Introduction:

Suppose you met a talking parrot, who told you, in its little parrot
voice, “I am a human being.” Would you suddenly treat him like a
real human, like anyone else? Would you share your secrets with
him? Would you take him out for a fine dinner? Would you let him
borrow your car to pick up his girlfriend for a movie night out?

The answer is probably “No” to all of the above questions, and the
reason is, simply, because it doesn’t matter if a thing claims to be
something different than what it obviously is.

I will begin by saying what is probably most important to be able

to teach this effect, which is what the effect is ​not​.

This isn’t a prediction effect.

I really can’t, for the life of me, stress this point enough. This isn’t
a prediction effect. If you are into mentalism, as most people
reading this will be, you might be thinking now “isn’t there a
question that is written ahead of time that acts as a prediction?”
and you would be 99% right. It’s just that the 1% you got wrong is
99% of what makes this routine matter.

What if that parrot really was a person trapped in a parrot’s body?

How would you know? Well, you’d have to spend some time with
it, and get to know it. Then, you would learn that it is no ordinary
parrot, and maybe you will come to know it as the person it is
inside, worthy of your secrets and sharing dinner (though maybe
not borrowing your car)

When I tried to share this effect, I saw that people were seeing it
as nothing but a new prediction to show off some mind powers. I
have to thank Aaron Alexander who helped me to talk about what
it really is and why it is so powerful and important to me. And, of
course, why so many people had trouble seeing it for what it is.

A&Q is really about connecting with your participant and actually

having a quality time with the human being you’re doing this for.
Many times, when I perform this then followed by a couple of
other pieces of mentalism, the participant becomes less
challenging or skeptical. Everything just runs as smooth as butter
when doing effects after this.

The reveal acts not as a prediction but a confirmation, a

confirmation that the participant has the ability to see into people’s
lives, and know stuff about them, a confirmation that your
participant has a very strong intuition, and most importantly it acts
as a confirmation that the participant got to know you a bit better.
It confirms the connection that you are making and the quality
time that you are spending together.

I can say over and over what A&Q is to me, but all that will matter
is if you are able to spend enough time with it to see past its first
appearance. I love A&Q so much and I want you to experience
why I feel that way towards this effect. I hope that you will come to
love it as I do, or at least see that this is no ordinary parrot.
A&Q
“Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers

-Voltaire

This effect was inspired by Matt Mello’s great effect ​one image​,
from his ​psycho-logical​ manuscript. His thinking on the universal
image plot is really good. Matt is a genius.

After reading the effect and performing it for a while, I thought to

myself: wouldn’t it be great to create a similar routine, but instead
of having a universal image it would be a universal answer to a
question merely thought of by the spectator.

To be completely honest I don’t know how exactly this idea led

me to create this routine, but I am really glad it did.

Here’s a description of the effect:

The performer tells the participant about himself as a young boy
and asks the participant to think of a simple question regarding
the performer’s childhood then the performer asks the participant
to use their intuition to answer the question they are thinking of.
Both the question and the answer are confirmed to be true. There
is nothing written down other than the question, previously written
by the performer that remains sight unseen, face down on the
table, from the beginning of the performance, which will serve as
a kind of prediction.

Performance

Performer: ​“Something that’s really interesting about us and

human beings in general, is the act of giving different meanings to
different signs; for example, what does this sign mean?”

(Here the performer makes the universally recognized hand

gesture of a ‘thumbs-up’ sign with one of his hands)

Participant: ​ “Good or okay”

Performer: ​ “What does that sign mean?” (A Thumbs-down)

Participant: ​“Not good!”

Performer: ​“……and this sign?” (The performer points to a

question mark on the back of a business card)

Participant: ​“A question?”

Performer: ​“Yes! On the other side of this business card, there's a
question that has to do with me when I was a little boy. Because
you don't know me that well, I will tell you a little about myself as a
young boy. You will then think of a simple question, and we will
see how things go from there, ready?"

Participant: “​ Let’s do it”

Performer: ​“When I was a little boy, 10 to 12 years old, I was a

very active child. Unlike other kids who spent most of their time
playing video games constantly and staying indoors, I spent my
time doing something much more real. I wasn’t interested in
school, simply because it lacked a certain spirit that I loved if you
know what I mean?”

“My Father and Mother supported me all the way. My mother

even used to call me “the little champ”, and my Father, though he
traveled to Singaspore for work, he would always call to check up
on me, because he wanted to see me the best in the world.

As I said, as a young kid, I was a very competitive and active

child. My parents were always there and cheered for me
whenever I needed it, and what else?...... Ahhh school, school
was really boring for me because it lacked the necessary spirit.”.
“From what you know now, just think of a simple question about
something you want to know about me as a young boy. A simple
question that can be answered by a specific one-word answer….
done?”

Participant: “​ Okay, I’ve got a question”

Performer: ​“Here comes the most important of all. I want you now
to use your intuition to answer the question you have in mind. Let
your intuition lead you to that answer”

Participant: “​ Okay, I have an answer”

Performer: ​“Tell me, what’s the answer that your intuition led you
towards?”

Participant: “​ Soccer”

Performer: ​“Okay……that’s weird (slight pause)…Be honest with

me now, have you ever thought that you have a very strong
intuition or psychic-like abilities?”

Participant: “​ Yeah, my friends always tell me that I have a sixth

sense”
Performer: ​"I am asking this because soccer is, actually was, a
very big part of my childhood. (Slight pause) Speaking of soccer,
one time my dad was coming back home from a 6-months work
trip and the flight was delayed. I tried so hard to stay awake
because I really missed my dad, but I reluctantly fell asleep.

“The next thing I know, my dad was gently waking me up. I

jumped out of bed to hug him real tight. After I fully realized that
my dad was actually here and it’s not some silly dream, my dad
grabbed something from his luggage, hid it behind his back, and
approached me slowly with a cheeky smile on his face.

"What he brought out from behind his back made me jump in

happiness. It was a rare soccer ball, and it was signed by
Ronaldinho, a soccer legend. I will never forget this day ever.

“Somehow, you must have picked up on this memory from what I

have told you about myself, yes?” (The performer nods subtly)

Participant: “​ Yeah”

Performer: ​“That’s amazing, but you wouldn’t have reached this

point unless you had used your feelings to think of a question that
was close to the one on the card or maybe even the same exact
question, true?”
Participant: “​ True!”

Performer: “​Turn over the business card, and read what’s on it,
out loud”

(The participant flips the business card and starts to read the
question on it, which is “what sport you played when you were
young?” the participant reacts while reading the question)

Participant: “​ Yes, that’s basically the question I thought of”

Performer: ​“I honestly have no idea how you got all of this; you
did an amazing job! The fact that you came that close to me, I feel
obliged to show you something (The performer takes out his
wallet and takes out a photo of a young boy playing soccer and
then continues) that’s me in one of the team practice” (Hands the
picture to the participant then says)

“You know, we all have this incredible ability to see life through
other people's eyes. It's incredible, isn't it? Wouldn't it be
incredible if we all used this power as often as possible? Think of
how unnecessary conflict we'd avoid.

“I’d like you to do me a favor. Never forget this moment, and

always try to look at life through other people’s eyes, ok?”
Method and breakdown:

Before I spill the beans on this one, I want to state that I am a

sucker for any effect that has a good/emotional story as its base.
I’ve always wanted to create such effect and here we are.

Also, this routine is 100% impromptu. All you need is a single

business card and a pen.

What I prefer to do is to prepare the card beforehand by simply

writing the question on one side, and on the other side, I put a
huge question mark.

There are three main pillars that this routine stands upon, which
are:
1. The sports force
2. The trap principle
3. The confirmation principle
The sports force

The sports force is a psychological force disguised as a short

story. Here it is:

“When I was a little boy, 10 to 12 years old, I was a very active

child. Unlike other kids who spent most of their time playing video
games constantly and staying indoors, I spent my time doing
something much more….real. I wasn't really interested in school,
simply because it lacked a certain spirit that I loved if you know
what I mean?"

"My Father and Mother supported me all the way. My mother

even used to call me "the little champ", and my Father, though he
traveled to Singaspore for work, he would always call to check up
on me, because he wanted to see me the best in the world.

“As I said, as a young kid, I was a very competitive and active

child. My parents were always there and cheered for me
whenever I needed it, and what else?...... Ahhh school, school
was really boring for me because it lacked the necessary spirit."

Let’s break it down:

The first thing that came to my mind when constructing this force
is: what are the activities that a 12-year-old can do? Top 3
activities that sprung into my mind are school, sports, and video
games

I want to force sports, so I decided to use school and video

games as ​bounce walls. I​ did just that in the first paragraph, and
the reasons I state for not doing and liking either video games or
school puts the participant where I want them to be,
psychologically.

For example, look at this statement:

"School wasn't my thing, simply, because it lacked the spirit I love
if you know what I mean"

I am not saying “I didn’t like school because I had to wake up

early” I am saying “I didn’t like school because it lacked the spirit”
which means something else provided me with the spirit I love so
what can that be?!!!

It must be whatever is left out of the possible activities a child may

engage in, once they have been eliminated by the simple act of
dismissing these as important in the script.

In the second paragraph, I go into the family side of the story.

How my parents supported me which is a vital element to an
athlete's general performance. My mom calling me "the little
champ", in my opinion, this is the most direct thing in the whole
force. It is not extremely direct and it's not the most subtle thing
but I feel it gets the job done.

I am not sure if you have noticed but "Singapore" is misspelled. In

the story, it is written "Singaspore". That is purposely done. You
might disagree with me on this, but what we hear can greatly
affect how and what we think, just like with any psychological
force. It can be substituted for any other Country or word that can
be said incorrectly to sound like the word “Sport”.

The main purpose of the third and final paragraph is to highlight

the major and important parts of the whole story. It is like restating
your thesis statement when writing a research paper.

The trap principle

This is something I first read in the very popular book, ​influence:

the psychology of persuasion ​by Robert B. Cialdini. I thought it to
be a very interesting and smart thing to do in real life to have
people comply with whatever you are asking them to do.

Here’s an extremely simple example:

Jack: “Are you a fun person?”
James: “Yes”
Jack: “Would you like to go to that fun party down the road?”
James: “Of course, yes!!”

The basic idea is that because James committed that he is a fun

person, like most people will do, he will feel obligated to answer
positively to the second question. If James would have said "no"
to the party question, that instantly means that James is not so
fun after all and this would break his internal logic.

I like to refer to this idea/principle as the trap principle because it

“traps” the participant into going down the road you wish for them
to take. In this case, it appears that the participant had
successfully picked up on a personal memory of yours. The
trapping process is a two-part process. This is the first part:

Performer:​ “Okay……that’s weird (slight pause) be honest with

me now, have you ever thought that you have a very strong
intuition or psychic-like abilities?”

Participant​: “Yeah my friends always tell me that I have a sixth

sense”

90% of people, when asked this question sincerely, will answer in

a positive manner. The reason for this is the fact you are
qualifying their answer as only needing to be true some of the
time as opposed to asking if this is a fact one way or the other.
You are asking if they have ever felt that it might have been a
possibility. This is very different from saying something as
polarizing as: "Do you feel you are this way (or the other)?"

The second part:

Performer: ​“Somehow, you must have picked up on this memory
from what I have told you about myself, yes?” (The performer
nods subtly as a way to encourage the spectator to also answer in
the affirmative)

Participant​: “Yeah”

Answering the first Question the participant indirectly admits to

having a strong intuition or psychic-like abilities, so when asked
the second Question they are trapped into answering positively
again.

When delivering the second part of the trapping process the

participant must feel that you are desperate for affirmation, as if
they have picked up on something that is of a huge emotional
impact. At this particular moment, the participant is the psychic
and the performer is the subject.

“Once we have made a choice or taken a stand, we will

encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave
consistently with that commitment. Those pressures will
cause us to respond in ways that justify our earlier decision.”
-Robert B. Cialdini

Note by Fraser:
Even if they don't agree with your first statement and doubt they
have ever had a psychic-like experience or lack such abilities, you
can still state the second part of the trap principle as proof' that
they were indeed able to somehow pick up on the specifics of
your thought of memory by showing that their thought of Question
matches the one written on the card, which relates to your life/
childhood memory.
End of note*

Something that has just popped into my mind as I was writing the
above quote that you may want to try, just to show you how
efficiently the trap principle works

Write the number 7 on a business card and place it face down on

the table.

Performer: ​“On this card, there's a single digit that means to me

more than anything else and I want you to try to pick up on it.
Think of a number, most would go for 3, but I can tell you it's not a
3. Got a number?"
Participant: ​“Yes”

Performer: ​“what is it?”

Participant: ​“7”

Performer:​ “Okay……that’s weird (slight pause) be honest

with me now, have you ever thought that you have a very
strong intuition or psychic-like abilities?”

Participant:​ “Yeah my friends always tell me that I have a sixth

sense”

Performer: ​“I am asking this because I was born on the 7​th​ of July.

Or you could say

“The first time I crossed a road alone is when I was 7 years old” or
both!

You ask them to turn over the business card and continue,
Performer: ​“Somehow, you must have picked up on all of this
the moment we sat together, yes?”

Participant: ​“Yes!”

Now due to the trap principle, they will have to confirm they
somehow picked up on your date of birth or whatever additional
information you add to the reveal.

Try it and see the results yourself.

Back to the main effect, Of course not every participant will say
soccer. You have two options, either to work on your feet when
you hear the answer, or you can sit down and prepare/write your
own script for the different sports out there, all within the frame I
have constructed. All you have to do is to edit the ​special memory

The confirmation principle

This principle is not mine to share, so I will not do so! It is a great

principle by Kenton Knepper that has been fleshed out beautifully
in various works from the brilliant Peter Turner. If you want to
know more about it, check both Kenton's and Pete's work.
What I will do though is that I will briefly outline how this principle
works in favor of ​A&Q.

At this part of the routine, you say to the participant that there's no
possible way that they could have reached this point unless they
have thought of a Question that is close to the one written on the
card or maybe even the same exact Question and they will agree.

You then ask them to flip and read what’s on the card. You know
that because they said Soccer, or whatever sport they arrived at,
that the question they thought of is one of two things: it is the
same question or one that is very similar and still about Sport in
general.

Here’s how the confirmation works in this routine. Let’s assume in

this case that the participant is thinking of the same exact
Question which is:

“What sport did you play when you were

young?”

The participant has agreed with you, a moment ago, that there’s
no way that they could have reached this point unless they have
thought of an either a similar or the exact same question.
So when they read the question and it happens to be the same
question they thought of, it confirms all of the previous events/
stories to be completely true​.

One last thing that will help you visualize and comprehend this
principle, even more, is this statement:

It is a reverse domino effect

Everything will tie together perfectly and each piece of the puzzle
will confirm all of the other pieces, respectively.

Their answer will confirm that they somehow knew intuitively that
the question written down was pertaining to a Sport you played as
a child and that they must have also known the Question as well
as the answer. As well as your story, even though it is made up
on the spot based on the answer they give, it will appear to be
true as it is also confirmed by both the answer and Question the
spectator formulate in their own mind.

The last two things to discuss are the picture reveal and the
closing lines.

The picture reveal is achieved via a simple multiple outs wallet or

a normal wallet with a couple of empty compartments.
I fill them with pictures of young boys each engaging in one of the
popular sports: soccer, tennis, swimming, rugby, running, etc...
Here’s one example I Googled that you could print on a small
Polaroid format and use. You may age it of course or print it in a
vintage-like format.

Soccer:

OR-

And this is a thought by Aaron Alexander, you could digitalize the

whole multiple-outs system by simply creating a new album in
your phone gallery containing 4 or so pictures of the desired
sports. You have both options!

I used to perform this effect without the picture reveal and you
could, but when I added it, the routine became so much stronger,
whether it’s the digital way or the physical way.
Lastly but not least, the closing lines, which are:

“You know, we all have this incredible ability to see life through
other people's eyes. It's incredible, isn't it? Wouldn't it be
incredible if we all used this power as often as possible? Think of
how unnecessary conflict we'd avoid.

“I’d like you to do me a favor. Never forget this moment, and

always try to look at life through other people’s eyes, ok?”

I want to credit Tomek Grudzinski for those lines and for also
telling me that it should end by something meaningful to them. So
thanks Tomek for that.

I hope you enjoyed the effect until now, and I wish nothing more
than for you to go out and try it. You will see the results yourself.

Here’s how the effect should go from beginning to end:

1. The sports force
2. Trapping part one
3. The special memory
4. Trapping part two
5. The confirmation principle
6. The picture reveal
7. Closing lines
Phasmatic A&Q:
This is, if not obvious, A&Q using the basic phasma principle by a
man whom I can’t praise enough no matter how creative I get,
Phedon Bilek. He gave me permission to include the application
of phasma on this routine which I think works perfectly, thanks
Phedon.

Essentially the phasma principle makes this routine as sure-fire

as it will ever get. And it works perfectly in this routine due to the
fact that the participant is trying to “know” stuff about you, which
gives this routine more flexibility and room than it actually needs.

Here’s how the phasma addition works:

After explaining what is on the other side of the card, instead of

saying “you will then think of a simple question”, you will say “you
will then think of a question or a couple of them” which is this part
of the script:

‘‘Yes! On the other side of this business card there’s a question;

this question has to do with me when I was a little boy, because
you don’t know me that well, I will tell you a little about myself as a
young boy, you will then think of a question or a couple of
questions, and we will see how things go from there, ready?’’
Just the simple remark of them might think of more than one
question

Here you apply the sports force.

Then you say: “From what you know now, just think of a simple
question about something you want to know about me as a young
boy. A simple question that can be answered by a specific
one-word answer…. done?”

Let us assume they are thinking of a wrong question, such as

"where did you go last summer?"

I ask them to use their intuition to answer the question they have
in mind. They say “Malaysia”

Now obviously them saying "Malaysia" means they are probably

thinking of a question that doesn't pertain to sport.

I counter with “Okay…..think of another question, but this time

allow what I have told you to ring into your mind while creating
that simple question….done?”
This time, for example; we hit it, and they are thinking of “what
sports you played when you were young?” then they use their
intuition to say “Soccer”

I say “Good…. Now think of one final question with its answer”
The question: “what was your favorite cartoon?”
Answer: “Mickey Mouse”

What phasma added here is that by including a sentence to the

original script, it essentially triples the probability of the force to
hit.

Now I have 3 answers and one of them is the one I need to bring
the routine to fruition. I will provide two ways to lead the
participant to the answer but it's a matter of personal preference,
feel free to use any technique you know to lead them to the
answer you want, but please keep it simple.

The first option of the two is the popular equivoque method, which
is as simple as saying pick up two and hand me one and there’s
the second option, which is the way I would do it, and I think you
will appreciate this option more.

I say this:
“So the answers we’ve got are Malaysia, soccer, and Mickey
Mouse. Now just imagine one answer here, one here, and one
there (performer points to 3 different places on the table) again
one here, one here and the last one right there.

“You’re probably wondering how you will arrive at the right

answer. This cannot be any easier. You are simply going to let
your thoughts and feelings, because they are two entirely different
concepts, to lead you in the right direction.

Which answer do you feel (pause) is related to me? Just point to it

(Participant points to Malaysia)

Okay…and which answer do you think (pause) is related to me?

(Participant points to soccer)

“Both of your feelings and thoughts should unite to lead you to the
right answer, so please give yourself a moment to feel what
you’re thinking right now…..and that should lead you to one
answer, yes? (Participant agrees)

“Which answer is that?”

“Soccer”
Feelings and thoughts:(F.A.T)

This is a pretty simple equivoque technique. It contains three

possible outcomes, which I will explain briefly
1. Participant points to the sport from the first time
2. Participant points to the sport on the second time
3. Participant doesn’t point to the sport at all

Now you might be asking, how you will know which answer they
are pointing to. ​Pay attention:
The order you will state is the same order they will imagine
them in. If you were to tell them: soccer, Mickey Mouse, and
Malaysia. Imagine one here, one here, and one there. They, in
their mind, will go: “okay…soccer, Mickey Mouse, and
Malaysia.”

If you want to know MUCH MORE on the above principle, get

Matt Mello’s insanely good book state of mind. It’s so f$ckin’
good.

You know which answer is which, but they don’t know that you
know that, which makes you a couple of steps ahead.The first
outcome is the perfect situation, which is when they point at
soccer first. At this point, you ask which answer is that and
continue the script accordingly.

The second outcome is what’s outlined here. It takes advantage

of the idea that feelings and thoughts are two different things, and
it expands upon it.

If your participant ​thinks ​that soccer is the right answer you say:
“Both of your feelings and thoughts should unite to lead you to the
right answer, so please give yourself a moment to feel what you
are thinking” and that should lead them straight to soccer simply
because they are thinking about it

If your participant​ feels​ that soccer is the right answer you say:
“Both of your feelings and thoughts should unite to lead you to the
right answer, so please give yourself a moment to think about
what you’re feeling” and that should lead them straight to soccer
simply because they feel that it is the right answer.

The third and final outcome, which is when they don’t point to the
sport at all, goes as follows:

“Would you like to change either your feelings or thoughts?”

If they say “yes”
Then you would use the 2nd outcome script. If they insist on
sticking to their choice, you counter with:
"Both of your feelings and thoughts should unite to lead you to the
right answer. They will unite in a very unique matter. They will
unite by canceling each other out due to the fact that they are
very distinct and independent from each other. They act that way
to take all the variables out of the equation. So please allow them
to unite in this unique way, and that should lead you to one
answer, yes?”

Participant: “Yes”

Performer: “If your thoughts and feelings were any different, we

would have arrived at an entirely different answer than the one
you have now"

(participant agrees)

“Which answer you arrived at?”

“Soccer”
Recap of FAT:

● If the participant ​feels ​that soccer is the right answer here’s

the line that will act as a guide: “Please give yourself a
moment to think about what you’re feeling right now and that
should lead you one answer, yes?”
● If the participant ​thinks t​ hat soccer is the right answer here's
the guideline: "Please give yourself a moment to feel what
you’re thinking right now and that should lead you to one
answer, yes?”
● The participant doesn’t point to soccer at all: "Both of your
feelings and thoughts should unite to lead you to the right
answer. They will unite in a very unique matter. They will
unite by canceling each other out due to the fact that they
are very distinct and independent from each other. They act
that way to take all the variables out of the equation. So
please allow them to unite in this unique way, and that
should lead you to one answer, yes?"

Again you could use any principle you know to lead the participant
to the answer you want.

When you’re down to soccer you will continue the script as you
would normally.
Fraser's thoughts
When Mohamed first showed me his routine I instantly fell in love
with the idea of essentially reversing the classic Q&A plot and
having the spectator use their intuition to know the answer along
with whatever Question they intuitively knew the performer was
thinking and had written down ahead of the performance.

I also loved the use of Peter Turner's Confirmation principle as a

way to make the effect that much bigger in the minds of everyone
watching.

Although Mohamed uses his specific scripting with success I feel

it may be a little heavy in terms of the amount of verbal forcing
present in the script and would prefer much less of the actual
force to be present in the script.

I feel you can get the job done in a much more subtle way.

I also feel it is important to create other possible outcomes for the

thought of Question and subsequent answer, within the scripting,
or at least the illusion of it.
My change of scripting would be as follows. I would perform the
effect the same as Mohamed up until the verbal force and before
telling the participant a little about my life I would add on:

Performer: “I want you to allow a few different Questions to come

into your mind based on what I tell you about myself now”.

I would then lead into the force making sure to say something
about my Childhood that relates to sport first. I would typically
only include the line about being a very active Child and
dismissing video games and School in the process.

Performer: “I was a very a ​ ctive c​ hild and was very ​competitive

and ​outgoing,​ not like my friends who always stayed in-doors
and played video games. I also didn't like school very much
because I felt it didn't fit with what I wanted to do".

This is all I would say to force a Sport. In fact, you can afford to
use the word “competitive” and be a little less subtle here
because in a moment this will be washed over with other details
surrounding your life that could lead to different Questions and
answers.

I would pause for a few seconds after delivering this first

paragraph of scripting and then say “Okay” as a way to suggest to
the spectator that they should now have a Question in mind
relevant to the details I have just given. Then I would repeat this
process making up a few other details about my childhood, again
pausing between each of these statements in order to give the
spectator time to formulate other Questions relevant to my life.

I now bring everything full circle theatrically, whilst also ensuring

the spectator can only choose the Question pertaining to Sport.

Performer: "So right now you have a few different questions in

your mind that may or may not relate to my childhood based
entirely on your intuition, correct?!"

They will answer with a “yes”.

Performer: "It is important when using your intuition that you

always trust your first impression and don't change your mind …
So just focus on whatever Question first came into your mind as I
was describing elements of my Childhood and formulate a
one-word answer that would answer that question … You've got
one!?"

This is how I would handle this routine. Of course, you may wish
to add more of the force to the beginning statement to be sure
you get a hit on the Sports force – such as the inclusion of the line
“They used to call me their little champ!” – But this is how I would
handle creating the illusion of multiple Questions being in play as
well as a better way to hide the force among other details
surrounding my earlier life.
It is also worth noting that when you create a false story based on
whatever sport they name that you choose a real story from your
life and only substitute one element. For example, you may retell
a real memory of when you received a gift from one of your
parents – but change the actual gift to a Soccer ball or whatever
item relates to their answer. This will make your storytelling that
much more believable which will, in turn, increase the overall
impact of the routine.

Back to Mohamed-
Here are a couple of additional ideas that you might like to add to
A&Q

Additional ideas:
- This is a really good idea by Nico Heinrich. If you were sitting
with 3 participants, you could do the sports force and then
ask each to think of a question, and then whoever comes up
with the sport answer, you simply continue the effect with
them! That’s it. It’s so good. Check Nico’s work out,
especially “​Dopamine”,​ such a great book.

- Another idea that flew under my radar that Tom Phoenix

pointed out when I spoke with him is that: treat this like the
simple seven force, meaning, and that will increase the hit
rate, after I do the sports force I would say something like:

“Now most people would think of the question “what was your
passion when you were young or what did you do when you were
young” but I don’t want to you to be most people, so from what
you know now, just think of a simple question about something
you want to know about me as a young boy. A simple question
that can be answered by a specific one-word answer…. done?”
This idea is the same as throwing out the “3” in the seven force.
- Another brilliant additional idea by Aidan O'Sullivan goes as
follows: get a manila envelope, put on one side the "?" and
on the other side of the envelope write the question. Inside
of the envelope there will be a business card that has on one
side; for example, "rugby" and on the other side "swimming".
So it is, basically, a double-sided prediction containing the
two most popular sports in your region, and with slight
changes to the sports force, you can lead them to either
sport. You would have a very clean and powerful revelation,
for both the question and the answer.
A few things to remember:

-Deliver the script with confidence and conviction. If you don’t

believe what you are saying they will not too. I promise you that.

-When re-stating the answers when using FAT, I like to put the
sport in the middle. In that way it is easier for my brain to track it.

-Connect with the participant and enjoy the experience because

every time will be different.

-You could always play with the sports force till you feel most
comfortable with it, it works for me that way, but other than that I
think everything is covered.

-This is a pretty flexible piece so use that to your advantage by

adding personal touches to it that will make you more comfortable
performing it. i.e. Adding or taking away out of the memory reveal.

-Contact me, whether it’s about mentalism, causal talk, questions,

etc…
helmysmind@gmail.com
One last thing I want to address real quick,
​ oint to put into your frame
which is a ​vital p
of thinking, is upping the hit rate. If you
were to examine ​closely​ the tools provided
to up the hit rate which are: editing the
sports force to suit you, phasma, Fraser’s
thoughts, Nico’s idea, Tom’s idea, and
Aidan’s idea. If you were to mix and match
between those ideas, you would have a
pretty solid and stable hit rate.
Credits:
- One image by Matt Mello
- Devil’s picturebook by Derren Brown
- The confirmation principle by Kenton Knepper & Peter
Turner
- Influence: the psychology of persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
- Phamsa by Phedon Bilek
- Closing lines by Tomek Grudzinski
- State of mind by Matt Mello
- A moment from memory in time by Peter turner
- Think backwards, be controversial essay by Peter Turner
- Additional ides by Nico Heinrich, Tom Phoenix, and Adian
O’Sullivan
Thanks to:
● Fraser Parker
● Aaron Alexander
● Drew Backenstoss
● Peter Turner
● Phedon Bilek
● Nico Heinrich
● You, thank you.