Ahead

José Prager, Peter Turner & Luke Jermay

Copyright © 2017, Jose Prager

All rights reserved under all applicable law, including

the Berne Convention. No part of this publication may
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Jose Prager, www.e-mentalism.com,

castilloprager@gmail.com

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Two Very Secret Digits
By José Prager
The mentalist is able to divine the first digit of his
participants PIN and the first digit of his card without looking
at it at any moment and without them writing anything down.

Performance:

"Do you have a credit card with you? Don't show it to me.

What is it a Visa, Master Card, American Express..."

Participant: Visa

"Do you know it's PIN?"

Participant: Yes

"Would you feel comfortable with me trying to guess the first

digit of your PIN?

Participant: OK

"Concentrate on the first digit of your PIN now."

I like to mimic plucking the number out of their brain into

mine.

"Thank you"

I now write a single digit on a business card and place it

inside my pocket.

"I'm committed, I can't change it... be completely honest what’s

the first digit of your PIN?"

Participant: 9

"I will not show you yet. I want to try something else... for me
to be able to use your PIN I would also require your credit card
number; agree?"

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Participant: Makes sense.

"Take a look at the first digit of your credit card secretly

while my back is turned".

Participant: Done.

"Now, concentrate on this number"

Again I mimic plucking the thought from their head. I take

another business card, write a single digit and place it inside
my pocket along with the other card.

"Again I am committed you have to be honest... what is the first

digit of your card?"

Participant: 4

I remove both business cards from my pocket and hand it to them

facedown.

"So it was a 9 and a 4 correct?"

Participant: Yes

"Turn them over"

Participant: Holy shit!

The secret:

I casually ask before anything happens what type of card they

have as soon as I know what type of card they have, Visa, Master
Card, American Express or Discover I know the first digit of
their card so, I am already one step ahead of the game.

All Visas start with 4.

MasterCard with 5.
American Express with 3.
Discover with 6.

There is the core method, in conjunction with the classic one

ahead principle, routined in such a way that the result is a
really clean and direct mind reading demonstration that can be
done at anytime to anyone. Review the performance and all will
be super clear.

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The Weekly Forecast
By Peter Turner
The performer leaves his client with a sealed envelope to hold
claiming it is a prediction that will be of the utmost
importance during the show in a week’s time.
He leaves the client with this set of instructions
The client is to choose ANY paper or magazine that week, to look
at ANY headline and to choose one of the words from that
headline. He/she can change their mind ANYTIME up until the day
of the show.

The day of the show arrives, and the performer

[WHO NEVER TOUCHES THE ENVELOPE] performs his show and then asks
that participant to open the envelope as his finale. He has
correctly identified which word the client would choose!

Method
The method to this is extremely simple, but because of the time
delay it makes it SOOO deceptive I have used this on several
occasions for press and promotional purposes.
I will use the perfect example in which this works.
Say you were meeting a potential client and were going to
perform a series of three effects. This routine is one that I
would definitely employ.
Take a bank note, write the serial number of the bank note down,
and make sure you remember where you place the writing this is
ultraimportant. Take a business card and write the names of two
pieces of force information (whatever you want a playing card,
drawing or a series of psi —whatever you can comfortably force).

Fold the bill over the business card and seal it into an
envelope.

This is the envelope you are going to give your client. At this
point, you should have realised what you are going to perform is
a “ONE WEEK AHEAD”.

Hand the client the envelope and ask them not to open it under
any circumstance.

[BEFORE WE MEET THE CLIENT, WE NEED TO LEARN A COUPLE OF

PRINCIPLES.]

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The bank note is the thing that really sells this though, is not
essential but my preferred method.
Here is a good time to talk about ...

The Toxic Principle

First brought to the table by Bob King then marketed by John
Cornelius (but has been around as long as dodgy accountants have
been around).
Essentially if you own an iPhone (or if they do it’s even
better!) or a scientific calculator from a pound or dollar store
and type in the total you want to force
For example:
123456
Then press “ + 0 X ( “
You will notice the 123456 disappears, but do ANY calculations
and press the equals key, and the total 123456 will appear
instead of the actual total of the sum! You have just made an
impromptu add-a-number calculator.

[If you are using an iPhone you need to turn it onto its side to
get the scientific calculator to appear.]
We are going to use this to force the serial on the bank note
when we meet the client.

Meeting the client

-Performer: “I did tell you to change your mind as many times as
you wanted right up until today. The envelope is in your bag so
I cannot touch it. What is the one word you committed to?”
[The client will have no problems saying the word out loud as it
seems the most natural thing in the world because she has had
her chance to change her mind right up until that moment]
Cheekily ask if the person wants to change their mind at the
last moment.

Now start to talk to your client about what it is you do.

Halfway through explaining, say you know what I will show you.
Remove a business card and write on it the word the client said
out loud. Don’t be afraid to ask them to turn their back because
you don’t want them having any idea what you have written down.
Remove an IDENTICAL envelope to the one in which you sealed the
banknote and seal the piece of card with the word the client
chose. Do this under the table if you cannot get the subject to
turn their back. What is important is that the client does not
see you are not placing a banknote in the envelope.

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[An interesting subtlety here is to take a banknote out that is
the same value as the one you sealed in the envelope in their
possession and to place it upon the table; never draw attention
to it.
Ask them to turn their back while you make a few predictions.
Pocket the note and just write the one word they selected on the
card and seal the envelope. They see the note and the envelope
and the business card. They turn back, hear you writing, turn
back around and the note is gone and the envelope is sealed.
This will indirectly imply that you sealed the note inside the
envelope!]
Give them the envelope and ask them to place it with the other
one out of sight for now.

Use “The Toxic Principle”, typing in the serial number of the

note as the force number into the calculator. Be bold and do
this right under their nose. I have NEVER been called on this.
[If they have an iPhone, borrow it; the calculator can be found
in the utilities. What is lovely is that when you ask for the
phone, you can always pretend you don’t know how to use it, and
then type the numbers in under the guise of looking for the
calculator.]
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All you have to do now is ask the client to start by writing a
list of five-digit numbers down. Play up the performance here as
though you are influencing them in picking the numbers.
They will have a list of numbers that look like this:
12345
67345
78234
55431
Let the subject add the numbers up on the calculator (or
iPhone).
The outcome of the client’s numbers will be the total on the
banknote (unknown to them).
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Write the total on a piece of paper in front of the client.
Force your other two pieces of information. This is of course
where your performance counts, as these little convincers are
going to make you predicting the word entirely credible.
All you have to do is ask the subject to get the two envelopes
out and ask them to be opened!
You have a miracle.
Don’t think that, because of the simplicity of this, it will be
rumbled. Trust me, it will fly straight by. The time delay is
what makes this entirely impossible. It’s even nicer if you get

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a third party to open the envelopes because there is natural
confusion in which is which when they hand them across.

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Old Faithful
By Luke Jermay
I have never really thought to put what follows into print,
simply because it makes use of common, known and well-used
technique. I suspect it will showcase literally nothing new to
seasoned performers from a methodological perspective. However,
in recent months, a number of magicians, mind readers and
mentalists have seen me perform this for real, living, breathing
spectators and asked if it is in print anywhere. Encouraged by
this, I have written it up, and it appears in this volume for
the first time anywhere.

The title of the routine was chosen simply because this is the
one routine I have performed more than any other in informal
settings as well as formal close-up performances during the time
I performed in close-up settings. While I have not ever used
this in a stand-up or stage setting, it should be noted that
there is no reason whatsoever it could not be used in that
setting should you wish, too.

The mechanics and a presentational element are based on well-

known routines from past masters Anneman and Burt Reese.
However, I hope the subtle details born from literally thousands
of performances might be welcomed. It is these small points that
make the big difference, and often these points only present
themselves after countless performances. This write-up will, if
nothing else, save you time in putting this routine on its feet,
should this be a new style of magic for you. It also makes use
of only blank cardstock and a pen/pencil, which I always have
with me in my wallet. This makes it, for my purposes, an
anytime, anywhere demonstration, since whenever I leave the
house I have my wallet with me and therefore have the props I
need to perform this high-impact routine at any time.

Effect:
The performer in a casual setting is asked to demonstrate his
ability to read minds. He brings fourth his wallet and from
within removes two blank cards about the size of business cards.
On one of these cards he draws a line in the centre, and on the
other card he draws a large rectangle at the top of the
vertically aligned card and a line at the very bottom of the
card. Both of these cards are folded into fourths and then
opened and handed to a single spectator.

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The performer addresses one of the spectators:

“I want you to image you are back in school. Remember as much

detail from that time in your life as you can: the way the
school looked; your favourite teachers; as many of the details
as possible. Most importantly, I want you to remember the name
of your best friend from that time. Do not tell me their name.
However, yes or no, do you remember that name? Good. If you had
not, you would have looked like a cold-hearted woman! Here is
another interesting question. Again, do not tell me the answer,
just yes or no. Do you remember the telephone number you used to
call that person on? I bet you do. Nowadays we don’t know
anyone’s telephone number—with cell phones we don’t need to.
However, I can still remember the phone number I used to call my
friend Jennifer when I was a teenager. Are you the same as me?
You can remember the number?”

The spectator responds that they do indeed remember their

friend’s name and telephone number. If they cannot remember the
telephone number, the performer simply continues working only
with the name of their friend. He continues:

“Perfect. I want you to commit yourself to these ideas. Really

bring them to the very forefront of your mind by writing them on
the lines on the card. When you have written the name and the
telephone number, fold the card into four so no one can see what
you have thought about. Make sure no one, least of all me, sees
what you write down. Please do that for me now.”

The spectator follows the performer’s instructions and records

the name of their friend and, if remembered, their telephone
number. The performer switches his attention to the second
spectator as he continues:

“I want you to return to your school days. However, I want you

to imagine you are back in a classroom. You stand at the
chalkboard about to make a drawing. In your mind right now, lock
an image, something you're comfortable drawing in your mind.
Remember, this is not an art competition. I am terrible at
drawing, so do not worry, but lock an image in your mind for me
now. In a moment, I want you to make that drawing in the frame
on the card. Imagine it’s like a 2D art gallery. The frame will
host your masterpiece, but no work of art is complete without
some pretentious- sounding title. So underneath the frame you
will see the name plaque, like a wall in an art gallery. So

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finish your drawing and then fill in a title for it. Go for
something pretentious and arty. Do that for me now, and when
you're done, fold up the paper into four so no one can see what
you have thought about.”

Turning to a third spectator, the performer continues:

“You will be our judge. I want you to collect the folded papers
and to shake them up in your hand, to throw them onto the table
and then just to point to one of them at random. Please do that
for me now.”

The spectator selects one of the papers. The performer picks up

the other remaining paper and tears it into pieces as he states:

“Ok, we have randomly chosen a target. We will focus our

attention on it only.”

The performer places his hand above the paper and after a moment
reveals he believes this to have the energy of the school
friend. He then slowly reads the mind of the spectator,
revealing the name of their school friend. Removing his phone,
he guides the spectator through imagining calling their friend,
dialing their number. As he does this, he punches numbers into
the “dial pad” of his phone. He hands this to the another
spectator who reads aloud his impressions. The spectator
comments that he is correct with the exception of one number.
The performer reaches out, opens the folded paper and reads the
number aloud. He is indeed off by one on a single number. He
continues as he tears up the paper, adding it to the pile of
papers from the eliminated paper:

“I apologize. That wasn’t very good. Look, I will make up for

it.”

The performer turns his attention to the spectator who made a

drawing. He then removes a further blank card from his wallet
and slowly traces the image onto the card. He then confirms this
is correct. He has the spectator look at the drawing and in
their head say the title. The performer states the title of the
artwork out loud.

Observations:
This routine packs a punch, especially when considering the
amount of effort that is needed to achieve it. In essence, you
will work simply with a centre tear and a one-ahead. However, it

10
is the construction of the routine and the extension of
information that make this a very strong demonstration.

This routine was born from the desire to present a routine that
packs more of a punch than we are used to seeing in close-up
mentalism. I observed that often the classic routines designed
for close-up or informal performance only allow for a single
revelation of information and therefore are not suited to an
informal situation with a handful of spectators. Another common
problem when working with a small number of spectators is that
it can be difficult to have individuals focus on multiple pieces
of information at one time. If we ask a spectator to think
about, for example, a string of information such as a playing
card, a number and a country, we are asking them to remember
information that has no inbuilt reason for them to remember it,
and therefore this feels boring and difficult to them.

To solve this issue in the presentation, I have linked the

information in their mind based on things they already know,
rather than new things they need to remember, and therefore
turned it into a “story” easy for them to remember as opposed to
the use of generic information. This allows us to work with more
detailed information and to use multiple pieces of information
with single spectators. It also relies on the fact that people
are far more interested in information from their personal
histories as opposed to generic information such as a playing
card.

Routine:
To performer the routine, have one spectator write down a name
and telephone number on two lines drawn within the centre of the
billet. Ensure this information is within the area of whichever
tear you prefer will deliver it to you. This routine will make
use of a steal and read as opposed to a real-time peek. This is
to allow the performer the impact of the telephone number
revelation without the need to commit a full telephone number to
memory in a matter of seconds.

Have a second spectator make a drawing within a “frame” on the

card and give that image a title as if it were hanging on a wall
in an art gallery.

Have both cards folded, and as you hand them to the third
spectator, place a crimp in the corner of the card that contains
the name of a school friend and their telephone number. Have the

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spectator mix them by shaking them in their hand and then
tossing them to the table.

I personally then stand the papers on their edges as two

“tents,” and in this action remove the crimp from the card. This
is not really needed, however; I prefer having the two cards
match rather than one being clearly crimped. This crimp is only
needed for me to know in which position the school-friend billet
lies. Once I know this, I can remove the crimp and opt to do so.
I will leave this decision to you. Some may feel this is running
when not being chased, and maybe I'm just paranoid and looking
over my shoulder, but personally I feel better removing the
crimp, especially considering that in a moment I will have a
spectator focus their attention on the folded papers,
heightening the possibility of someone noticing the discrepancy
between the folded papers.

Regardless of whether you have removed the crimp or not,

continue having a third spectator point to one of the two folded
cards. If they point to the crimped card, pick it up and perform
a centre tear, explaining:

“Ok, we will eliminate it and focus our attention only on the

remaining thought.”

If they point to the drawn image, explain:

“Perfect, this will be our target thought.”

As you say this, pick up the crimped billet and perform a centre
tear, explaining:

“We will eliminate the other thought.”

With the stolen centre open and in finger palm, I remove my

phone. I personally have an iPhone, however I have performed
this routine for long enough to have used it alongside ever-
developing technology. At one time I performed this with a
humble Nokia phone and have also performed it with a Blackberry.
The exact phone you use will change the manner in which you will
conceal the stolen centre, however this is a simply matter of
playing with the routine with your mobile/cell phone in hand. I
have found the shape of an iPhone to be perfect to cover reading
the stolen centre. It acts a little like the classic Questions
and Answers screen enjoyed by Dunninger back in the day.

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Using an iPhone, I place the phone on top of the stolen centre.
I unlock the phone and then open up the dial function. I then
have the spectator imagine they are dialing numbers. In this
visualization process, I remove the phone from my palm-up hand
and hold it in front of their eyes. I then replace the phone
into my hand. In this action, I am placing the open centre on
top of the phone.

I now can see the number as I dial it into my phone. You may
need to move this paper around a little to access the correct
numbers during the dialing process. An advantage of the iPhone
is that the dial function clearly displays the numbers at the
top of the screen, making the revelation to come tidy and easy
to understand. I intentionally get the third number in the
sequence incorrect.

An alternative method—and one I do use from time to time—is to

open the dial function, turning the phone to face the spectator
and holding out the stolen centre on the back of the phone. In
this position, I am looking directly at the stolen centre, and
the spectator is looking at the screen with the dial pad
displayed. I can then have them imagine they are dialing the
number and name each number as I read it from the centre. This
is a very angle- sensitive approach, and therefore I still
favour the approach proper already covered; I mention it here
only as it might be useful one day. See the additional bonus
routine at the end of this description for another routine using
this secret reading method.

I then have them imagine their friend answering the phone and
name the friend aloud. I then turn my attention to the number. I
hand my phone to the spectator to look at the number. At the
same time, I pick up the folded billet, believed to be the
billet containing the name and telephone number. I open it and
apparently read the telephone number from it. When I reach the
third number, I complain about missing it and then confirm that
the other numbers are correct.

This handled as follows:

“Please take the phone. This is the number I sensed you were
dialing in your mind.”

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I reach for the folded paper, open it and load the opened centre
into the centre of the paper, allowing me to read the telephone
number from it as I continue:

“The first number is (insert number). What number did I write

down?”

The spectator will repeat the number, confirming it is written

correctly. I then continue:

“The second number is (insert number). What did I get? That’s 2

for 2. The first number is...oh, I was off. It is (insert
number). I was off by one, right? I wrote (insert number),
correct? Ok, that’s annoying, but the last three numbers are
(insert three numbers). What did I write down?”

The spectator finishes reading the last three numbers aloud.

This gives the revelation a certain punch. Being wrong on a
single number is important since it will introduce the notion of
“making up for the mistake” with the apparently unplanned
continuation with the drawing. Handling the revelation in this
fashion also justifies the opening and reading of the billet. A
sequence of numbers is something that would need a written
confirmation; making a point of this might feel a bit odd, but
trust me, this is perfectly logical in the minds of the
spectators. At the conclusion of this, tear the paper, along
with the centre, into pieces. To do this, simply fold up the
paper with the still-open centre inside. Tearing right thru the
middle will destroy the centre in the open action of tearing up
the paper itself. Add everything onto the pile of papers and at
the conclusion, should anyone reach for the torn pieces, all
will appear as it should.

It goes without saying that before tearing this paper and the
centre, you will remember both the drawing and title appearing
on it. All that remains now is for you to reveal the drawing and
finally the title given to it by the spectator.

Closing Thoughts:
Do not overlook this thinking. It is not new or flashy in
method. The subtle sequencing and the justification underlying
everything is what makes this routine powerful. It is also worth
pointing out that this routine gives you four solid revelations
at best and three revelations at worst.
Should the spectator not remember their friend’s telephone
number, I often have them write down the name of their favourite

14
teacher or some other school-related fact. I will then miss this
slightly in some understandable manner, such as spelling the
name wrong: Jillian instead of Gillian, or whatever I can create
with the information presented to me. This mistake is vital to
continue with the second billet and also vital in the opening
and reading of the billet in the one-ahead process.

With that said, I find it very rare, when using the setup
described in the scripting at the beginning in the effect
description, that the spectator does not remember the telephone
number.

If you treat this routine well and give it the proper

understanding in its script and delivery, you will have a direct
mind-reading routine available at the drop of a hat that is
extremely powerful.

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