The way to do this is to ―re-induce‖ the participants and ask them to
imagine slowly being themselves again.
Don‖t overlook the simplicity of this routine, it really is powerful. Imagine this
as the introduction to a spectator as mind reader routine, having the female
participant think of a word and then letting her take the credit for holding the
male down and finishing by having the male reveal the word that the female is
thinking of – Truly proving that they have swapped places.
The Try Principle – Peter Turner (Written by Ian
Rowland)
Note to reader*** this article was written by Ian Rowland about an effect of
mine he had seen and loved. I could have never written this as eloquently as he
did.
End of note***
As this is my fortieth article for MAGIC magazine, I wanted to bring you
something truly special. I urge you to give this item careful attention and
consideration. It is one of the most delightful ideas I have ever come across in
mentalism, and it‖s new. Not only that, it is very baffling and almost infinitely
versatile. When I was first introduced to this remarkable principle, I immediately
started using it at every possible opportunity and had a lot of fun in the
process. I hope the same will be true for you.
This particular spark of genius comes from Peter Turner, who has very kindly
given me permission to share it with you. As with all the best ideas in mentalism,
it enables you to create truly baffling, impressive, and entertaining effects and
yet the secret is charmingly simple.
Let‖s start with the effect and the presentation. Imagine you are at an informal
social gathering such as a party or a get-together in a bar or coffee shop. The
conversation turns to your remarkable mental talents and your friends ask you to
show them something. You choose one of those present, let‖s call him Alan, and
offer to demonstrate something that you think is quite fascinating.
You ask the group to nominate any small item that is easily held or lifted, such
as a coffee cup (it doesn‖t matter which item they choose). You start by asking
Alan to lift up the cup, and of course he does so with ease. You say you‖ll get
back to the cup later.
You now take everyone through a little ―mental conditioning‖. You say, “Can I just
ask all of you to relax and clear your mind. Now, I‖m thinking of a very famous
singer. See if any particular image comes to mind. He had a song about blue suede
shoes, long sideburns, white jump suit, played Vegas a lot, starred in some movies
too... is there an image in your mind?” Of course, at this point everyone is
thinking of Elvis Presley.
You continue, “Ten seconds ago, none of you were thinking of Elvis and now all
of you are, even though I have never mentioned his name. Why? Because I
triggered a series of associations that were already imbedded in your mind. That‖s
what this is all about, but we can take it a lot further.”
You turn to address Alan specifically. “Alan, please look back over your life and
think of any time when you faced a challenge that you thought was difficult or
even impossible. You don‖t have to tell us what it was. It can be something from
your childhood, your teenage years, early career... anything at all. Don‖t give us
any details, but just nod when you have something in mind.”
Alan nods once he has thought of something.
“Okay. I‖m going to associate a trigger word with that emotion and that
experience, and that word is ―Limit‖. Got it? Now, let‖s get back to this coffee cup.
Are you still confident that you can lift it up?”
Alan will say he‖s sure that this is so. “Go ahead; lift it up one more time.” Alan
lifts the coffee cup and puts it back down again. “Very good. Now, look at me, and
I say the word ―Limit‖. Go ahead, try to lift up the cup.”
Alan tries to lift up the cup, and this time he is unable to lift it. Everyone
watching can see that he is gripping the cup as normal, and doing his very best
to lift it with all the strength he can muster... but to no avail. It is exactly as
if the cup were securely glued to the table.
At this point, you can ask Alan to verify a few things: he really is trying to
lift the cup, he is not lying or pretending, and he is not hypnotized. Alan
confirms all these things, and he is telling the truth. It should be clear to all
present that he is providing sincere, honest responses and not just playing along
to make you look good.
You do not need to have any physical contact with Alan for this demonstration.
It‖s not the sort of effect that relies on a secret cue with your foot under the
table or anything similar. You can stand on the other side of the room if you
want.
You then look at Alan again and say, “No limit. Lift up the coffee up.” Alan
grasps the cup and lifts it up with ease. You say, “Alan, let‖s take this same idea
but use it with something else.”
You then invite the group to suggest any similar, simple action that ought to be
quite easy for Alan to perform, such as pushing a spoon across the table, reciting
his own name or tearing a piece of paper in half. It can be quite interesting to
see what your friends suggest!
You then repeat the same pattern as before. First of all, Alan demonstrates that
he can perform the task with ease. You then use the trigger word ―Limit‖, and Alan
cannot perform the action no matter how hard he tries. Finally