Magic by Joel Dickinson

www.tadaa.co.uk

ONE
IN SIX
 ONE IN SIX
Hello.
If you need any advice then get in touch with me. This is a routine I know like the
back of my hand. Thanks for your support
Kind regards, Joel.

Effect: The magician turns back round and

removes his blindfold.
Three participants are sitting on
stage. The magician now starts to eliminate
hands one at a time until he is left
The magician hands one participant
with the one hand which contains the
a small slip of paper. While
paper.
blindfolded the magician instructs his
participants to pass the paper The participants leave the stage. To
between themselves until one of the end the routine the magician reveals
participants decides to keep the the remaining person’s star sign.
paper. Whoever ends up with the
This method doesn’t require
paper writes their name on it. They
elaborate equipment. You will need
then scrunch the paper into a small
nothing more than three pens and a
ball and hold it in a closed fist. All
piece of paper.
participants are instructed to hold out

Props :
You will need a slip of paper prepared as below. I write this with a biro.

NAME ___________________
STAR SIGN: _______________
!
Place this in your RIGHT CLOSED FIST
 You will need to prepare three pens. The pens need removable lids with a
clip. These pens will be prepared with markings which will indicate who is
holding the paper.
The pens are marked with a permanent marker. I would suggest marking
them with dots. These dots are small and positioned to be hid under the clip
of the lid.
Pen number one will have one dot.
Pen number two will have two dots.
Pen number three will have three dots (these are all in Figure 1)

(Figure 1) (Figure 2)

Once you have the paper and marked pens you are ready to perform.
Twist the lid so the clip hides the dots on your pen. (Figure 2)
Once the dots are out of sight, push the lid in place and ensure a tight fit. This
will stop the dots from accidentally coming into view. If the lid is a loose fit and
moves easily I suggest finding a new pen. I buy mine from Asda (a supermarket
chain) and they cost 28p for ten.
Set the stage:
You will need three seats in a row. In front of the middle chair will be a table.
Place the paper on the table face up so the participants can read it. You should
be far enough away from the audience so they can’t read what the paper says. If
the audience can read the paper, place an object in front of it to obscure their
view.
Set all three of the pens by placing the clips over the dots.
Place pen number one in front of the chair, stage left (if you imagine that you are
facing the stage). Pen number two will sit in front of the middle chair and pen
number three will sit in front of the final chair, stage right.
You’re now ready to perform.
!
Performance:
Choose three participants and get them seated onstage. Ask your participants to
pick up their pens from the floor while stating: “Place them on your lap for now.
As my back is turned I wan’t you to pass the paper between yourselves. When I
tell you to stop, if you're left with the paper, you will write your name on it.”
Ask a fourth audience member to cover your eyes as your back is turned and
instruct them to start passing the paper. Allow a little bit of time for the paper to
be passed around.

After a few moments state: “Whoever has the paper, please fill it in by writing
your name on it”.
Whoever is now holding the paper will fill in the details requested. The audience
will believe that the participant will only be writing his or her name on the paper.
Also in red is a clear statement telling the participant which hand to place the
paper in. Sneaky, eh?
As the participant is filling this information in loudly state the following (the
purpose of this is to take the attention away from the participant): “Ladies and
gentlemen; in a moment my assistant will remove my blindfold. Everybody sat on
the stage must hold their hands out in front of themselves with two closed fists. If
you're holding the paper then please hold both of your hands out with the paper
in just the one hand. And please don’t give me any clues that you have the
paper.”
From the audience’s perspective this appears to be a free choice of hand, but it’s
reinstating the right hand instruction to the person with the paper.
“... and please recap the pen and place all pens back on the table.”
Now ask the audience if it is okay to turn round.
As you patter between the audience and the participants glance at the pens. One
pen will show markings and this will indicate who is holding the paper. If a pen is
showing one dot then you know it’s the person stage left, two dots on a pen
indicates the centre chair and the three dots can only mean the right chair. You
should now have the information and know who has the paper.
If you can’t see the markings on a pen, it means the markings are facedown on
the table and out of view. If this is the case, pick up all of the pens and glance at
them as you place them in your pocket.
The participant has been instructed to hold it in their right hand so you now know
exactly where it is.
Explain to the audience that you will attempt to locate the piece of paper.
To begin walk over to the person who has the paper and place your hand on their
left hand. State: “Please don’t say anything and just open your left hand”.
Choose the participant’s left hand first in case he didn’t read the bottom
instruction. That way if he opens his hand and it has the paper in you will be
successful first time. He won’t though; this hand will be empty (the instruction on
the paper has never failed me).
You will now proceed with: “Five hands remain and only four hands to eliminate”
and then eliminate the other hands one at a time, leaving the one final hand with
the paper.
Take your applause. As the applause takes place casually open the crumpled
paper while stating: “What is your name?” Look at the paper and read the star
sign and comment: “Ah, Jane, very nice to meet you.” (this should only take a
couple of seconds) ask the two people who didn’t have the paper to return back to
the audience to an applause.
Now all that is left to do is reveal your participant’s star sign. I usually do this with
a simple reading based on the effect the audience have just seen and it reads as
follows:
“Jane, you’re very good at lying. To lie well requires great acting capabilities. You
are quick at acting on your feet and making the right decisions. Your friends and
family come to you for advice because you are reliable…”
I now tailor the end of the reading to their star sign, lets say they are a leo…
“… you’re very confident and ambitious. You’re strong hearted like a lion. You
must be a Leo. Don’t just lie to make me look good but yes or no only; are you a
Leo?”
Notice how the wording closes the participant to a yes or no response. This is in
place to stop them from revealing that they previously wrote it down.
Ask for the audience to give them a big round of applause as they take their
seat.
This live writing process is something which I'm unfamiliar with. I haven’t
previously seen any routines which include this method. You’re not limited to a
star sign divination. You can ask for a participant’s favourite colour, favourite
playing card or anything which comes to your mind. I call this ‘The Second
Thought Process’.
!
Which hand, method two :
You may feel your presentation is limited with ‘Place this in your RIGHT
CLOSED FIST’ wrote on the piece of paper. You can remove this instruction from
the paper and from your performance and still be correct. Once the three
participants are holding their fists out and you know who has the paper, explain
to the audience: “I will now attempt to locate the paper” and approach the
participant holding the paper, place your hand on their left hand. “Please don’t
say anything and just open your left hand”. If this hand contains the paper you
have an instant hit, instant applause and an instant success, it’s a guess and it
worked out well.
And if it doesn’t contain the paper it’s obviously in this participants other hand.
Simply say “Five hands remain and only four hands to eliminate”. You will now
proceed by eliminating the other participant’s hands.
A verbal subtlety can take place when you move on to the second participant’s
hand you will say “Please don’t say anything either but open your right hand and
this should also be empty…” This statement helps back up your initial guess.
Continue eliminating hands and leave the hand with the paper until last and take
your bow. I personally prefer this outcome as you can really build the theatre.
I have been informed Patrick Redford has done some great work using a similar
idea.
Bonus hit : You can also incorporate a prediction within this effect.
Before the effect begins place a number on the back of every chair. 1, 2 & 3
(from left to right).
• Select your audience members with a rolled up ball of paper. Inside the rolled
up ball reads : “I predict the spectator on chair number two will end up with the
piece of paper, signed *magician*.” If this was the case, turn all chairs around
to show their numbers.
• Stick an envelope to the bottom of chair number three, inside this envelope
place a letter which reads: “I predict the spectator sat on this chair will end up
with the piece of paper, Signed *magician*.” Tip all chairs over to show they
don’t all have a prediction.
• Place an envelope (which you never mention) on the table, inside this
envelope place a letter which reads: “I predict the spectator sat on chair
number one will end up with the piece of paper, everything has a reason,
Signed Magician.” Turn the chairs around to show they are numbered.
You will reveal the correct corresponding prediction after you have located the
paper.

Revealing your spectators star sign with a spoof reading on stage makes you
appear to be much more psychic than you are.
Flatter the participant and always ask for confirmation with your statements. Your
participant will always agree to flattery and then when you reveal his or her star
sign it will strengthen the reading you have just done.
One in four Close up :
In this variation you will use two participants and a third person astonishingly
helps the magician divine the location of the paper.
You will use two pen, I use the pen marked with two and three dots. Have these
sat in you pocket with the clip covering the dots.
You will also have a small piece of paper, I find post it note sized paper works
great. Draw a circle in the middle of this.

In this variation you will use two participants and you will divine who is holding
the paper.
You will use two of the marked pens. The pen marked with one and two dots.
Have these sat in your pocket with the clip covering the dots.
You will also have a small piece of paper, squared post it note sized paper will be
fine. Draw a circle in the middle of this.
Presentation :
You will require two participants. Remove one of the pens from your pocket and
casually rotate the lid to establish the number of dots on the pen and re-cover
the dots with the clip as you hand the pen to a participant (alternatively make a
small mark on the lid with a knife and place it on pen number one). You need to
remember which participant has which pen and keep the association in mind.
Explain that you wan’t the two participants to decide who has the paper and
instruct them to write their name on the paper and crumple it into a ball and
decide on a hand which it will be placed in. Then they are both to hold their
hands out with closed fists, keeping the paper hidden from view.
Ask for the pens to be recapped, turn back and take the pens. Take a look at the
pen and establish which volunteer remove the lid to write their name.
You will proceed to divine which hand the paper is in as described above in the
section ‘Which hand method two.
Writing motivation :
You may feel the need for a motivation to have the spectator write on the paper. I
have never used any motivation however after talking to Michael Murray he has
just took this astounding effect to another level. Purchase a small clipboard and
create your favourite impression device. Instead of having somebody write their
name, have them draw an image and when you retrieve the board peek the
information, and finish the routine with a drawing duplication.
Just describing the image the participant drew is strong enough. If your
unfamiliar with making an impression device then please contact me by email
info@joel-dickinson.co.uk
One particularly beautiful thing about this is that the participant will be unaware
that you have peeked their star sign so they will also be visually amazed on
stage.
If you don’t have an impression board why not take a stab at the triangle and
circle force in Banachek’s Psychological Subtleties, actually I recommend you
buy everything by Banachek.
!
Extra tips :
Originally this routine wasn't an in hands Kurotsuke routine. I used to guess who
had the paper in their pocket, if that fits your style then feel free to use it.
If your opting for the drawing duplication and fancy purchasing a duplication
method then the Tommy Pad will be ideal for this as the pad is a great size for
rolling up the paper when it comes to the participants hiding it.
I’m regularly asked by other magicians ‘what if the spectators cover the dots with
the clip during a performance’. After hundreds of performances this has never
happened.
I have been asked ‘what happens if you turn around and two different pens have
dots showing. Since 2012 this has never happened to me, not once. The reason
you ask for the participant to put the pens on their laps is so they are not
tempted to fiddle with the lids. The only way they would even think about
touching the pens is if they where bored, however they are listening to
instructions from the performer and then passing around the paper.

When it comes to revealing the spectators star sign I have intentionally left that
loose so you can adapt it to fit your style. As an alternative remember you can
use an impression device to retrieve this information, the volunteer will be as
amazed as the audience. I personally don’t use a clip board and prefer the.

Don't be concerned about using three pens, the emphasis is on the paper. It
makes sense for each spectator to use a pen. Initially I handed out the marked
pens from my pocket during the performance. From experience it is much
smoother having the pens on the floor for your participants to pick up.
!
Credit’s due :
This was originally inspired by a Tannen’s routine which I am not in a position to
divulge as it will reveal their method. Wayne Dobson also uses a similar method/
principle in his excellent routine A Pen for your Thoughts.
Many thanks to Michael Murray for contributing his excellent drawing duplication
idea.
!
I hope you enjoy One in Six. Many thanks for your support.
You can check out more of my magic at www.tadaa.co.uk
Joel