© 2020 Jamie Daws

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Produced and designed by Jamie Daws.

First edition.

www.JamieDaws.co.uk
JAMIE DAWS
 Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 08
The Tracker ................................................................................ 10
Types of Tracker ......................................................................... 13

WHICH HAND?
Card & Coin ............................................................................... 18
Card & Coin Scenarios ............................................................... 25
Card & Coin Complex ............................................................... 33
Card & Coin Complex Scenarios ............................................... 35
Working Backwards ................................................................... 43
Business Card/Imagination ........................................................ 44
Business Card/Imagination Scenarios ........................................ 47
Three Coin .................................................................................. 55
Three Coin Scenarios ................................................................. 59
Three Coin Impromptu ............................................................. 67
Three Coin Impromptu Scenarios ............................................. 75
Mental Which Hand ................................................................... 84
Two Man Which Hand .............................................................. 88
Two Man Which Hand Scenarios .............................................. 91

THOUGHT REVEALS
NTC .......................................................................................... 102
NTC Scenarios .......................................................................... 109

CARDS
Mizaru Two ...............................................................................120
Mizaru Two Scenarios .............................................................. 131
Mizaru for One ......................................................................... 139
Mizaru for One Scenarios ..........................................................141
Mizaru Impromptu ...................................................................149

OTHER TRACKERS
Electronic .................................................................................. 153
Dice ...........................................................................................154

Final Thoughts ...........................................................................155

Credits .............................................................................. 156
 THE TRACKER

Introduction
I
have an obsession with the ‘truth teller/liar’ plot. One
of the most common comments I get when I perform
is, “It must be hard to be your girlfriend, I bet she
couldn’t keep any secrets from you!”. And I have no doubts
that other performers often have similar comments. When
displaying either ‘mind reading’ or ‘psychological
demonstrations’, people immediately conclude that I am a
detector of lies. Therefore, in my mind, being able to
really tell if someone is lying or telling the truth seems like
a fundamental part of being a ‘mind reader’. In this book,
there are a number of presentations all based on this plot
but utilising many popular magic themes. Be it, finding a
coin in a hidden hand or telling someone which card they
are thinking of. Some will require a little bit of brain
power to follow but I can promise you, after you have
practiced on audience members once or twice, it will
become far easier. Just stick with it! I have put test scenarios
in most effects so that you can practice your skills on the

8
 JAMIE DAWS

page. The scenario will be on the right hand page of the

book and the answer will be displayed when you turn the
page. Just don’t cheat and look at the answer otherwise it
is a little pointless! You little scoundrel, you! In some of
these effects, you will actually be tracking their truths and
lies and therein is the difficult part. Tracking real truths
and real lies. It will seem daunting at first, but I promise,
with practice and with the scenarios in this book, it
becomes very easy, very quickly! So here we go! Let’s
become real life lie detectors and hinder our already
decreasing chances of finding a significant other who
trusts us!

9
 THE TRACKER

The Tracker
I
n order for us to discover whether they are lying or
telling the truth, each of these effects relies on a
‘Tracker’. The ‘Tracker’ is a piece of information we
acquire that the audience member doesn’t realise we know.

Using this piece of information, we can then track their

real truths and lies. This information can fundamentally
be anything you want and you can obtain it in anyway you
want. This means, these ideas lend themselves to pretty
much any performance style and many different plots. I
will discuss some interesting ways to gain information,
force information and sometimes using restricted
information to narrow down their choices.

To give you basic understanding of this before we jump in

to the effects, let’s presume we have David and Samantha.
Because I work in a restaurant, I have secretly discovered
the last 2 digit’s of their bank card’s. David’s number is

10
 JAMIE DAWS

’11’ and Samantha’s number is 22. They obviously don’t

know I know this information but I am going to use this as
my ‘Tracker’.

“I would like you to both focus on a piece of information

that is unique to only you. Do you each have a bank card
with you? Amazing, please take them out and look at the
last 2 digit’s of your card. But make sure no one else sees.
Please place those cards away and focus on your numbers.
I would like both of you to become truth tellers or liars. If
you are a truth teller, you must always tell me the truth and
if you are a liar, you must always tell me a lie. I need a base
read from you. So this time, please tell me the truth. What
is your first name… And yours? Perfect! Now you are
always going to be a truth teller or liar. The number you
are thinking of is even? (David replies no) And Samantha,
your number is even? (Samatha also replies no)”

From this one question, I now know who is telling me a lie

and who is telling me the truth. I know because David’s
number is 11 and therefore odd, when he replied his
number is NOT even, I know he is a truth teller. However,
Samantha’s number is 22 and therefore even. When I
asked her if her number is even and she said NO, I know
she is a stinking liar!

Now, this is a very basic understanding of what is

happening here. However, we can now use this example to
get wayyy more information from them. We can also use it

11
 THE TRACKER

to disguise other methods. If you have ever been nervous

about progressive anagrams being too obvious, if you use
a ‘Tracker’ you can be as obvious with that progressive
anagram as you wish. Because, now, you are tracking their
lie’s and truth’s, not trying to detect their answers via
‘mind reading’.

12
 JAMIE DAWS

Types of Tracker
A
ny kind of tracker can be used. ‘Improvised’,
‘Forced’ or ‘Discovered’ are all fine. The main
thing to keep in mind is, you want to be as ‘hands
off’ as possible.

An ‘Improvised Tracker’ is something that is discovered by

accident or on the spot. In the example we used earlier, I
used their payment receipt to gain the information of the
last 2 digits on their bank card. Completely improvised on
my behalf. Equally, you may perhaps just be listening to
their conversation and you discover something you can use
as a ‘Tracker’. Also, if you work at a venue, you may have
access to their names, addresses or phone numbers.

A ‘Forced Tracker’ is something literally forced upon them

that you know in advance. This is an interesting one
because that forced piece of information can actually aid
you in discovering a non forced piece of information. This

13
 THE TRACKER

sounds counter intuitive but you will understand later in

the book. Perhaps you give them a dice to roll and they add
up the top and bottom number of those dice. We know this
number will of course be 7 but many spectators are
unaware of this. Maybe using a forcing device like a ‘Sven
Pad’ or a digital dice with a reader. It could even be as
simple as forcing a card.

Finally, a ‘Discovered Tracker’ is a piece of information

you have peeked. Perhaps via a peek wallet, a billet switch
or any number of other methods. In some cases, you will
only need one ‘Tracker’ for 2 spectators. You’ll see this a
little later on. Simply think about something contrasting, I
may have one person think of the last two digits of their
bank card. I already know it is 11 and therefore odd so the
second person can make a random two digit number.
However, if the first person chose an odd number, then
they must pick an even number and visa versa.

Now, because I know person ones number is odd, I know

the second persons number must be even! My first
question to them during the truth-telling / liar phase of
this routine would be… “Is your number even?” I say the
same thing to both people and suddenly, I know who is
lying to me and who is telling the truth and only from
utilising one ‘Tracker’. With a little bit of imagination, this
can be used with more than two spectators.

But whatever ‘Tracker’ you use, be creative with how that

14
 JAMIE DAWS

piece of information is utilised. It might be able to not only

tell you if they are lying or telling the truth but it might be
used to also discover more information.

15
THE TRACKER

16
Here, I am going to offer you several ‘Which hand’ style effects. I love
the ‘Which hand’ plot and I love the idea that the truths and lies they
are telling, are telegraphing to me the location of the object. I have
several variations for you that utilise a few different ‘Trackers’ but
they’re all essentially the same.
 THE TRACKER

CARD AND COIN

T
he performer brings out a stack of business cards
and a coin. They are placed side by side on the
table. The performer instructs them that in a
moment they are going to make a series of decisions that
are entirely random to them. They can take a card and
place it in their pocket and then take the coin and place it
in either hand. Or, they can take only the coin and hide it
in either hand without taking a card.

The performer turns away until the spectator has done the
deed. The performer then informs the spectator that they
can either be a truth teller or a liar. If they are a liar, they
are always to lie and a truth teller must always tell the
truth. He also informs them that they are only answering
yes or no questions.

The performer asks spectator one if they took a card? The

spectator answers, either telling the truth or lying. He then
asks if they have an object in their left hand, he gets their
answer. He instantly reveals that the spectator was lying!
He took a card, it is in his pocket and the coin is in his right
hand.

Everything is revealed to be correct.

18
 JAMIE DAWS

THE TRACKER

There are very few ‘Which hand’ routines that offer this
level of directness with only impromptu objects and no
gimmicks. Equally, unlike most routines of this nature, the
lack of a logic puzzle enables us to be more direct and
precise with our revelations whilst asking fewer questions.
Now, you can actually get more information from them
should you wish with one additional question, but we will
get to that a bit later. I am hoping just from the read
through, it still fooled you even though you know the
existence of a ‘Tracker’.

Here, the ‘Tracker’ is devious and clever and will also

feature in several of the methods in this book. The
‘Tracker’ rests on top of the stack of business cards. The
top card has a secret mark on it that when you see it, is
glaringly obvious but if the spectator were to look at the
card, they wouldn’t be able to see the marking. You can
mark your card however you see fit. The coin is normal
and can be borrowed.

Let us explore the mechanics of the ‘Tracker’ in this

method. So, we offer the spectator some choices. They can
take a card and put it in their pocket and then put the coin
in either hand. If they take the top card, the next card
below it will have no secret marking. This means, when I

19
 THE TRACKER

turn back around and glance down at the stack of business

cards, i’ll know the top card was taken. However, I also
give him the opportunity to not take a card and just put the
coin in one of his hands. If this is the case, when I turn
around, i’ll see the mark on the top of the stack of business
cards and i’ll know he hasn’t taken a card but he does have
the coin in one of his hands. If you grab a set of business
cards now, secretly mark the top one and follow along, it all
becomes obvious.

Remember, if there is a mark, they haven’t taken the

top card. If there isn’t a mark, they have taken the top
card.

ALTERNATIVE TRACKER

Should you wish, you could put the marked card as the
second card down. When you turn around, if the top card
doesn’t have a mark, you know the card hasn’t been taken.
If the top card does have a mark, you can see a card has
been taken. The positive points of this version is, you don’t
have to keep marking cards. Just put a blank one back on
top of the stack and you are reset.

The only reason I prefer marking the top card is, I believe
the heat at the end of the routine might be on the stack of
cards on the table. I don’t want them to look at them
closely and discover a mark. Whereas, the card in their

22
 JAMIE DAWS

pocket has always been in their possession so it rules out

any foul play on the part of that particular card. But which
ever ‘Tracker’ method you want to use, both are fine!

CARD AND COIN METHOD

So how do we use this piece of information to our

advantage? Well, if we run through the routine and if you
do this with the props in front of you, you will easily be
able to follow along. Once the options have be given, we
will assume that the spectator has taken the card and has
the coin in his right hand. Now, we tell him he can
become a truth teller or liar. If he lies he must always tell
a lie and if he is the truth teller, he must always tell the
truth. He chooses to be a liar.

When we turn around, we look back at the stack of

business cards and we can see that there is no secret mark
on the top card. Now we know he has a card in his pocket.
The first question we ask is… “Did you take a card?” He
answers with a no. We now know he is a liar. Two of the
three pieces of information are already known by us. Next
I point at his left hand and ask him if there is a coin in this
hand. He replies yes. We already know he is a liar, so we
know it is definitely not in his left hand. It is in his right
hand instead.

We can now reveal to him that he is lying to us and he did

23
 THE TRACKER

take a card. He also has the coin in his right hand.

Let us quickly go through one more example. Let’s assume

our spectator has not taken a card and the coin is in his
right hand. He has also chosen to be a truth teller.

We turn around and secretly look at the top stack of

business cards. We can see there is a secret mark on top of
the stack. This tells us he hasn’t taken a card. Next, we
ask him if he took a card. He says no. Because we know
he didn’t take one and he replied no, we know he is a
truth teller. I then point to his left hand and ask him if
there is a coin in this hand. He says no. Again, because I
know he is a truth teller, I know the coin is in his right
hand. I can now reveal that he was telling the truth, he
didn’t take a card and the coin is in his right hand.

We are going to run through some scenarios in a kind of

training game. On one page, I will give you the scenario
and it is your job to follow along and decipher his lies or
truths. On the page after, will be the answer. So no
cheating, play along and see how you get on!

24
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO ONE
We turn around and look at the top card of the
stack. We see there is no secret marking.

We ask him if he took a card, he replies no.

We ask him if he has an object in his left hand,

he replies yes.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
The spectator has taken a card.

The coin is in his right hand.

He is a liar.
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and look at the top card of the
stack. We see there is still a secret marking.

We ask him if he took a card, he replies yes.

We ask him if he has an object in his left hand,

he replies yes.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
The spectator has not taken a card.

The coin is in his right hand.

He is a liar.
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO THREE
We turn around and look at the top card of the
stack. We see there is still a secret marking.

We ask him if he took a card, he replies no.

We ask him if he has an object in his left hand,

he replies yes.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
The spectator has not taken a card.

The coin is in his left hand.

He is a truth teller.
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn around and look at the top card of the
stack. We see there is no secret marking.

We ask him if he took a card, he replies yes.

We ask him if he has an object in his left hand,

he replies yes.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
 CARD AND COIN

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
The spectator has taken a card.

The coin is in his left hand.

He is a truth teller.
 JAMIE DAWS

CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

B
elieve it or not, we can do even more with this
routine but it does become a tiny bit more complex
and you will need to ask one more question. At the
beginning when presenting your spectator with his choices,
you can give him one more. Tell him, he could take the top
card and fold it into quarters. He could then place it in one
of his hands or in his pocket. Then he can take the coin
and put it in the opposite place. So if he has the folded
card in a pocket, he should put the coin into one of his
hands and if he has the card in his hand, he should put the
coin in a pocket. Or, he might choose to simply take the
coin and place it into one of his hands without taking a
card.

Now, here we need to not only determine if he took a card,

find out where the coin is but also if the card is in his hand
or in his pocket. We do this by asking one extra question.
Let’s start with a scenario.

Our spectator has not taken a card. The coin is in his left
hand and he is a liar.

We turn around and glance at the cards, we see there is a

secret mark so we know he hasn’t taken a card. Next, we
ask if he has taken a card, he replies yes. Now we know he
is a liar. I then point to his left hand and ask if he has an

33
 THE TRACKER

object in there, he replies no. Because we know he is a liar,

we know the coin is in his left hand. We can now reveal he
didn’t take a card, the coin is in his left hand and therefore
he was lying to us.

In a second scenario, our spectator has taken a card. It is

in his left hand, the coin is in his pocket and he is a truth
teller.

Now we have one more piece of information to get. So we

turn around, glance down at our stack of cards and notice
the top card is not marked. Now we know he has taken a
card and it is either in his pocket or in one of his hands.
We ask him if he took a card, he replies yes. We know he
did take a card and therefore he is a truth teller. We now
ask a new question, if he has a coin in his pocket? He
replies yes. So now we know, because he is a truth teller
that the coin is in his pocket. I then point to his left hand
and ask if there is an object in this hand, he replies yes.
Once again, because we know he is a truth teller, we know
he has an object in his left hand and because we already
know the coin is in his pocket, we know in his left hand is
the business card.

We can now reveal that he is a truth teller, that the coin is

in his pocket and there is a card in his left hand.

Let’s play the scenario game again and see if you can track
his answers.

34
 CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO ONE
We turn around and see the top card has a secret
marking.

We ask if he took a card, he replies no.

We ask if he has an object in his left hand, he

replies no.

Did he take a card? What hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
Our spectator has not taken a card.

The coin is in his right hand.

He is a truth teller.
CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and see the top card does not
have a secret marking.

We ask if he took a card, he replies yes.

We ask if the card is in his pocket, he replies yes.

We ask if he has an object in his left hand, he

replies yes.

Did he take a card? What hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
Our spectator has taken a card and it is in his
pocket.

The coin is in his left hand.

He is a truth teller.
 CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO THREE
We turn around and see the top card does not
have a secret marking.

We ask if he took a card, he replies no.

We ask if the card is in his pocket, he replies yes.

We ask if he has an object in his left hand, he

replies yes.

Did he take a card? What hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
 CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
Our spectator has taken a card and it is in his
right hand.

The coin is in his pocket.

He is a liar.
 CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn around and see the top card does
not have a secret marking.

We ask if he took a card, he replies yes.

We ask if the card is in his pocket, he replies no.

We ask if he has an object in his left hand, he

replies no.

Did he take a card? What hand is the coin in?

Is he a truth teller or a liar?
CARD AND COIN COMPLEX

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
Our spectator has taken a card and it is in his
right hand.

The coin is in his pocket.

He is a truth teller.
 JAMIE DAWS

WORKING BACKWARDS

S
hould you wish, you can work backwards and
decode the pieces of information with the ‘Tracker’
at the end of the routine.

Let us presume our spectator has not taken a card. The

coin is in his right hand and he is a truth teller.

We turn around and see our secret marking. We know he

has not taken a card. Normally, at this point we would ask
if he has taken a card. However, this time we are going to
point to his left hand and ask if the coin is in there, he
replies no. At this point, we do not know if he is telling the
truth. Then we ask him if he took a card, he replies no.
Now we know he is a truth teller, we remember he said no
to it being in his left hand so we know it is in his right hand.
In honesty, i’m not sure if this is any more deceptive than
getting the ‘Tracker’ at the beginning and it even gives me
a headache but I thought I would include it as an idea for
you to mull over.

43
 THE TRACKER

BUSINESS CARD/IMAGINATION

I
f you would like a super simple and direct ‘Which
hand’ routine utilising the ‘Tracker’ principle, you can
get rid of the coin from this routine and just use the
cards. Set up your business cards with the top one marked.
This is of course our Tracker. Now, tell them that they can
take a card, fold it into quarters and hide it in a hand or
they can simply imagine folding up a business card and
placing it into a hand without actually doing it. However,
if they only imagine they must be honest with the
placement of the imaginary card.

So they will either take a card, fold it into quarters and

hide it in one of their hands or, they won’t take a card and
only imagine they have one in one of their hands.

Lets presume the spectator took the card, folded it up

and put it in their right hand. They are also a liar.

We turn around, look at the top of the cards and notice

there is no mark. This tells us they took a card and it is in
one of their hands. We then ask if they took a card, they
tell us no. We now know they are lying to us. I then point
to the left hand and ask if there is an object in there, they
say yes. Of course, they are lying so we know it is in their
right hand. We can now reveal they took a card and it is in
their right hand and we can also tell them they were lying.

44
 JAMIE DAWS

In another scenario, lets say they did not take the card,
they are imagining the card is in their left hand and they
are a truth teller.

We turn around and see there is a secret mark on top of

the stack. This tells us they have not taken a card. We ask
them if they took a card, they say no. We now know they
are telling the truth. We have to change our wording on
our next question to get the desired result.

“Do you have an object, real or imaginary in your left

hand?”

Had we have asked if they had an object in their left hand,

it would give us a false result because they are not holding
an object in either hand. So we ask if they are holding an
object, real or imaginary. After asking the question,
they answer yes so now we know they didn’t take a card
and that there is an imaginary card in their left hand.

This is a particularly strong routine as it is only in their

imagination as opposed to being physical object.
Something we will explore more later in the book.

Let’s play the scenario game and see how you get on. By
this point in the book, I suspect you are a pro at this by
now!

45
 THE TRACKER

JUSTIFYING THE CARD

As magicians, we have to justify everything. It is in our
nature! To some, taking a card may seem a bit random and
un-justified. That is a fair point, so let’s quickly talk about
ways around this! Personally, I take out a stack of cards as
if it is a random object I just happen to have in my pocket.
As well as money or my phone or whatever else I have. I
haven’t had anyone question why they are doing it, they
are unaware of what is about to happen so they have no
reason to question the process.

You could also have something written on the card, a kind

of prediction. Like, ‘You will put this in your left hand’. Then
in your pocket, have another pre-folded card which says
something like, ‘You will put this in your right hand’. On the
stack on the table, the second card down should say, ‘You
won’t take this card’. When you perform, mention there is
something written on it and for them not to look if they
take the card. If they take the card and it ends up in their
left hand, then have them open it and show the reveal. If
it ends up in their right hand, take the pre-folded card in
your pocket, perform a billet switch as you open the card
and show then your revelation. Finally, if they don’t take
the top card, perform a double lift to show you predicted
they would’t take it.

46
B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO ONE
We turn around and spot our secret marking.

We ask if they took a card, they reply yes.

We ask if they have an object, real or imaginary

in their left hand, they reply yes.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the real or

imaginary object in? Is he a liar or a truth teller?
B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
He did not take the card.

He is imagining the card is in his right hand.

He is a liar.
B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and do not see our secret
marking.

We ask if they took a card, they reply no.

We ask if they have an object, real or imaginary

in their left hand, they reply no.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the real or

imaginary object in? Is he a liar or a truth teller?
B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
He did take a card.

It is in his left hand.

He is a liar.
 B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO THREE
We turn around and do not see our secret
marking.

We ask if they took a card, they reply yes.

We ask if they have an object, real or imaginary

in their left hand, they reply no.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the real or

imaginary object in? Is he a liar or a truth teller?
 B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
He did take a card.

He has an imaginary card in his right hand.

He is a truth teller.
B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn around and we see our secret marking.

We ask if they took a card, they reply no.

We ask if they have an object, real or imaginary

in their left hand, they reply yes.

Did he take a card? Which hand is the real or

imaginary object in? Is he a liar or a truth teller?
B U S I N E S S C A R D / I M AG I N AT I O N

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
He did not take a card.

He has an imaginary card in his left hand.

He is a truth teller.
 JAMIE DAWS

THREE COIN WHICH HAND

T
he performer brings out a coin purse and tips out
three coins. A copper coin (2p), a silver coin (50p)
and a mixed metal coin (£2). He explains that in
a moment, he wants them to take one coin, put it back into
the purse and lock it. Then place one of the other coins in
one hand and the final coin in the opposite hand. He is
then told he can either lie all the time or tell the truth all
the time.

Once this is done, the performer turns back and asks if the
mixed metal (£2) coin is in one of his hands, he replies yes.
The performer then asks if the mixed metal (£2) is in his
left hand, he replies yes.

The performer then reveals that the spectator is a truth

teller, that the silver 50p is in his right hand, the mixed
metal £2 is in his left hand and the copper 2p is in the coin
purse. Of course, all is correct.

THE TRACKER

The Tracker here is very simple but gives us an incredible

amount of information. All I have done is

When the coin is put back into the purse, I secretly peek

55
 THE TRACKER

the metal type through the hole. Now, asking specific

questions and knowing if they are lying or telling the truth
will help me determine the whereabouts of the other
coins. You could use a card box with a hole in or any
number of other containers.

THREE COIN METHOD

So, let us jump into a scenario. Let us assume, they have

put the copper coin inside the coin purse, the two tone
coin is in their left hand and the silver is in their right
hand. They are also telling us the truth.

It will be easier if you have three coins in front of you to

follow along with.

We turn back around and pick up the coin purse to move

it to the side of the table. As we do, we let the coin role into
the pathway of the hole. We see the metal is copper so we
know that the copper coin is not in their hands.

The first question we ask them is if a different coin is in

one of their hands. (not the coin in the purse) Let’s assume
we ask if they have a silver coin in one of their hands.
Because we know the copper coin is in the purse, if they
say yes, we know they are telling us the truth. If they say
no, they are basically telling us that it is in purse which it
isn’t, so we know they are lying.

56
 JAMIE DAWS

They answer that they do have a silver coin in one of their

hands. Now we know they are telling us the truth!

We then tap their left hand and ask if the silver coin is in
their left hand, they reply no. We now know the silver coin
is in their right hand because they are telling the truth.
This means, if the copper coin is in the purse and the silver
coin is in their right hand, then the two tone coin must be
in their left hand!

In a contrasting scenario, let us assume the copper coin

is in the coin purse, the two tone coin is in his left
hand and the silver coin is in his right hand. He is
also a liar.

We peek into the coin purse and see it is copper. So we

know he isn’t holding the copper coin. We ask if the silver
coin is in one of his hands, he replies no. We now know he
is lying. We then tap his left hand and ask if the silver coin
is in his left hand, he replies yes.

Because we know he is lying, we know the silver coin is

now in his right hand. We know the coin in the purse is
copper which means the two tone coin is in his left hand.

This effect is a little bit harder on the brain so let us

decipher a few more scenarios. Ready for the scenario
game?

57
THE TRACKER

58
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO ONE
We turn back and when moving the purse,
discover the coin in the purse is silver.

We then ask if he has a copper coin in one of his

hands, he replies yes.

We then ask if the copper coin is in his left hand,

he replies yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
The silver coin is in the purse.

The two tone coin is in his right hand.

The copper coin is in his left hand.

He is also telling us the truth.

 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and when moving the purse,
discover the copper coin is in there.

We ask if they have a silver coin in one of their

hands, they reply no.

We ask if the two tone coin is in his left hand, he

says yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
The copper coin is in the purse.

The two tone coin is in his right hand.

The silver coin is in his left hand.

He is telling a lie.
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO THREE
We turn back and when moving the purse,
discover the coin in the purse is two tone.

We then ask if he has a copper coin in one of his

hands, he says yes.

We then ask if the copper coin is in his left hand,

he says yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
The two tone coin is in the purse.

The silver coin is in his right hand.

The copper coin is in his left hand.

He is telling the truth.

 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn back and when moving the purse,
discover the coin in the purse is copper.

We then ask if he has a silver coin in one of his

hands, he replies no.

We then ask if the two tone coin is in his left

hand, he replies yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
The copper coin is in the purse.

The two tone coin is in his right hand.

The silver coin is in his left hand.

He is a liar.
 JAMIE DAWS

THREE COIN IMPROMPTU

T
his is probably one of my favourite little
impromptu pieces of magic! Now, whilst I say
impromptu, it does require another prop but the
prop is readily available in most environments or easy to
acquire. You will need to get hold of a bottle top, the screw
kind from bottles of water or soft drinks. You will also need
three coins but the coins you use are also specific to the
bottle top. You need three coins, preferably of different
metals or different denominations. One of them must be
large enough to fit under the bottle top but just about.
Basically, you want the biggest coin you can find that fits
under there. The other two coins can be the same size as
long as they are far smaller. In the UK, I use a £2 as my
large coin, a 20p and a 1p. The 20p and 1p are similar in
size but are both far smaller than a £2 coin. Once you
have these items, you are ready to perform this dynamite
little routine!

THE TRACKER

Strap in, things are going to get really interesting here but
at the same time, super clever! During the development of
the ‘Tracker’ principle, I noticed that the information we
are using really can be the smallest, most innocent piece of

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 THE TRACKER

information you can get. The ‘Tracker’ here is so simple

that at first you will question how it can give you all the
information you need but after a think and a run through
of some scenarios, you’ll discover how it works perfectly. In
this effect, you lay out the three coins in front of your
spectator and also the lid. You tell them, when your back
is turned to place the bottle top on top of any coin they
want. Then, with the remaining two coins, they must place
one in each hand. Once done, you turn around and
inform them they can either lie or tell the truth. Believe it
or not, without ever peeking at any of the coins, you can
still reveal all of the info needed.

I bet you are wondering what the ‘Tracker’ actually is

then? Well, if you place the cap on top of the larger coin
and move the cap, you will feel very little movement of the
coin underneath it. However, either of the other two coins
will move substantially more. Try it out. You’ll see how
easy it is to discern which one is the larger coin compared
to either of the others. So, when the spectator places the
cap on one of the coins and you move it, at ‘fingertips’, to
the edge of the table to be fairer, you will instantly know if
the spectator is holding the larger coin or not and this is
the all information we need to work out where everything
is!

THREE COIN IMPROMPTU METHOD

So, we have understood the ‘Tracker’, but how does that

68
 JAMIE DAWS

allow us to work out the rest of the information? Let us set

up a scenario! I have a large coin, a smaller silver coin and
a smaller copper coin.

Let us assume the spectator has placed the bottle top on

the copper coin. They have the large coin in their
right hand and the silver coin in their left hand.
They are going to tell us the truth.

We move the cap to the side of the table and feel it rattle,
we now know either the silver or copper coin is under the
bottle top. The first questions we ask is, do you have the
large coin in one of your hands? (of course, when you
perform, you can just mention the coin denomination but
i’m mentioning the coins by their metals and sizes so you
can follow along if you are not familiar with British
currency) They will in this case reply, yes. Now we know
they are telling the truth. We felt that the large coin was
not under the bottle top when we moved it and they said
they were holding the large coin.

Now we know the large coin is in one of their hands and

they are telling the truth. The next thing we want to work
out is which coin is under the cap. We ask the second
question, do you have a copper coin in one of your hands?
They will reply, no. Since we know they are telling the
truth, we now know the copper coin is under the bottle
top, the large coin is in one of their hands and the silver
coin is in another.

69
 WHICH COIN?

You will have to play

around with different coins
and bottle tops in your
country to see which coin
fits snugly and which is
loose!
 THE TRACKER

The final piece of information we need to extract is which

hand has which coin in. We ask the final question, do you
have a silver coin in your left hand? They reply, yes. Again,
we know they are telling us the truth so we now know that
the silver coin is in their left hand, the copper coin is under
the lid which leaves the large coin in their right hand!

Let us try one more scenario! We will assume, the

spectator has placed the bottle top on the large coin,
the copper coin in his left hand and the silver in his
right. He is going to tell the truth!

We move the bottle top and there is no movement from

below it so we know the coin under it is a large one. Now
we know this, we only need to discover which hands the
other two coins are in. We ask if they have a copper coin
in one of their hands. They reply yes and this lets us know
they are telling the truth because we know the large coin is
under the bottle top.

Now we ask if the silver coin is in their left hand and they
reply, no. We know he is telling the truth and therefore, we
know the copper coin is in his left hand and the silver, in
his right! Simple!

How awesome is that! From that tiny bit of information,

we have extracted so much more!

72
 JAMIE DAWS

THREE COIN IMPROMPTU NOTES

A few things to consider when performing this. When you

move the bottle cap, it is helpful to give the movement of
the lid some kind of reason. If you have a drinking glass,
placing the glass upside down on top of the bottle top is a
great way to go. This makes it feel even more fair but gives
the movement of the bottle cap purpose. Also, when you
move it, try not to draw attention to it.

When it comes to moving the bottle top, less is more! You

don’t want to ‘rattle’ it. You’ll understand when you try it
out how easy it is to detect. The only real way you might
get a ‘false read’ is if a smaller coin is already pressed
against the edge of the bottle top. When you push it
forward, it is going to move with it and you won’t feel
anything below it. The aim is to pull it slightly towards
yourself first. This will make the coin hit the edge of the
bottle top furthest from you. Then, push it forward which
will cause the edge closest to you to hit the coin. If you
accomplish this, you’ll get a clean and incredibly subtle
read on what coin is under the bottle top.

If you would like to be extra cheeky and you are in a quiet

environment, have them slide the cap under a glass. It is
very easy to hear if the coin underneath rattles or not!
Give it a go and you’ll understand!

73
 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO ONE
We turn around and when we move the bottle
top, we feel the coin below rattle.

We ask if they are holding a large coin, they

reply yes.

We ask if the copper coin is under the bottle top,

they reply yes.

We ask if the silver coin is in their left hand, they

say no.

Where are the coins and are they telling us the

truth or lies?
 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
The copper coin is under the bottle top.

The silver coin is in their right hand.

The large coin is in their left.

They are telling us the truth.

 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and when we move the bottle
top, we feel nothing rattle.

We ask if they are holding a silver coin, they

reply no.

We ask if the copper coin is in their left hand,

they say yes.

Where are the coins and are they telling us the

truth or lies?
 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
They large coin is under the bottle top.

The silver coin is in their left hand.

The copper coin is in their right hand.

They are telling us lies.

 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO THREE
We turn around and when we move the bottle
top, we feel a rattle.

We ask if they are holding a large coin, they

reply no.

We ask if they are holding a silver coin, they

reply yes.

We ask if the copper coin is in their left hand,

they say no.

Where are the coins and are they telling us the

truth or lies?
 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
The silver coin is under the bottle top.

The copper coin is in their left hand.

The large coin in their right.

They are lying to us.

 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn around and when we move the bottle
top, we feel a rattle.

We ask if they are holding the large coin, they

reply yes.

We ask if they are holding the silver coin, they

reply no.

We ask if the copper coin is in their left hand,

they reply yes.

Where are the coins and are they telling us the

truth or lies?
 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
The silver coin is under the bottle top.

The copper coin is in their left hand.

The large coin in their right.

They are telling us the truth.

 T H R E E C O I N I M P RO M P T U

SCENARIO TWO
We turn back and when moving the purse,
discover the coin in the purse is copper.

We then ask if he has a silver coin in one of his

hands, he replies no.

We then ask if the two tone coin is in his left

hand, he replies yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
 THE TRACKER

MENTAL WHICH HAND

I
always liked the idea of a completely imaginary
‘Which hand’ routine. So I thought about simple ways
with no gimmicks at all to achieve the same effect. But
that means the ‘Tracker’ also needs to be imaginary. So
here we are going to use a mathematical ‘Tracker’. The 9
force! Essentially, we are going to force them to think of
the number 9. Here are the stages.

STEP ONE - Have them think of any two digit number (23)
Add those digits together (5)

STEP TWO - Take that number away from the original number
(18)

STEP THREE - Plus those digits together (9)

This will always end up being number 9 no matter what. We now

have our ‘Tracker’!

MENTAL WHICH HAND METHOD

Now they are thinking of a random number, we ask them

to imagine placing a coin in one of their hands and then
to place their hands out in-front of them. We now tell
them they can either tell the truth or lie.

Our first question is, “Are you thinking of an odd

84
 JAMIE DAWS

number?” This will give us our truth or lie.

In this scenario. Our spectator is lying and the imaginary

coin is in their right hand.

We ask if the number they are thinking of is odd, they tell

us no. We now know they are lying to us. We tap their left
hand and ask if the imagery coin is in there left hand, they
say yes. We know they are lying so we know it is in their
right hand. We can now reveal that they are a liar, the
number they are thinking of is 9 and the coin is in their
right hand.

In another scenario. Our spectator is a truth teller and

the imaginary coin is in their left hand.

After they have thought of their number, we ask if their

number is odd, they tell us yes. We now know they are a
truth teller. We ask them if the imaginary coin is in their
left hand, they reply yes. Because we know they are a truth
teller, we know the imaginary coin is in their left hand. We
can now reveal they are a truth teller, the number they are
thinking of is 9 and the imaginary coin is in their left hand.

JUSTIFYING THE PROCESS

A good friend of mine Daniel Young, has a killer
justification and a wonderful piece of patter for this!

85
 THE TRACKER

"I would like to try something with you. Firstly, I need to figure out
how your brain works. So we're first going to engage your analytical
mind by doing some simple maths. (proceed with number force) And
now we're going to engage your creative mind... So, whatever number
you have, imagine you have a bright pink poker chip in your hand,
which has that number on it. Also, let say... if this was an even
number, imagine you're in a park, if it's an odd number you imagine
that you're on.... umm... a beach."

This is such a brilliant piece of thinking! With Daniel’s

additions, a killer end revelation could be produced! You
could produce a post card for example, with a sun lounger
on the beach and resting on it is a pink poker chip with the
number 9!

We know their number is 9 and therefore odd, so by asking

them to think about being at the beach if their number is
odd forces them to think of our pre-determined outcome!

Of course, play around and find a patter that suits you!

86
 THE TRACKER

TWO MAN WHICH HAND

I
t’s always nice to involve more than one spectator. It
also means you are adding a new layer of deception
and the odds seem far greater. You might think the
routine becomes harder with more spectators. You’ll be
pleased to know, it isn’t! We will run through several
situations so make it clearer.

In this routine, we are going to use the coin purse ‘Tracker’

and two coins. A silver coin and a copper coin. We tell
them, in a moment, they are going to take one of the coins
and put it inside the purse. The other coin, one of them is
to hide in their hand and both are to put their hands out
in front of them. Once done, you can turn back and tell
them they can lie or tell the truth.

Secretly peek at the coin in the pouch.

Let us assume the copper coin is in the purse and

spectator number one has the silver coin in his left
hand. Both spectators are telling the truth.

We turn around and peek inside our coin purse and we see

88
 JAMIE DAWS

the copper coin. So we now know that one of them has the
silver coin. We ask spectator number one if he is holding
the copper coin in one of his hands. Notice, this time we
ask about the coin we know is in the purse. He says no
which means he is telling the truth. We ask the same
question to spectator number 2, is he holding the copper
coin in one of his hands and he replies no. So now we also
know he is telling the truth.

We then ask spectator one if he has an object in one of his

hands, he replies with a yes. We know he is telling the truth
so we know he has the silver coin in one of his hands. If he
were to have said no, we still know he is telling the truth so
we would know the other spectator has it in his hand.
Which ever spectator we now know has it in their hand, we
tap their left hand and ask if it is in that hand? In this
scenario, we tap spectator one’s left hand and ask if he has
a coin in there. He says, yes. Now we know that both were
telling the truth and spectator one has the silver coin in his
left hand.

Okay, here is one more interesting scenario.

The silver coin is in the coin purse and spectator

two has the copper coin in his right hand.
Spectator one is lying and spectator two is telling
the truth.

We turn around and move the purse, discovering there is a

89
 THE TRACKER

silver coin inside. We ask spectator one if he has the silver

coin in one of his hands and he says yes. We now know he
is lying. We ask spectator two if he has the silver coin in
one of his hands. He says no so we know he is telling the
truth. We ask spectator one if he has a coin in one of his
hands. He replies yes but we know he is a liar so spectator
two has the coin in one of their hands. We go to spectator
two, tap their left hand and ask if the coin is in this hand,
they reply no. We know they are a truth teller so we know
the copper coin is now in their right hand.

We can now reveal the copper coin was taken, spectator

one is a liar and spectator two was telling the truth.
Spectator two has the copper coin in their right hand!

Now it is time for the scenario game! See if you can detect
everything using the ‘Tracker’.

90
 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO ONE
Upon turning around, we discover the silver coin is in
the coin purse.

We ask spectator one if he has the silver coin in one of

his hands, he replies yes.

We ask spectator two if he has the silver coin in one of

his hands, he replies yes.

We ask if spectator one is holding the copper coin in

one of his hands, he replies no.

We tap spectator one’s left hand and ask him if he has a

coin in there, he replies yes.

Where is the coin and what roles are they playing?

 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
The silver coin is in the coin purse.

Spectator one has the copper coin in his right

hand.

Both spectators are lying.

 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO TWO
Upon turning around, we discover the silver coin
is in the coin purse.

We ask spectator one if he has the silver coin in

one of his hands, he replies no.

We ask spectator two if he has the silver coin in

one of his hands, he replies no.

We ask if spectator one is holding the copper

coin in one of his hands, he replies yes.

We tap spectator one’s left hand and ask him if

he has a coin in there, he replies no.

Where is the coin and what roles are they

playing?
 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
The silver coin is in the coin purse.

Spectator one has the copper coin in his right

hand.

Both spectators are telling the truth.

 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO THREE
Upon turning around, we discover the silver coin
is in the coin purse.

We ask spectator one if he has the silver coin in

one of his hands, he replies yes.

We ask spectator two if he has the silver coin in

one of his hands, he replies no.

We ask if spectator one is holding the copper

coin in one of his hands, he replies no.

We tap spectator one’s left hand and ask him if

he has a coin in there, he replies yes.

Where is the coin and what roles are they

playing?
 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
The silver coin is in the coin purse.

Spectator one has the copper coin in his right

hand.

Spectator one is a liar and spectator two is a

truth teller.
 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO FOUR
Upon turning around, we discover the copper
coin is in the coin purse.

We ask spectator one if he has the copper coin in

one of his hands, he replies no.

We ask spectator two if he has the copper coin in

one of his hands, he replies yes.

We ask if spectator one is holding the silver coin

in one of his hands, he replies no.

We tap spectator two’s left hand and ask him if

he has a coin in there, he replies no.

Where is the coin and what roles are they

playing?
 TWO MAN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
The copper coin is in the coin purse.

Spectator two has the silver coin in his left

hand.

Spectator one is a truth teller and spectator

two is a liar.
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO TWO
We turn back and when moving the purse,
discover the coin in the purse is copper.

We then ask if he has a silver coin in one of his

hands, he replies no.

We then ask if the two tone coin is in his left

hand, he replies yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
THE TRACKER

100
 JAMIE DAWS

Taking inspiration from some incredible thinkers, this is a really

interesting take on the ‘Tracker’ principle. This allows you to reveal
a thought in a devious way! We will use some of the things already
learned so far and add a few new elements which allow us to reveal
more information in a ridiculously clean way.

101
 THE TRACKER

NTC

N
TC stands for ‘Nod To Chandaue'. If you haven’t
heard of him (shame on you if you haven’t) Mark
Chandaue is an incredible mentalism creator
from the UK. His book ‘Harpacrown’ is absolutely
bursting with incredible ideas and I highly, highly
recommend you check it out. There is one idea in
particular in this book that I absolutely love and wanted to
explore more. Mark credits Fraser Parker and Dee
Christopher in their book ‘Memoria’ for the original
concept although Mark’s subtitles are really amazing. In
essence, it allows you to reveal a specific thought without
anything being written down. However, utilising a
‘Tracker’ eliminates the need for a deck of cards and can
make this routine feel even more ‘pure’. There was also
one other aspect of the routine I wasn’t a huge fan of
which I have changed in this presentation. Essentially, the
‘Tracker’ will be used to disguise the fishing of a thought.
It sounds confusing but please stick with me!

NTC TRACKER

The ‘Tracker’ here is going to be a peek of a name on a

billet. Any method can be used to peek but my favourite
methods are ‘Acidus Novus by Millard Longman’ and ‘Dee
Christpher’s Block’. However, a simple control of the card

102
 JAMIE DAWS

to the bottom of a stack of business cards and a quick peek

is equally as efficient.

Hand them a business card and ask them to write down

the name of a teacher they were fond of at school. Let us
assume they write down Mr Daws. Now, peek this
information however you would like. This will be your
‘Tracker’.

NTC ROUTINE

You are going to ask the spectator to create a fictional

memory which will involve this teacher they are thinking
of. If the teacher they are thinking of is male, they should
create one of these memories:

Talking in class and this teacher sends you out of

the classroom.

This teacher asking you to read out your poem in

front of the class because it was so good!

Not having your PE kit and this teacher makes

you run laps in the rain.

Breaking up from school in the summer and

walking with your friends down the road!

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 THE TRACKER

If you are thinking of a female teacher, you should think

either:

You tell the teacher a dog ate your homework.

You bunk lessons and get caught by the teacher.

You help one of the kids in a younger year and the

teacher praises you.

You enter the school talent competition and win!

At this point, we know the teacher is a MR so we know

they are thinking of one of those first 4 items. This is the
brilliant ‘Memoria’ concept at work. If it was a woman
they were thinking of, I would still ask them to think of one
of those first 4. We are always forcing one of those first 4
statements. If you study those statements carefully, you’ll
notice that two of them occur outside and two do not.
Also, two of them involve the spectator doing good things
and two involve the spectator being naughty. This is how
we are going to fish for the thought they are thinking. This
is one of the aspects I changed, in the original ‘Memoria’
method and in Chandaue's version, they used a negative
memory where something bad happens to the spectator. I
prefer the thought that they have been naughty which also
fits in with the theme of this patter.

104
 JAMIE DAWS

So lets look at those statements again:

Talking in class and this teacher sends you out of

the classroom.
(Being naughty and happens inside)

This teacher asking you to read out your poem in

front of the class because it was so good!
(Being good and happens inside)

Not having your PE kit and this teacher makes

you run laps in the rain.
(Being naughty and happens outside)

Breaking up from school in the summer and

walking with your friends down the road!
(Being good and happens outside)

The clever batching of these statements means you can

easily fish for which one they are thinking of by
discovering whether they are being naughty in the
memory or good and if it happens outside or inside.
Ordinarily, you would be fishing by asking questions and
waiting for a yes or no to determine which answer it is.
However, using the ‘Tracker’, we can establish which one
they are thinking of and use this as an extra layer during
the fishing.

We now tell them that if they considered themselves

105
 THE TRACKER

naughty at school they should always lie and if they were

good, always tell the truth. This is also a nice subtlety and
is giving us more information about the spectator. This will
tell us if they consider themselves a naughty child or a
good child. Let’s create a scenario.

The spectator has written down Mr Daws. They are

thinking of being told off in class for talking and
being sent out of the classroom. They are a truth
teller.

The first question we ask is if they are thinking of male

teacher? They reply yes. Since we know the teachers name
is MR Daws, we know they are telling us the truth. Now
we ask if the memory is something that happened outside,
they reply no. We know they are telling us the truth so now
we know it happened inside. Finally, we ask if they are
being good in the memory and they reply no. Again, we
know they are telling us the truth so we now know which
statement they are thinking of.

Because of all of the layers we have added, we can now

feedback this memory to them as if it really happened.

“You were pretty good at school. I think in this memory

you were being naughty but it was unlike you. You are
thinking about the time Mr Daws sent you out of the
classroom for talking?”

106
 JAMIE DAWS

Not only have you worked out their memory but you have
revealed the name of the teacher and you have told them
they were mostly good at school because earlier you asked
them to lie if they considered themselves naughty at school
or truth if they consider themselves good at school. We
have added even more information to our revelation.

Okay, lets try another scenario. Our spectator writes down

the name Mrs Magic. They are thinking of not having
their PE kit and being made to run laps in the
rain. They are a liar.

We peek the name and see the teacher is MRS. We ask

them if the teacher they are thinking of is female, they say
no which tells us they are lying. We ask if this memory is
happening outside and they say no. Because we know they
are lying, we now know this thing happened outside.
Finally, we ask if they have been good in this memory, they
say yes which tells us they are being naughty. This gives us
all the information needed to feed it back to them.

“I think you were a cheeky child and in this memory I get

the feeling you were being told off for something you did.
I think you are remembering that time Mrs Magic made
you run laps in the rain for not having your PE Kit!”

Let us put you through your paces and see if you can
follow along with some scenarios. We are going to use the
same 4 memories.

107
 THE TRACKER

Talking in class and this teacher sends you out of

the classroom.
(Being naughty and happens inside)

This teacher asking you to read out your poem in

front of the class because it was so good!
(Being good and happens inside)

Not having your PE kit and this teacher makes

you run laps in the rain.
(Being naughty and happens outside)

Breaking up from school in the summer and

walking with your friends down the road!
(Being good and happens outside)

108
 N T C

SCENARIO ONE
We peek the name and see they have written Mr
Smith.

We ask them if they are thinking of a male

teacher, they reply yes.

We ask them if this memory is a good one, they

reply yes.

We ask them if this happened outside, they reply

yes.

What is the memory you would recall to them

and how would you do it?
 N T C

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
They are thinking of Mr Smith telling them to
have a good summer as they break up from
school and walk down the road. They are a truth
teller.
 N T C

SCENARIO TWO
We peek the name and see they have written Mrs
Abracadabra.

We ask them if they are thinking of a male

teacher, they reply yes.

We ask them if this memory is a good one, they

reply no.

We ask them if this happened outside, they reply

yes.

What is the memory you would recall to them

and how would you do it?
 N T C

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
They are thinking of Mrs Abracadabra asking
them to read out their amazing poem in front of
the class. Chances are they plagiarised the poem
because they were naughty in school and were
lying the whole time.
 N T C

SCENARIO THREE
We peek the name and see they have written Mr
Shazam.

We ask them if they are thinking of a male

teacher, they reply no.

We ask them if they are being naughty in this

memory, they reply no.

We ask them if this happened outside, they reply

no.

What is the memory you would recall to them

and how would you do it?
 N T C

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
They are thinking of Mr Shazam telling them off
for not having their PE kit and makes them run
laps in the rain. But that is to be expected
because naughty kids lie all the time.
 N T C

SCENARIO FOUR
We peek the name and see they have written Mr
Potter.

We ask them if they are thinking of a male

teacher, they reply yes.

We ask them if they are being naughty in this

memory, they reply yes.

We ask them if this happened outside, they reply

no.

What is the memory you would recall to them

and how would you do it?
 N T C

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
They are thinking of Mr Potter telling them off
for talking during class and getting sent out. But
perhaps this is a one time thing because they
were good at school and are a truth teller.
 THREE COIN WHICH HAND

SCENARIO TWO
We turn back and when moving the purse,
discover the coin in the purse is copper.

We then ask if he has a silver coin in one of his

hands, he replies no.

We then ask if the two tone coin is in his left

hand, he replies yes.

Where is everything and was he lying

or telling the truth?
THE TRACKER

118
We end at the beginning! In 2017, I created a card routine called
Mizaru. Mizaru was a hands off card effect which utilised a special
deck of cards. It was only through working the effect that I discovered
its weaknesses and explored different methods. During that
development, the ‘Tracker’ principle was born.
 THE TRACKER

MIZARU TWO

M
izaru is the routine that started this all off. I
wanted a completely hands off method for
discovering two cards using a lie / truth plot to
discover it. The original method utilised a special deck of
cards created from two decks of Svens. Whilst the method
was sound, sometimes human error on the part of the
spectator mean’t the method wouldn’t be as clean as it
should be. So I looked at other methods and realised, by
adding a ‘Tracker’, I could fish for information without
them realising. So this is the improved version of the
original ‘Mizaru’ in all it’s glory and then I will divulge a
super stripped back version for one spectator using a
normal deck of cards.

MIZARU TWO ROUTINE

A deck of cards is split into two and each half handed to a

different spectator. Each spectator shuffles his respective
halves. The deck is reassembled and the performer
explains what will happen. One of the spectators is going
to cut the deck into two piles, each spectator then looks at
and remembers the top card of their pile. One of them is
then to place their card in their pocket and the other back
on top of the deck. The two halves are put back together

120
 JAMIE DAWS

and the deck is placed back into the box. The performer
now tells them, they can either lie or tell the truth. He is
going to track their lies and truths to work out who has a
card and who doesn’t, what the cards are and if they are
liars or truth-tellers. It doesn’t matter if they are both liars,
both truth tellers or one of each as long as they stick to
their role. He then asks if spectator one has a card in his
pocket and he says no. The performer then asks spectator
two if his card is red and he says no. Then the performer
asks spectator one if his card is red, he replies yes. Finally,
he asks both of them if their cards are high numbered. He
then reveals spectator one has a card in their pocket and
spectator two does not. Both spectators are lying, spectator
one is thinking of the 4 of spades and spectator two is
thinking of the Jack of Hearts.

MIZARU TWO TRACKER

This routine brings together methods in all of the previous

routines. The ‘Tracker’ here is a marked card. A single
card that has the middle circle coloured in. This isn’t quite
everything that it going on but this single dot will give us
the tracking information needed to discern everything else.

121
Whilst this marking might seem obvious to us,
Remember, spectators do not see this back
design as often as we do and therefore
aren’t used to discrepancies like
we are. They do not know
what they are looking
for so don’t worry!
 YOUR CHOICE!

The cards you use don’t

have to be exactly the same,
just as long as there is one
low red card, one low black
card, one high red card and
one high black card!

REST OF DECK
CORNER
SHUFFLED SHORTED JACK
FORCE WITH MARK
CARDS ON BACK Image 2
Image 1
 THE TRACKER

THE MIZARU TWO DECK

In order to perform this effect, you will need to create a

special deck. Most of us have sets of duplicate cards lying
around, that is how I made mine! Here is what is required:

7 x Ten of Spades
6 x Four of Spades
7 x Nine of Hearts
6 x Three of Hearts
25 x Normal mixed cards
1 x Jack of Hearts - Marked on the back and corner
shorted (Image 1)

To put the deck together shuffle the Ten of Spades, Four

of Spades, Nine of Hearts and Three of Hearts together.
Place the corner short card on top of the 25 normal cards
and then place the force stack onto of everything. The
cards can now be spread face up and they will look mixed.
You are all set to perform! (Image 2)

MIZARU TWO METHOD

We are going to have the spectators shuffle up the deck. To

do this, riffle up the edge of the deck until you hit your
short card. Lift off the top stock and hand it to one
spectator whilst handing the other half to a second

126
 JAMIE DAWS

spectator. Once they are done shuffling, collect the original

bottom stock of the deck first. This half has our short card
inside. Riffle up the edge and make sure that the short card
is about middle in this half. Then take back the other half
of the deck which consists of only force cards and place
them on top of the bottom stock. Now riffle up the edge of
the deck until you hit your short card. Cut the cards below
the break to the top. You will now be left with a stack of 15
or so normal cards on the bottom. Then in the middle of
the deck are the force cards. On top of those will be
another stack of normal cards and finally, on top of the
deck is our marked card.

Now you are going to explain the process. One spectator

will cut the cards, both look at the top card of their pile,
remember it and then one person must put their card back
on top of their pile whilst the other person puts their card
in their pocket. Turn your back and allow them to do this.

In our scenario, spectator two has taken their card and put
it in their pocket. Once they are done, ask spectator two to
put his cards back on top of the other pile. This essentially
puts the top stock back on the bottom half. When you turn
back, look at the top of the deck. If you see the marking,
you know spectator one has taken the card and spectator
two has not. However, if there is no mark, spectator one
has not taken his card but spectator two has.

This is easier to follow with a deck of cards and a marked

127
 THE TRACKER

card in front of you. So imagine your deck of cards, the

top card is marked. Cut the cards, the top stock to the right
of the bottom. Now the marked card is on top of the right
hand pile. Imagine the left stock is spectator one and the
right stock is spectator two. If spectator one took his card
and spectator two left their card on their pile, if you were
to put spectator twos pile back on spectator ones, the top
card would still have a mark. However, if spectator two
took his card and spectator one did not, then when the
deck is reassembled, the top card would not have a mark.
The most important thing is to instruct the spectators to
reassemble the deck correctly.

In our scenario, we look at the deck and do not see a mark,

this means spectator two has taken their card and
spectator one has not. This ‘Tracker’ is all the information
we need to get the rest of the information. Note also, the
top card of the deck is one of the force cards that we
already know.

Let us review the information that we already know. We

know spectator two has a card in their pocket. We know
this card is the Jack of Hearts. We also know the other
spectator is thinking of either the 3 of Hearts, the 9 of
Hearts, the 4 of Spades or the 10 of Spades. Now we need
to discover if they are lying or telling the truth. In our
scenario, both are telling the truth.

We ask spectator one if they took a card, he replies no. We

128
 JAMIE DAWS

know he is telling the truth because we know spectator two

has the card. We ask spectator two if he took the card, he
replies yes. We no longer need to focus on spectator two.
We know he is a truth teller and we know he has the Jack
of Hearts in his pocket.

We are now going to fish for spectator ones card but with
the guise of telling the truth or lying, it covers the method
beautifully. We ask if he is thinking of a red card, he replies
yes and because he is telling the truth, we know he is
thinking of the 3 of Hearts or the 9 of Hearts. We ask if
he is thinking of a high card, he relies no and because we
know he is a truth teller, we know he is thinking of the
Three of Hearts! We can now reveal all of the
information. We know spectator two took their card,
spectator one is thinking of the three of hearts, spectator
two is thinking of the Jack of Hearts and both were truth
tellers.

This whole routine is accomplished nearly entirely hands

off other than splitting the deck to have them shuffled! But
as always, let us have a few practice runs with some
scenarios.

129
NOT MAKING IT obvious you are looking for a
OBVIOUS! marking. It’s best to look right at
the spectator to begin with and
When you turn around and look not to worry about the cards.
for your secret marking, you will Then, give yourself a reason to
be nervous at first. You will be so look down. Mention how fair
worried you might miss the the process has been as you
marking that you might recap their actions. It just takes
accidentally end up making it a quick glimpse!
 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO ONE
We turn around and notice there is a mark on
the top of the deck.

We ask spectator one if he took his card, he says

no.

We ask spectator two if he took his card, he says

yes.

We ask spectator one if his card is red, he says

yes.

We ask spectator one if his card is high, he says

no.

Who has the card in their pocket? What are the

cards they are thinking of and who is lying or
telling the truth?
 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
Spectator one chose the Ten of Spades.

Spectator two chose the Jack of Hearts.

Spectator one put his card in his pocket.

Both are lying.

 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and notice there is no mark on
the top of the deck.

We ask spectator one if he took his card, he says

yes.

We ask spectator two if he took his card, he says

yes.

We ask spectator one if his card is red, he says

no.

We ask spectator one if his card is high, he says

no.

Who has the card in their pocket? What are the

cards they are thinking of and who is lying or
telling the truth?
 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
Spectator one chose the Nine of Hearts.

Spectator two chose the Jack of Hearts.

Spectator two put his card in his pocket.

Spectator one is lying.

Spectator two is telling the truth.

 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO THREE
We turn around and notice there is a secret mark
on the top of the deck.

We ask spectator one if he took his card, he says

yes.

We ask spectator two if he took his card, he says

no.

We ask spectator one if his card is red, he says

no.

We ask spectator one if his card is high, he says

no.

Who has the card in their pocket? What are the

cards they are thinking of and who is lying or
telling the truth?
 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
Spectator one chose the 4 of Spades.

Spectator two chose the Jack of Hearts.

Spectator one put his card in his pocket.

Spectator one is telling the truth.

Spectator two is telling the truth.

 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn around and notice there is a secret mark
on the top of the deck.

We ask spectator one if he took his card, he says

no.

We ask spectator two if he took his card, he says

no.

We ask spectator one if his card is red, he says

yes.

We ask spectator one if his card is high, he says

no.

Who has the card in their pocket? What are the

cards they are thinking of and who is lying or
telling the truth?
 M I Z A RU T W O

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
Spectator one chose the 10 of Spades.

Spectator two chose the Jack of Hearts.

Spectator one put his card in his pocket.

Spectator one is a liar.

Spectator two is telling the truth.

 JAMIE DAWS

MIZARU FOR ONE

You can perform a simplified version of ‘Mizaru’ for one

spectator. You can use the special deck created for ‘Mizaru
Two’. Have him cut the cards, take the card he cut to,
T H Rthe
reassemble E Edeck
CO andI N
thenWtheir
H I place
C H the
HA ND
card on top

SCENARIO TWO
of the deck or in his pocket.

When you turn around, look at the top of the deck for
your ‘Tracker’. Then, ask them to either be a truth teller
We turn back and when moving the purse,
of liar. Ask if they took their card, then if they are thinking
discover the coin in the purse is copper.
of a red card and finally, if it is a high card. This will give
you the information needed. Here is a scenario.
We then ask if he has a silver coin in one of his
hands, he replies no.
The spectator has put their card in their pocket and they
are thinking of the Four of Spades. He is also telling the
We then ask if the two tone coin is in his left
truth.
hand, he replies yes.
I turn around and notice there is a mark on top of the
Where is everything and was he lying
deck. So I know they have their card in their pocket
or telling the truth?
otherwise they would have put it on top of the marked
card and there would be no marking. I then ask if he has a
card in his pocket, he replies yes. Because I know he has
taken his card, he is telling the truth. I ask him if he is
thinking of a red card, he replies no. Now I know he is
thinking of either the Four of Spades or the Ten of
Spades. Finally, I ask if his card is high he says no which

139
 THE TRACKER

means he is thinking of the Four of Spades!

It’s practice time! Here are some scenarios for you to

decipher and remember, no cheating!

140
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO ONE
We turn around and see there is not a mark on
the top card.

We ask if he has taken his card, he replies yes.

We ask if he is thinking of a red card, he replies

no.

We ask if he is thinking of a high card, he replies

no.

What is the card he is thinking of, is it in his

pocket and is he telling a lie or the truth?
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO ONE
ANSWER
The spectator has not taken his card.

He is thinking of the Nine of Hearts.

He is a liar.
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO TWO
We turn around and see there is still a mark on
the top card.

We ask if he has taken his card, he replies yes.

We ask if he is thinking of a red card, he replies

no.

We ask if he is thinking of a high card, he replies

no.

What is the card he is thinking of, is it in his

pocket and is he telling a lie or the truth?
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO TWO
ANSWER
The spectator has taken his card.

He is thinking of the Four of Spades.

He is a truth teller.
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO THREE
We turn around and see there is no mark on the
top card.

We ask if he has taken his card, he replies no.

We ask if he is thinking of a red card, he replies

yes.

We ask if he is thinking of a high card, he replies

no.

What is the card he is thinking of, is it in his

pocket and is he telling a lie or the truth?
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO THREE
ANSWER
The spectator has not taken his card.

He is thinking of the Three of Hearts.

He is a truth teller.
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO FOUR
We turn around and see there is no mark on the
top card.

We ask if he has taken his card, he replies yes.

We ask if he is thinking of a red card, he replies

no.

We ask if he is thinking of a high card, he replies

yes.

What is the card he is thinking of, is it in his

pocket and is he telling a lie or the truth?
 M I Z A RU F O R O N E

SCENARIO FOUR
ANSWER
The spectator has not taken his card.

He is thinking of the Three of Hearts.

He is a liar.
 JAMIE DAWS

MIZARU NOTES

Whilst we don’t need to worry about the second spectator

after we discover if they are a truth teller or a liar, still ask
them questions. A great tactic here is to ask seemingly
M I Zlike,
pointless questions A RU
“Do F O enjoy
you R Othe N Ecircus?”. Then

SCENARIO TWO
when you go back to spectator one, instead of asking if
their card is red, ask if it “the same colour as a clowns
nose". Then go back to spectator two and ask something
like “Do you like popcorn when you see a show?”. Finally,
We turn back and when moving the purse,
go back to spectator one and ask if their card is “high like
discover the coin in the purse is copper.
a high wire or as low as a clown falling over”. These
questions seem to be completely random but they disguise
We then ask if he has a silver coin in one of his
the method even more and make it far more interesting
hands, he replies no.
and comedic. It doesn’t matter what questions you ask
spectator number two! So why not make them fun!
We then ask if the two tone coin is in his left
hand, he replies yes.
MIZARU IMPROMPTU
Where is everything and was he lying
or telling the truth?
There is a way you can perform ‘Mizaru’ with a normal
deck of cards. It is not at clean as the other versions but it
is still a great routine! To perform, set up the deck with 15
black cards on the bottom of the deck, then all of the red
cards in the middle in order starting with the Ace of
Hearts up to the King of Hearts and then the Ace of
Diamonds up to the King of Diamonds. The remainder

149
Image 2
Image 3

Image 1
 THE TRACKER

of the black cards go on top of everything. (Image 1)

Give the deck a false shuffle, whichever you feel most

comfortable with. Have the spectator cut the cards and
remove the card cut to. Have them complete the cut and
this will put the black cards in the middle of the deck. Tell
them they can either place the card in their pocket or put
it somewhere in the middle of the deck.

In our scenario, we will assume he put the card in the

middle of the deck and he is a truth teller.

Our ‘Tracker’ here is the fact we know he is thinking of a

red card. The first thing we ask is if the card he is thinking
of is red. He replies yes and since we know he is thinking
of a red card, we know he is a truth teller. Then we ask if
he took his card, he replies no and since he is a truth teller,
we know it is in the deck. This is all the information we
need to relay to him. We can now ask some seemingly
random questions that seem unrelated. As soon as we are
ready, we can reveal to him he has been telling the truth,
he chose a red card and you think you know what the card
is. Now pick up the cards, spread through them and look
for the only red card amongst the black ones. Take it out
and display the card! (Image 2)

The only time this is different is if they put their card into
their pocket. As soon as you know their card is in their
pocket, you need to pick up the cards and ask them to

152
 JAMIE DAWS

place their hand out. As you place the deck in their hand,
secretly peek the bottom card. This will tell you what the
card is they have in their pocket. For example, if the card
on the bottom of the deck is the Jack of Hearts, then you
know their card is the Ten of Hearts. It will always be one
less. (Image 3)

Go through this with the deck set up and it will be far

easier to understand!

OTHER TRACKERS

ELECTRONIC

I am a huge fan of electronics and own the ‘MD Mini by

Pro-Mystic’. If you are unaware of this, it is a small
keychain Rubik’s Cube that sends a signal to a vibrating
device in your pocket. This helps you know what colour is
on top of the cube at any time. So how can we use this?
Well, let us presume we have the cube and a coin on the
table. I ask person one to either pick up the cube or the
coin and hide it in one of his hands and then to hold them
out. Person two is then to take the other object and place
it into one of their hands. Now, if when I ask spectator one
to take an object, I feel vibrations, I know he has taken the
cube and hidden it in one of his hands. If I don’t feel any
vibrations, I know he has the coin. This is the same with
spectator two. If I don’t feel vibrations when spectator one

153
 THE TRACKER

takes an object, but I do when spectator two takes an

object, I know that spectator two has the cube.

Here is a scenario. Let us assume spectator one has the

cube in his left hand and spectator two has the coin in his
right. I ask them to either lie to me or to tell me the truth.
We will say they are both liars.

I ask spectator one if he has the cube, he replies no. I ask

if spectator two has the cube, he says yes. Now, because I
felt vibrations when spectator one took an item, I know
they are both lying to me. Now I ask if spectator one has
an object in his left hand, he replies no, I know he is a liar
so I know the cube is in his left hand. I ask if spectator two
has an object in his left hand, he says yes. Because I know
he is a liar, I know the object is in his right hand.

Now all I have to do is reveal which hand they have the

objects in, which object each person has and whether they
were lying or telling the truth.

DICE

As mentioned earlier, you may wish to have them roll two

dice, add the top and the bottom numbers of both dice.
This will always add up to 14 but many spectators don’t
know this. If you would like a super deceptive way of
doing this, check out Gary Jones’ book, ‘Life’s a Beach’. In
it, he has a really clever version of the dice force.

154
 JAMIE DAWS

FINAL THOUGHTS

I hope you have enjoyed the ideas in this book. I know at

first it is a daunting idea, tracking information but you
have my promise that after a couple of tries, not only does
the procedure become more obvious and easier to
understand, but tracking the information is also much
easier. I have no doubts people will take the ‘Tracking’
principle and run with it, no doubt creating more
incredible effects. I would love to hear your thoughts and
ideas so please, don’t hesitate to get in touch! But for now,
I am all tracked out! Have fun, blow minds!

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 THE TRACKER

CREDITS

The Lie Detector plot was originally used to find a selected

card that was miscalled by a spectator, first created up by
Vincent Dalban in 1934. Theodore Annemann then
published Dalbans original routine in Jinx magazine,
January 1935.

In the 1930’s, Martin Gardner created a variation called

‘Lie Speller’ and introduced the idea of a spectator either
lying or telling the truth as cards are used to spell out the
answers. The last card being the one chosen.

Performers such as Derren brown have performed effects

that utilise the premise of truth teller / liar routines. In his
2005-2006 stage show, Brown used a version of Max
Mavens ‘Kurotsuke’ but using the truth teller / liar plot.

In his book ‘P.A.T.H.S’, Matt Mello utilises similar

thinking that he called the ‘Progressive Negative Ploy’.

One of the first versions of the ‘Which Hand’ plot can be

found in ‘Breslaw’s Last Legacy’ published in 1784 in
which he uses a simple odd / even maths formula to
determine the whereabouts of a Gold and Silver coin.

More creators: Mark Elsdon, Manos, Peter Turner, Peter

McLeod, Michael Murray, Patrick Redford, Timon
Krause.

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 JAMIE DAWS

In NTC, the concept of assigning different memories was

explored in Art Vanderlay’s book ‘Planes Mistaken For
Stars’ and is called ‘The Memory of Tree’s’.

Finally, thank you to Daniel Young for his additional idea’s

and help with this project. To Mark Chandaue for help
with some of the crediting. To Drew Backenstoss for his
idea’s and support and of course to you for purchasing this
book!

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