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 Minimal Mentalism III
Written by Pablo Amirá

© 2019, Pablo Amirá

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior permission of the publisher

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%
Table of Content

Introduction
1. Tree Theory: A meta-theory in the study of Mystery
Performance

2.Animalistic Opener: ANY animal is decided by your

participant using a very fair procedure. From your bag you
take a big photo of that precise animal!

3. Enchanting Connection: A full close up act using nothing

more than a pendulum, some business card and the power of
connection

4. Minimal Q&A: A minimal approach to the greatest

Mentalism experience ever. Just some business cards are
needed to create wonderful moments of reading, mindreading
and precognition, revealing answers to thought of questions.

5. "Present Tarot" Reading System: My approach to offer

a powerful, special an unique Tarot Reading.

6. NamePlace: A simple-to-execute interpretation of one of

the classics from our Master Mindreader.

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7. Dichotomic Certainty: A wonderful double-prediction,
using a shuffled deck of cards in use.

8. Goal: A meaningful and powerful moment of mindreading,

which features the UCCD, a new
ne w fun DIY gimmick that you can
carry to create wonderful telepathic experiences.

9. E5PMancy: A Minimalistic reading approach using your 5

ESP Cards.

10.Solo: Only one playing card as prediction is left on the

table. One card is mentally chosen using a fair procedure.
100% correct prediction. A new way to predict ANY playing
card that you WILL USE.

11.Tangible Energies: A stage routine involving powerful

energy and visual demonstrations.

12. The Unique Key: A wonderful mysterious and poetic

version of the "Haunted Key" for couples.

Conclusion

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(
Introduction

Simplicity is a value.
Thanks for your time and kind appreciation of my work.

Minimal Mentalism III is a new adventure, full with simple

ideas for your repertoire. I love the minimal approach to
performance, not just from an inner perspective, but most
important, from the outer one.

People must feel that your performance is simple, well-

rehearsed, and clear, and this can be achieved with the
Minimalist approach to Mentalism. If you follow my work, you
know that my first Minimal Mentalism Lecture was offered at
Penguin Magic (you can get it at Mentalism Center), and after
that, my Minimal Mentalism II, full with interesting ideas and
routines that I still perform.

In Minimal Mentalism III you will get my latest creations and

contributions to the art of Mentalism, that I hope you can
enjoy and appreciate.

Pablo Amirá , 2019

)
*
Tree Theory

What we do is beautiful. Mystery is one of the greatest

aspect of life, and we are blessed as Mystery Performers to
being able to channel this experiences and emotions to our
audience. I reflect about Mentalism and all related topics
every moment in my life. Everything inspire me to move my
own art forward, and trying to contribute the state of the art
for my colleagues and friends around the world, so for that
reason, years ago I wanted to structure a meta-theory of
Mystery Performance, in which we could understand a little
better what we do.

One day I was contemplating a tree and I realize the

beautiful complexity and simplicity of it. We can see clear
aspects of a tree, and still observe those aspects in a more
deep manner to continue our exploration. So the “Tree

Theory” is a way to understand what we do as Mystery

Performers to achieve excellence our performance. In this
analogy, YOU are a tree, and this tree have different parts
that we can associate to our life as Mystery Performer.

In here I will share with you the basic study of this, but you
can reflect about it and came up with your wonderful insights
and analogies.

!+
So, in this basic approach of the “Tree Theory”, we will see
four different sections. If you have more interest in this
Theory, you can take our Online Mentalism Course at
Mentalism Center, in which we use this paradigm to learn
Mentalism in an effective manner.

1. Roots
2. Trunk
3. Foliage
4. Fruits

1. Roots:

What are your roots as performer?

What are those personal aspects that gave you solidity

and congruency to your performance?

The Roots are all those aspects in yourself (not outside

yourself, that could be other part of the analogy of the
tree) that ground yourself in solid basis. Your
philosophical core aspects as performer, all the aspects
that you integrate in yourself from other performers, your
subtext, all those essentials dimensions.

!!
2. Trunk:
How can you define “technique” in your performance?
Which type of techniques are more prominent in your
work?
How many techniques do you know?

The trunk of this imaginary tree are all the technical

capacities that you can develop as Mystery Performer.
Be conscious about the fact that we are not only
talking about “mechanical techniques” as sleight of

hand or specific handlings (of normal or gimmicked

props), but also we can consider psychological,
verbal, theatrical and communicative techniques.
Non-verbal aspects of communication, Language
patterns, staging, eye-contact, all those essential
techniques than most Mentalism sources don’t talk
about, and you need to learn in other places.
So, learn as much as you can about everything that
you feel coherent with your performance. The more
you know, the stronger you trunk will be.

This first two aspects of our Tree are part of our Inner
Reality. People don’t need to perceive our Roots or

!#
 our Trunk, they only perceive what is communicated
in the Outer Reality, which are the Foliage and the
Fruits.

3. Foliage
Are you a performer?
What do you perform?
How?
Why?

The Foliage in our imaginary tree is basically our

performance. Everything that we explicitly show to
people, as amateur or professional performer.
As you can understand, our foliage depends
completely in our roots and our trunk. Our scripts, our
approach to Mystery Performance, our selected
routines to perform, every aspect of the Foliage
depends in our previous observation of Roots and
Trunk.
If I don’t know how to do a Bottom Deal, I will not use
the routine that use a Bottom Deal, but because I am
well versed in psychological techniques to force the
bottom card from a deck of cards, I can then change
the original routine, and perform my own variant
(foliage), substituting a mechanical technique for

!$
 other a psychological one. So as you can see, your
Trunk influence your Foliage.
Maybe I could love that routine that I saw on TV from
that performer that uses psychological influence, but
if it doesn’t fit my persona as performer (Roots), I
just can’t
can’t perform it in tha
thatt manner (Foliag
(Foliage).
e). M
Maybe
aybe I
can change some aspects of the Foliage to make it fit
according my Roots, or I can change my Roots to
make that Foliage fit me.

As you can see, these simple analogies can offer you

great insights and new approaches of understanding.

4. Fruits
What are the unique moments in your performance?
Are you expressing you own unique message as
performer?
What can you do, that anyone else can do?
Do you consider Mentalism your art?

As you can understand, a tree without fruits is still a

tree. The same happens with the pragmatic practice
of Mentalism. Inherently, Mentalism is not an art, but
it can be in the hands of an artful performer.

!%
The fruits are those aspects of authentic beauty that
you can add to your foliage, and make your
performance more colorful, delicious, and why not,
nutritious.
A “commercial performer” that doesn’t need explicit
artistic expressions and he just work as entertainer,
doesn’t really need to create this “fruits”, but if you
are inclined to explore Mentalism as a personal path
of communication, I invite you to observe your
potential fruits.

There is so much more to observe in this “Tree

Theory”, that my invitation for you is to reflect in this
ideas. Be open to receive new insights, and observe
different trees around you, and how can you translate
the structure of those trees in congruence with this
theory.
Some trees have visible roots, others fall off because
they don’t have roots, other have a small foliage and
a big trunk, others a small trunk but no foliage, others
have just a few fruits, and others a lot of fruits and
foliage.
Open your eyes to new ideas, and you will see new
results.

!&
!'
Animalistic Opener

History

I love to explore different themes in performance, which are

first interesting to me (so I can communicate them in an
authentic manner) and the letting my audience to care,
from their own personal experiences. “Animals” are part of
our life experience, in different ways, and in this fun opener
you will use an imagined animal and a prediction to create a
direct and powerful way to establish your performance.

Outer Reality

The mystery performer announce an interesting photograph

inside a velvet bag of mystery. After a simple and fair

procedure, a participant decides for an animal from the
entire set of options in the animal kingdom.

The performer reaches inside his bag, and takes a big

picture, which correctly predicts that animal!

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Inner Reality

This is a fantastic light opener, direct, short in procedure and

fun to perform. At the core of the method we will explore

Equivoque, in an “Imaginary” fashion and use the different
outs that we can use inside the MultiVelvet Bag (which you
can get at Arkanosophy).

Because we are using a “parlor size bag, we can use a big

photo. I recommend a photograph and not a written
prediction ,to add a visual element to this routine.

You will see that you can add different variants and ideas to
this routine, so you can tailor it to your own style and
preferred methods.

The animal kingdom can be divided in 6 groups:

1. Invertebrates
2. Fish
3. Amphibians
4. Reptiles
5. Birds
6. Mammals

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Basically, you will force one of those groups using Equivoque,
and then using the outs that you prepared to reveal the
particular animal.

The fun aspect in using this groups, is that there are several
which are not memorable, or are not just familiar to people.
So I normally use either Birds or Mammals as group, and
then prepare bird or mammals which are easily name. In a
way, calling this Equivoque is unfair, and similar to what my
friend Art Vanderlay calls the “Familiarity Principle”.

So, let’s say that you will prepare three mammals (Monkey,
Lion and Cow for example)

“So in the animal kingdom we have a lot groups… we have

Invertebrates (start to pointing to an invisible space in the
air), Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Mammals and Birds… Name
one of those groups…”

As you can see, I place mammals as penultimate. The last

one is too obvious, so people will tend to say “mammals”. If
that doesn’t happen, just add:

“fantastic… take that group in an imaginary manner with

your right hand, and with your left hand, take other one…”

!*
Again, you have other option to place “mammals
“mammals”” into focus.
If your participant takes other group and not “mammals”,
you can frame this as elimination, and then continue with
other Equivoque procedure.

Most of the time, “mammals” will be already in the

conversation, so you can and the end ask the participant to
“hand one
one of those groups
groups to me”, a
and
nd aga
again,
in, fra
framing
ming the
participant reply in a coherent way so “mammals” becomes

focus of the performance.

In the case that “mammals” is not named you can ask the
participant to hand you two of those groups, and then play
again with the “hand one of those groups to me”. As you can
imagine, no matter what, “mammals” will be center of focus
(if you want extra ideas about Equivoque, you can take our
online course at Mentalism Center).
Now, after “mammals” is the group, you can say:

“So, we reduce the possibilities. Name one of the mammals

that comes to mind …”

Again, if your participant names one of the outs that you

prepared, you are ready to show it. Remember, EVERYTHING

#+
that happens was the desire outcome. There is no a “better
out”.

If your participant doesn’t name a “mammal” that you

predict, you can ask for other ones, in the same fashion
(potentially) as before, in the first Equivoque situation.
You can offer free decisions EVEN if the participant names a
predicted “mammal” as first option. Having this possibility
only opens the sense of freedom which is essential in this
routine.

So, after this procedure (that reads long because it has

complexity but in the outer reality is very direct and simple),
you will take the photo, show the bag empty (in a subtle
manner) and reveal your prediction.
Normally I print a “funny picture” of the animal, so it has that
extra emotional element.

#!
Extra Ideas

1. You can use Art Vanderlay-5u1n6u3d structure, and

use the bag for multiple options. If you have this

routine, you will understand.
2. An idea from my friend Aaron Vlack is to ask your
participant to select an animal, and use the
dichotomic choice of wild animal and domestic one.
Then you can force “domestic” and have just a few
options that you can then reveal using the different
outs.
3. If you want more options, you can use double-face
photos, envelopes, etc. Use your creativity to expand
the options if you want.

Inspiration and Reference

Inspiration to my friend Art Vanderlay and his wonderful

“5u1n6u3d“ routine.
routine.

The use of animals as theme of the performance was used by

various authors, including Christopher Caldwell in the
Brainstorm DVD series

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#$
Enchanting Connection

History

This is one of my special pieces whenever I do wedding

performances, or I want to share a symbolic piece with a
couple. A full piece which combines a personal thought, a
participant-centered experience and most important, a
powerful metaphor using our loved Pendulum.

Outer Reality

A couple is invited to experience a memorable moment. Alice

takes one of your business cards and writes a positive,

constructive word that is part of the wonderful love

adventure with Peter, his couple.

That written card is inserted in a small stack of blank cards

and mixed. Peter, after learning how to use a pendulum, is
invited to trust his intuition and find the appropriated written
card. After finding it, the performer is able to reveal that
thought word.

#%
Inner Reality

For this beautiful piece of close up Mentalism you need a

stack of your business cards, a pen and a pendulum. Just

with that, you have not just 10-15 minutes of powerful and
practical entertainment, but also a memorable experience for
sure.

I normally ask the female participant to write the word with

emotional content and then the male participant to search
and find the written card using the pendulum, you can switch

if you want but I found that in this was the routine is more
effective. A woman has a more cultural and natural tendency
to be conscious about her emotions, so the written word will
be better in this case. Our male participant, after seeing that
you are a caring person, will trust in you and flow with the
dynamic.

So, you can ask for any type of congruent word, I normally
ask for a “word that describes in a positive, constructive
and beautiful way your relationship”

Be emphatic about those words. You don’t want to reveal

some negative words in this routine.

So, now you will take 4 extra cards, and ask the participant
to place her card inside. You will apparently just mix the card

#&
casually, but in reality, you will control it to the bottom. Use
your preferred method for this. Personally I just treat the
business cards and playing cards, but always remembering
that for the Outer Reality I am just a person that handles
cards in a casual manner. Never show your sleight of hand.

So now, you will have the written card on bottom. DON’T

PEEK IT YET. Now hand the male participant a pendulum, so
he can experience the power of his mind. Take one of your
business card (from your stack, not from the 5 ones) and
draw a basic
basic pendulum d
diagram
iagram (A circle w
with
ith a pl
plus
us sign).
Guide your participant into a pendulum experience, in which
he will be able to understand how to move the pendulum
with his mind.

During this mesmerizing experience, you have all the time of

the world to take the stack of 5 cards and do what I call a
“Casual Peek”,
Peek”, w
which
hich is ba
basica
sically
lly just m
move
ove your ha
hands
nds in

natural ways, while holding the stack, and secretly read the
written word from the bottom (you can learn other similar
techniques at my eBook B´Cards).

You need a proper motivation to take the stack of cards of

course. For example you can say:

#'
“Excellent,
“Excellent, and w
while
hile you m
move
ove the pe
pendulum
ndulum iin
n a circ
circular
ular
manner, in a moment you will use this new superpower to do
something interesting with Alice´s thought…”

While you say this, there is a natural motivation to take the

stack and point to it. During this, you will peek.

Now just keep the stack in your hand and after your
participant understand how to use the pendulum, you will
place the 5 business cards face down, on the table in a row.
As you know , the written card will be on bottom. Place the

card 4th from your left. We will now use Equivoque to force
the card, but using the pendulum as object of focus (I call
this Penduvoque). The pendulum in here is just a dramatic
add-on.

“ We will just trust in your intuition and in the power that you
now understand how it works. Don’t think, just flow…We will
eliminate some cards, keeping just one…

Pass the pendulum slowly on top of each card, in a moment

you will feel something not in a particular card, but in a
space between them…”

After the participant does this, he will select a space between

two cards. In here, you will interpret the action as you need

#(
with non-verbal confidence, to compensate the ambiguous
wording that you use.

As you can understand, we have four spaces, four

possibilities.

1. If the participant places the pendulum on the first or

2nd space, you will eliminate the cards around. In this
case you will eliminate two cards, keeping three on
the table.
2. If the participant places the pendulum on the 3rd or 4th

space, you will keep the cards around. In this case

you will eliminate three cards, keeping two on the
table.

Now, depending of the situation, you will ask again the

participant, to use the pendulum to arrive to the final

decision. These are recommended actions to take, remember

that the key element of Equivoque is naturalness in the
procedure, so become a congruent outer process. You can
use the ones that you find natural to your own words and
actions:

1. If you have three cards on the table (one of them is

the written card of course) touch two cards
cards with his

#)
 hand, while in the other, holding the pendulum. If the
participant touch the two indifferent cards, you
interpret his action as elimination. If he moves one of
the blanks and the written one, you will take both
cards in your hands and do one more step of
elimination, asking him to imagine that one of those
start to float. If the written card starts to float, is the
selected one (in a magical state), if the other is the
floating card, that imaginary dynamic means
elimination.

2. Go to the “Floating” dynamic previously explained.

So, using the Pendulum as element of focus in the

Equivoque procedure, you will arrive to the written card.

Now, reveal the blank cards in a dramatic manner and

then reveal the written word in the most realistc and

holistic manner. Involve not just the rational (different

letters, quantity of letters, etc), but also the emotions
aspects (memories, other people associated with this
word, colors, sounds, etc)

My recommendation in this routine is that you DON’T

reveal the exact word, for two reasons. First, having a
one-degree separation indirectly communicates that you

#*
didn’t peek (if you peek the word, you know it 100%
right) and also, you keep the experience in the ethereal
and subjective world of emotions, which is what you want
it here.

If the word is “Light”, you can reveal maybe G-H

(Banachek-Brain Game) as “rational revelation” but then
go directly to different associated potential emotional
aspects of that word. I know that you are creative enough
to apply your own style in performance.

As you can see, a wonderful practical piece that requires

only a few simple props, which are used in a solid
structure which cancels any method possible. In itself,
the emotional approach to performance allows you to let
people just enjoy the experience, without even caring
about methods. Try it with an open mind and heart, and
you will be part of new stories for your audiences.

$+
Extra Ideas

1. You can also use my “Suggestion Force” technique,

from my book “Ideas about Pendulums”

2. What if you get a negative word? Because you will
peek the word, you can, after the participant decides
for the card, pocket it and reveal the word only to the
female participant.
3. If you want, you can also secretly mark the written
card at the back, so the participant itself can mix
them. I don’t find it needed, but you can do it if you
want.
4. For this routine I use my “Locket Pendulum”, which is
available at Arkanosophy.

Inspiration and References

This routine is a variant of my “Dream Suggestion” routine

from “Ideas about Pendulums”, which is inspired by
Annemann-Living & Death Test. Docc Hilford and Richard
Webster have interesting work along this lines

$!
$#
Minimal Q&A

History

I love Q&A, I love Minimalism in Mentalism, so I have several

version to achieve this fantastic piece using this approach.

I love the boldness of the classic Dunninger approach to

Q&A, which I saw live in the hands of Kreskin. A truly

masterful demonstration of mindreading and an implicit

teaching in the exploration of effectiveness.

With this routine, you will be able to read minds in powerful

manners just using business cards, some writing implements,
and very simple classic techniques.

Outer Reality

The performer invites three participants are invited to write

questions about their future in business cards. He kept a
small stack of business cards to keep notes. The questions
are buried inside the rest of the cards, which other member
of the audience places inside the performer´s pocket.

$$
From this moment, the performer is able to reveal with
precision each one of the questions, creating wonderful
moments of reading, mindreading and precognition.

Inner Reality

This approach to Q&A using business cards is inspired by the

wonderful Dunninger/Kreskin, which is basically, stealing
billets and then opening them secretly using a cover.

It is simple, it is bold, and it works in the hands of the

competent perfomer. How to be competent? First of all,
embrace this method as valid, and then work not just in the
mechanical techniques, but most important, the
psychological and staging aspects. I saw Kreskin doing his
Q&A and he is not really a master of sleight of hand, basically
because he doesn’t need to be! He stole the billets from

inside and envelope just in the action of moving and passing

thru the audience. At one moment he act as if he also felt to
the ground, and in that action, he just put his hand inside the
envelope and took some of the papers (they were not really
“billets” as
as we imagine, , but jjust
ust smal
smalll pieces of paper folded
once).

$%
So, in “Minimal Q&A”, we are extrapolating the basic concept
to business cards (or blank cards). The aesthetic of the
object in itself solves an important aspect of this Q&A
approach. In the classic one, after you stole some billets and
you place them in your pocket, you need to use other type of
object to cover the secret peek. Dunninger used a writing
board, the same as Kreskin. In this approach, we will use the
business card itself as natural cover object.

You can use as much participants as you want in this routine,

all depends in your context. Let’s say that we will ask 3
members of the audience to write questions about their own
unknown future. If you are well versed in Q&A, you know
how to deliver your initial script.

As you know, in this approach we only use a stack of

business cards and writing implements (I use Sharpies so
people can write easily), but you need a small preparation to

identify each question using secret markings (although not

necessary, makes everything flowing during the reveals). In
this situation we will use my “Bump Marking System” to
secretly identify each question.

$&
In this marking system, we are actually using the writing that
you prepare for each participant as method of identification.
They look alike right? But if you see carefully the line below
“Question”
“Question” and y
you
ou div
divide
ide it in th
three
ree pa
parts,
rts, y
you
ou will rea
realize
lize
that the first question has a “bump” on the first section, the
2nd question a casual “bump” on the 2 nd section, and the third
one, the same idea.

You can apply this casual system of identification with

anything that you have written on the business card.

$'
So, let’s go no with the core mechanics of “Minimal Q&A”.
The mechanic handling in this is as important as the staging
and choreography, so you need to rehearse everything in a
clear manner so everything is constructed properly.

Keep your business cards in a case (I use the Arkanosophy

Business Card case) but you can use any one that you have,
or at least, a rubberband. At the beginning of your routine,
you will place your case (or the rubberband) in your right
pocket. Again, this is important to motivate everything at the
moment of the steal of the cards. Now, hand those three
business card and markers to three members of the
audience, to write questions about the potential future. While
they do this, you will leave a portion of business cards in a
visible place in your performing space (at right-stage, if you
are right handed). Mention this so people can understand
that you did it. You can place it on top of a wine glass for
example.

This is a crucial moment, keep the rhythm of our

performance and don’t allow “dead time”. While they are
writing, keep engaging your audience in conversation, so
they can keep the interest in the performance.

After all this, collect the cards back, shuffle them and place
them inside the stack.

$(
 “Let’s place the question somewhere inside the others…”

In the action of placing them on the middle, you will control

them (together) to the top of the stack.

“It doesn’t matter where these questions are, the
important aspect is that each one of you can focus…”

While you say this, you will spread a little bit the cards and
get a break below the cards on top. You can do it in a secret
manner by using a Pinky Count, but it is not needed. Now,
you will direct the attention to your right pocket, and you will
ask a member of the audience to remove the business card
case (or rubberband) from inside your pocket. In this
moment, you will have a natural moment to palm all three
cards from the top of the stack with your right hand.

Now you will hand the stack of cards to the member of the
audience so he can place the rubberband around (or place

the cards inside the case). While he does this, you will
deposit the stolen cards in your right pocket or on top of the
stack that you left previously.

If you take the 2nd route, you need to structure a motivated

action to take the stack. For example you can walk towards
the stack and say:

$)
 “In a moment, I will write something in one of this other
cards… an initial test of calibration…”

With that line, you are motivating the action that you need to
do to deposit the stolen written cards. So now, you have
access to all the questions.

After this, you can structure you reveals as you want. Take
your time, you have all the secure information in your hands
(literally). Sometimes I pass four cards (in this example)
from the top to the bottom, so I can have all three questions

facing myself and a blank business card as cover, so I can

take notes. Whenever I want to have access to one of the
question, I can move the blank cover card and peek. If I
want to peek the 2nd question, I can lift the blank cover
business card and the 1st question, and so on. Remember
that thanks to the “Bump Marking System”, you can know
the author of each question. So, this is the basic handling for

Minimal Q&A. Of course, that Q&A is all about the interaction,

conversation, reading and the answer, which is the most
important aspect. You have now a wonderful and flexible
method in your toolkit that you can use.

$*
Extra Ideas

1. For “Sneak Thief” type routines, you can use the

“Bump Markin
Markingg Sys
System”
tem” on a square in whic
which
h the
participants can draw for example.
2. If you want, you can also ask each participant to write
his name on the card. In this manner, you can have
an extra element of revelation, especially if you script
your instruction in a way that your audience
understands that you just asked for the question.

Inspiration and References

Minimal Q&A is completely inspired by the work of Dunninger

and Kreskin. Richard Osterlind-Thought Scan is a great
method, which is also inspired by the classic. In my “Minimal
Mentalism II Lecture” I have other approach called “Close Up
Q&A” that uses a different methodology, but in the same
criteria that this one, that you might find interesting. If you
don’t know how to answer questions (which is the most
important aspect) I invite you to study the work from Kenton
Knepper, Richard Webster, Paul Voodini, John Riggs and Bob
Cassidy (his Q&A Masterclass is wonderful)

%+
%!
Present Tarot System

There are many approaches which you can use to read

Tarot. You can keep only one, being strict to that, or you
can mix different school of thoughts.
My recommendation for you is to NOT learn from any
source from the Internet. Internet is a beautiful virtual
space, but also it is full of crap, and the Tarot is not crap

and it is not “just made up whatever you want”.

Tarot has a tradition, and after learning the rules you can
be bold enough to break them, with a purpose.

If you study for example the work of Paul Voodini, you can
see an Tarot Reader that has understanding of the
performance aspect to it, which is essential for beginners

that comes from a Mystery Performance background. If you

want to go deeper, you can study the work of my mentor
Kenton Knepper. We have a system called “Tarot without
Memory” which offers interesting conversations and views
during readings. He has a lot of extra work that you need to
check if you are interested. If you want to go away the
Mystery Performance dimension, you can study the work of

%#
my master Alejandro Jodorowsky, Enrique Enriquez, Yoav
Ben-Dov and many others that you find that can add value
to your perspectives.
Again, don’t believe in everything that you read (don’t
believe even in this precise words), but open your mind and
be a healthy skeptic.
This system is based in the Humanistic Psychology theory,
especially from the work of Carl Rogers (Client-Centered
Therapy) and Frits Perlz (Here and Now). For more
information about that, you can check my essay about

Humanistic Performance at Mentalism Center.

This is not revolutionary at all, just a systematic reminder
that in my work is always present (pun intended)
In the Present Tarot System, we will not create a new set of
meaning of the cards, or the process in which you will read
them (classic divination, narrative/poetic ways, open
readings, psychomagic approach, etc.) but it is a paradigm
in which you will understand every conversation and
dynamic. In the Present Tarot System, we will NOT predict
the future and we will NOT focus on the past. The past
doesn’t exist anymore, just memories of it. The future
doesn’t exist yet, and we have wonderful opportunities in
there as reader. We will focus completely into the PRESENT
as the only state in which we can truly experience reality.
We can IMPLANT an observation of a constructive future

%$
based in the cards which are dealt in your spread. We can
only experience in this moment the present-past and the
present-future. We are always in the present.

Notice the word constructive, and not positive perse. Life is

a balance, life is not always full of flowers and smiles. And
that’s fine. If we fall into the trap of “happiness”, we will not
offer our participant/client a realistic view, but if we
understand the concept of “wellness” (Positive Psychology)
we can realize that even in sad situations we can keep our

balance, our wellness, do whatever we can, and receive the

best that we can receive at that precise moment.
Personally, I found much more fulfilling, honest and
genuine that just saying “everything will be happy, always”.
That’s just a lie, don’t become a charlatan.
It is very different to state with our approach that
“everything
“everything wi
will
ll be the b
best
est poss
possible
ible if yo
you
u do ev
everything
erything in
your hands to influence in positive ways”

All futures are possible, and thanks to the Present Tarot

System, we will open the perspective of a potential future in
which our participant/client takes responsibility of his own
life, decisions and paths.

%%
Again, we will NOT predict the future (because we really
can, and if you don’t have proper competences and skills,
you can destroy someone), but we will peek from one of the
windows, in which the participant can do everything that he
has in his hands to CREATE a better future.

In the Present Tarot System we will always have a clear

question, as detailed as possible. This is a symbolic act in
itself. If we have a general question without specifications,
we are not being conscious about what we really want to

observe as focus.

In the “Present Tarot” approach we NEVER give advice. My

mentor Kenton Knepper says: add-vice.
How are you to offer advice? You are a human being, as the
person that you have in front. You don’t know more about
life or his/her own life that his/her. You are only the Tarot
Expert that is offering new perspectives. Let the client
understand your constructive implantation, focused into the
present, how he/she desires.
One of the first things that I learn during my Psychology
studies from my teachers was this simple fact: Yes, some
people wants to avoid responsibility and wants to hear from
others advice. Don’t do it. Let them figure his own path.
You are there to offer some light, not the way.

%&
 So, let’s see an example of a “Present Tarot” reading:
Female, 40 years old aprox, asking for her relationships in
life. She was married, now she is divorce and she feels that
there is no other person for her as partner.
Her question is: “Will I get a partner?”

“The Moon, the Hanged man and Strength, wow, wonderful

cards that can offer fantastic insight and wisdom for you now.
I can see that in the past of your relationships we can find
some good moments for sure, but a lot of learnings, some
sadness and pain that can also teach you a lot for future
moments, not just for other partner, but for your own respect
as person. Presently, you are in a situation of new questions,

%'
 new understandings, new perspectives. This is a reminder to
always see your events in life from different perspectives,
allowing your mind and heart to receive as much learning as
possible. Maybe
Maybe iin
n the pas
pastt you had tende
tendencies
ncies of bei
being
ng
fixated in your own words and views, but the Hanged Man
invites you to go out of your comfort zone, be brave and enjoy
life even when some things are apparently “just bad”…maybe
are not “just bad”, but it depends in the angle in which you
see them. I obviously cant tell you if you will get a new
partner soon, bu
butt I sens
sense
e that there a
are
re peop
people
le around you

that offers you a lot of love, and you can count on them.
Remember that even when you are “alone”, you are not alone,
but you are with yourself. Maybe this is a time to be with
yourself, to love yourself, to love someone because you need
him, not in reverse. You don’t need anyone to be valid or to be
loved. The Strength reminds you to be the one that takes
responsibility of your own self-love. Everything else will occur
at the appropriate time…this makes sense to you?”

We can talk about this 3 card spread for hours as you might
know. Remember always to be centered in the present, in the
participant/client responsibility, to her own actions in life and
to observe with her this potential future of empowerment.

%(
%)
NamePlace

History

One of the masterpieces from Bob Cassidy is without a

doubt, his billet routine “Name and Place”. The psychological
structure of the routining, the flowing dynamic of the
mindreading moments and the beautiful combination of
classic principles and techniques is indeed a pure gem. In
this approach, we will use a stack of business cards and a
very simple structure that will give us the same result, for
those situations in which you have your stack of cards at
hand.

Outer Reality

A couple is invited to focus in different pieces of information.

One of them thinks in the name of a famous person in
history, other in a location in the world. Both words are
written in business cards. After this, one of them is
eliminated, which is placed back inside the stack of cards,
being the one visible the target thought.

%*
Not only the mindreader is able to reveal this thought, but as
a bonus moment of mindreading, he also reveal the other
thought.

Inner Reality

If you know the original approach from Bruce Bernstein

(Telepathy & Clairvoyance), and the popular “Name and
Place” by Bob, you will know that billets, peeks and the
wonderful “one-ahead” principle is in play in here. In this
approach, we will just use two business cards, which are not
folded, but business card techniques to peek the content of
one, and thanks to the routining, get the 2 nd peek in an open
manner.

Hand each pre-written card to your participants (one says

“Name:”
“Name:” and o
other
ther “P
“Place:”)
lace:”) and ask them to w
write
rite ttheir
heir

thoughts. After this, ask one of them to collect the cards, mix
them and hand you one as elimination. Ask him to place it on
the middle of the stack. Now, you will secretly control that
“eliminated”
“eliminated” card to the b
bottom
ottom of the stack. In a m
moment,
oment,
you will do peek based in the wonderful Larry Becker-Sneak
Thief routine. In the action of showing the first business card
as blank, as focus point to clear everything from their mind,

&+
you will have the perfect motivation lift the entire stack and
peek the written business card that you have on bottom.
Let’s say that you peek : “France”

Obviously, it is the “place” that you have in the stack, so you

need to convey the idea that you are getting the thought
“France” from the card tha
thatt your pa
participa
rticipant
nt kept in her
hand.

Now, reveal slowly “France” in the most realistic manner that

you can. Take your blackboard (or any bigger surface that
you use) a write “France”, but don’t ask your participant to
name the thought outloud (this is the beautiful thinking that
comes from Bob and also Annemann), but ask the participant
to open her hand and miscall “France”. In reality, you will

&!
read for yourself the “Name” in the open. Now direct
attention to your blackboard and reveal “France”.

As you can understand, we are in a wonderful position.

Apparently the demonstration is over, but you are one ahead
indeed, and you can reveal the 2 nd thought, the one that was
“eliminated
“eliminated in the first pla
place”.
ce”.

A completely impromptu, ungimmicked, practical and

powerful routine now in your hands. In any way I am trying
to dismiss the wonderful power of the classic, but just adding

a new extra option, which is always nice to have.

&#
Extra Ideas

1. Of course, that you can use any theme and pair of

target thoughts for this routine. Bob sometimes used

“East and West Des
Destinatio
tination”,
n”, you ca
can
n also use ““Soft
Soft
and Hard Drink”, “Living and Dead” (I use this
approach for one of my shows and in it really creates
a powerful moment, especially with a deeper
conversation about “death” and “memories”). At the
end, you can use anything that you want, depending
of the context.
2. If you know Emran Riaz-Godspeed, you can think in
way in which you can do this approach with only two
business cards.
3. You can peek the business card in other ways. You
can learn more techniques in my eBook B´Cards and
in my book “Telepathic Artifacts”.

Inspiration and References

NamePlace is completely inspired by the classic Bob Cassidy-

Name and Place, taking concepts from Larry Becker-Sneak
Thief .

&$
&%
Dichotomic Certainty

History

You just need to think a little bit extra, to create something

new. What you create doesn’t need to be revolutionary, but
functional and with a clear purpose. While searching for
methods to force a playing card using a fair procedure, I
found a method that could work, but it has a small issue,
which then transform into an opportunity, as in life.

After playing with some potential methods, I came up with

a combination that doesn’t only allow you to predict a
playing card, but also the “almost” decided one!

Outer Reality

A participant mixes deck of cards. Then after some

moments of concentration, the performer takes a piece of
paper and writes something. After two simple procedures of
elimination, the participant keeps two of the playing cards,
finally keeping one of them.

&&
At the end of this, the performer can show his prediction,
which precisely explains everything!

Inner Reality

Dichotomic Certainty uses a wonderful procedure that

comes from Al Leech, in which you will force two playing
cards, the ones that are on top of the deck. My first

exploration was about single prediction procedures with a

deck of cards, so this “two card” position was an issue. But
then, I allow myself to change the question of my
exploration: “what if I use this position to force TWO
playing cards
cards ins
instead?
tead? O
One
ne decided and one ALM
ALMOST
OST
decided”?

This shift, allowed this routine.

So you can ask your participant to shuffle the deck. Then,

after some moments of concentration, looking the deck for
a moment and the participant, you will basically notice the
top two cards and wrote them in this manner (let’s say that
the cards are the 3 of Hearts and 6 of Diamonds)

“Your will choose the 3 of Hearts

&'
 ALMOST the 6 of D
Diam
iamonds
onds !”

I took the idea of a double prediction with an “almost”

factor from the wonderful Magazine Test form Richard

Osterlind, a masterpiece indeed.

So, if you don’t know the Al Leech procedure, you will

basically ask the participant to deal playing cards until he
desires. Because your forced cards are on top, now they will
be on bottom of your new small pack.

Then, you will ask the participant two take that new pack
and deal them in two piles, to continue the process of
elimination. So now, as you can understand, from those two
piles, you will have your forced playing cards, each one on
top.

Now comes the wonderful moment of this routine. You will

add a simple “Equivoque” procedure to frame each playing

card as you desire, to let the prediction be correct.

So, your participant will take both playing cards, each one
in each hand, now say:

“In a moment, you will feel something. Don’t rationalize it,

just feel it. And as soon a
as
s I snap my finger
fingers,
s, you wi
will
ll hand
one of those playing cards to me, to finish this…(SNAP)”

&(
That script is golden. As you can see, we are not defining

the action that your participant will do. We will label the
“selected playi
playing
ng cards
cards”” and the “alm
“almost
ost selec
selected
ted one” as
we need. So for example, if your participant hands you the
3 of Hearts, you will say:

“Excellent, so you choose the 3 of Hearts, but ALMOST you

decided for (point to the participant playing card)…”6 of
Diamond…”

Again, in Equivoque, your script and non-verbals are

fundamental. Be confident, you know that precisely THAT
would happen.

I know what you are thinking… how can I know which one
the participant hands to me? Simple, I just see it using
peripheral vision while I gesture with it. Also, I can use the

secret markings.
Now, what happens if the participant hands you “Turkey”?

“Excellent, so you choose as destination (point to the

participant
participant postca
postcard)…”
rd)…” “L
“Las
as Vega
Vegas”
s” but AL
ALMO
MOST
ST you
decided for Turkey…”

&)
As you can read, the WORDS ARE THE SAME. You just
change the order of your actions. With confidence, you can
construct the reality that you want.

So now, you can reveal your prediction, and be a double

prophet with a weird sense of humour.

&*
Extra Ideas

1. If you have my “Mental Post Cards”, you can use

this exact routine to predict two destinations!
2. You could also explore the possibility in using three
piles and three cards. One for you, one for the
participant, and other one that stays on the table.
You can use “MultiVelvet” bag as tool for multiple
outs.
3. If you have my “USD” (Universal Switch Device) you
can predict with precision only one card, using two
outs.

Inspiration and References

Inspiration from Al Leech for the wonderful and simple

elimination procedure. Max Maven-Predixion is also a very
nice use of this technique.

'+
'!
Goal

History

As a psychologist, I constantly learn new concepts, school of

thoughts and ideas, and one beautiful quote from Milton
Erickson, inspired me to let my coachees (people that take

the path of coaching as life development process) that a

dream is different that a goal, and this concept alludes to
personal responsibility and habits. For this reason, I wanted
to apply this powerful simple idea in Mentalism performance.

Outer Reality

Your participant is invited to write a personal “Goal” in his

life, one that he wants to achieve with a clear set of actions
and purpose. This written goal is then placed safely between
two of your own credit cards, and in your elegant card
holder, while you ask him to focus not just in the rational
aspect of this “word” but also in the emotional aspects of this
goal. Indeed, the mystery performer is able to reveal this

'#
goal, offering back then the written card to the participant,
as a powerful reminder of his commitment.

Inner Reality

In this routine you will learn my UCCD (Universal Credit Card

Device), which was one of my first explorations that let me
create the UPD (Universal Peek Device) with my colleague
Alan Wong at Mystikos.

The UCCD is very easy to construct, and will allow you to

create fantastic Mentalism, with very casual actions and
objects.

'$
For this, you will use one credit card (or in this case ,a Metro
card) that you actually use, and a simple gimmick (the card
below)

Which as you can see, it is not a normal card, but a “window

card” (if you know my UPD, you understand now the
similarity). Cutting the window in this plastic card is very

simple. Just melt a little hole inside the plastic card (using
some type of heated wire, be careful) and then use a scissor
to cut the rest. Don’t worry if the hole is ugly, obviously
people will not see it.

You can also cut just a little portion and not a big hole, it is
your choice. You need to be sure that then y
you
ou place tthe
he
written card in the correct manner.

'%
So, you introduce the theme of “Goals”, ask your participant
to write it down in one word (or a few, if the space allows it),
take your plastic cards in a way in which the gimmicked one
doesn’t show of course, and then say:

“Excellent, lets place it in here for a moment…”

Don’t even ask for the card, just take it from his hands. The
action of keeping it hidden is completely natural without
words. Don’t try to “justify it”. As soon as you try to create a
“rationale”,
“rationale”, you w
will
ill add ttoo
oo much resis
resistance,
tance, thus letting the
participant involve his own logic, which can ruin the mystery.
Just do it and flow.

'&
As you can understand, as soon as you place the written card
in the middle of your cards, you will have secret access to
the information through the window. Don’t rush it. Take now
the cards and place them in your pocket or back to the
Minimal leather card holder. In that action, you have again a
natural action to peek the card.

You can use the classic Docc Hilford-Miss the Pocket ploy set
of actions.

Now you can reveal the goal in a dramatic way. Remember,

DON’T focus into the rational aspects of the word, but on the
emotional ones.

''
As a matter of fact, especially for this telepathic experience, I
invite you to NOT reveal the word fully, but describe it in a
subjective and abstract manner. After some revelations ask:

“Your Goal
Goal is some kind of p
physica
hysicall effort, s
something
omething tthat
hat
you care about…but you have some troubles in the
past….other people…a new friend that will come..tell me,
what was the word…”

ASK the participant the specific word. You already did a lot of
realistic telepathic moments. This approach to mindreading

will allude that this experience was completely real, and not
just a theatrical
theatrical e
elaborat
laboration.
ion. The psy
psychology
chology here is s
simple
imple
and powerful: If he knew the word, why not reveal it? So,
because he couldn’t reveal it but getting some abstract and
emotional aspects, he didn’t peek the word, thus, it is a real
experience.

Now, just take back the written card from the plastic ones
and focus the attention on that. People will not care about
the plastic cards. Again, just do it and flow.

Take the written card in your hands and say:

“Oh… climbing a new mountain! Beautiful goal, and I hope

that you can bring all your powerful energy to it (while you
do a small ritual of energization to the card).

'(
As soon
soon as you rreach
each your goa
goal,
l, you can c
contact
ontact me a
and
nd let
me know”

As you can see, a simple and powerful routine, using a DIY

gimmick that you can use for any mindreading piece. Next
time that you do mindreading, study also what is your
“theme” of conver
conversatio
sation.
n. Maybe you ca
can
n improv
improve
e your
Mentalism if you are conscious about what you are
communicating besides the mystery phenomena.

')
Extra Ideas

1. You can use the UCCD also as Pocket Writing Device,

Nail Writing Device, and other uses that I invite you to

explore.
2. You can even use your leather minimal card holder as
a peek device alone. You can play with different
choreographies, writing placement and blocking
techniques to do this, if you don’t want to use the
UCCD.
3. If you have credit cards with holograms, you can use
them as shiners

Inspiration and Reference

Obviously the UCCD is inspired by the Annemann-Window

Envelope. The use of “dreams” in performance is a classic
“emotional”
“emotional” app
approach
roach tto
o Mentalism,
Mentalism, b
but
ut the use of “goals”
with an explicit differentiation, makes this routine powerful
and clear.

'*
(+
E5PMancy

Using Zener Cards as oracle is not a new idea at all.

Creators such as Doug Dyment, my dear mentor Kenton
Knepper and Alain Nu, among others, have interesting work
that you deserve to study.

“E5PMancy”
“E5PMancy” fol
follows
lows the gu
guides
ides of E5P, using an interes
interesting
ting
and simple spread called the “E5P Arrow Spread”. We will
create an “Arrow” using your 5 ESP cards, in which each

one of the placements has a specific meaning, which you

can interpret to create an insightful conversation and
exploration about a question about the future.

As you can understand, the symbol of an “arrow” has

interesting meaning just by itself, alluding to progression,
looking forward, going ahead, be brave, etc.

First of all, let’s see some of the potential meanings that

you can take for each symbol:

Circle: Emptiness, New beginning, End of a cycle, The Mind,

Universal, Sacred, Unity, Potential, Basics, Center Point,
Individuality, Proactivity, Fire.

(!
Cross: Polarity, Duality, Negation, Life, Balance, Navigation,
Productivity, Couple, Decisions, Contrasts between logic
and emotion, Spirit.

Wavy Lines: Flow, Abundance, Movement, Vibration,

Rhythm, Mold, Triangulation, Options, Water.

Square: Grounded, Rational, Stable, Strength, Cause and

Effect, Security, Conformity, Structure, Home Earth.

Star: Success, Power, Ego, Gender, Light, Distance, Luck,

Hopes, Dreams, Optimism, Air.

You can also use the wonderful Richard Webster-

Psychometry from A to Z. You can contact him to get your
copy or learn it at my book “Cartomantic Artifacts”.

(#
In the “E5P Arrow Spread” we will modify the classic “Past-
Present-Future” structure, adding an extra element of

“focused actio
action”
n” (arrow
(arrowhead),
head), w
which
hich is pres
presented
ented with
with the
two last cards.

(from left to right)

First Card: The Past state of this question

Second Card: The Present state of this question

Third Card: Potential Future of this question

Fourth & Fifth: Responsible Action for the participant/sitter

to create a constructive future regarding his/her question.

Remembering this and the meanings that you will study

(you can take the ones that I suggest you and also study
other sources) will allow you to create a very effective
reading that you can use on your Mentalism performances
or even if you offer Readings, as an extra service and
symbolic aesthetic.

($
ALWAYS, use this model of Readings:

Optimistic

Positive

Engaging

Natural

You can remember the mnemonic “OPEN”.

Regarding categorization, I found sad and frustrating to see

the “THE SCAM” mnemonic. It is so unnecessary, that I
wanted to modify for better understandings.
Health

Emotions

Aspirations

Relationships

Talents

Spirituality

The mnemonic in here his “HEARTS”

(%
If you want to learn more about Reading approach, you can
study my “Cartomantic Artifacts” and also the work from
Richard Webster and Kenton Knepper.

ALWAYS, use this model of Readings:

Optimistic , Positive , Engaging , Natural

You can remember the mnemonic “OPEN”.

Regarding categorization, I found sad and frustrating to see

the “THE SCAM” mnemonic. It is so unnecessary, that I
wanted to modify for better understandings.

Health

Emotions

Aspirations

Relationships

Talents

Spirituality

The mnemonic in here his “HEARTS”

(&
Let’s see some examples and potential readings and I can
create for you as explanation. A Reading is a cooperative
effort, 50/50, so in this examples the lack of conversation
will be an important factor. The most important aspect of
any Reading is your client, always remember this.

A 30 years old woman, weak body posture, insecure tone of

voice. Her question is: “Will I Ever Get Married?”

('
 “With these 5 symbols we will observe your question, the

past, present,
present, future a
and
nd resp
responsible
onsible a
actions
ctions that you ca
can
n
take.

I can sense that you have this question for a good time
now, and this is a constant topic that emerges in some
situations that make you feel a little bit uncomfortable and
trying to find balance. Some stressful moments in the past,
family pressure?

You are in this moment very open to observe new

perspectives,
perspectives, new possib
possibilities,
ilities, to really e
empty
mpty y
your
our vesse
vessel.
l.
and observe reality in new ways, even when you know that
sometimes change can be frightening, right?

I sense that you need to take serious action regarding this,

and in an explicit manner I can tell you exactly if you

actually will get married, because we just can’t be seated

and waiting our “blue prince”, right? I sense that you are
searching too much about this, and sometimes when we are
not searching, we find. You know what I mean right?

You need to change some aspects, move and vibrate in new

energies to attract a person that loves you, but most
important, first, marry yourself, love yourself.

((
You are in a very good position in other aspects in your life.
Job, Friends,
Friends, M
Money?
oney?

You have a powerful future only if you take the responsible

actions of really don’t focus that much in being “married”.
First, be aware of your self-care and really observe yourself
with love and compassion. The curious paradox is that
when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change, and
you can change as you want to attract the future that you
desire, and maybe you will get married and be happy with
other person at your side, or maybe not, but you know,
that is not as important as to really be empowered and just
let life flow.

What do you feel about this?

Reflect and observe what a fantastic symbolic conversation

we can create!
If you have Reading Skills, you can expand as you desire,
adding also pendulums or other elements.

()
40-50 years old men, with real curiosity and openness
about the experience of a reading. His question is: “Where
can I find the true meaning of life?”

“Wow, that’s
that’s a question!
question! Let’s observe our 5 symbols and
lets read. Please shuffle the cards and place one card here
(point the spaces so you can create the “E5P Arrow Spread”

What is interesting is that I sense that in some way you

have a clearer response to this question in your past, and
you lost part of that certainty, for some particular situation
that happens recently… How does this make sense to you?

(*
Some kind of discussion, even with yourself, that created in
you some doubt. And I can read that the cards are a
reminder now of something very simple. You already have
the knowledge and understanding in your subconscious, but
you need to be proactive in just let things happen, which is
difficult. Sometimes we feel that “we need to do
something”, when in reality not doing is also doing.

Be open to new ideas, open your eyes, especially the third

one, to understand new concepts and experiences.

Meaning is not found, but created. If you “lost it”, you can
create new meaning and purpose in your life, but always in
yourself, not in something external. Yes, we can feel family,
friends, spiritual searching, job or any other aspect in life to
be external factors of meaning, but the true meaning is in
yourself and this is the moment to just flow and be open.

How do you feel about this?”

So now my friend, you have the basics of the “E5PMancy”

approach. Take your 5 ESP Cards and offer readings in your
next performance gig or casual interaction with others.

Be bold and most important, be your best self.

)+
)!
Solo

History

Predicting a playing card is a classic in Mentalism, and there

are various interesting ways in which we can achieve it that
does not look just like a mental magic trick. This is one of my
approaches, which uses natural flowing techniques to arrive
to (apparently) any card.

Outer Reality

An “imaginary card game” is created with several

participants, while you take from your elegant slim card
holder a single playing card.

Using fair procedures, the participants decide for a number

and a playing card suite, and as improbable as this might
sound, the playing card is shown, as a correct prediction.

)#
Inner Reality

“Solo” uses
uses tw
two
o core tech
techniques
niques that work beaut
beautifully
ifully

together. The first one is a “timing force” using the

participant´s hands and the 2nd one is Equivoque for the
playing card suits. I love to use the hands as visual aids
during Mentalism, and if you know my routine “Mind Map”,
you will find the similarities in here.

In this piece, you can force any “number” card, so the choice
is yours. Let’s say that we want to force the 9 of Hearts.

So, at the beginning of your performance, take the playing

card and place it face down on a table, or in your
participant´s pocket.

The first technique that we will use is very versatile, and I

call the “Ambidextrous Force”.

)$
If you ask your participant to place his hands like this

, you are in a perfect position to force any of the fingers, and

thanks to our occidental tendency of reading from left to
right, force any number from 1 to 10.

So, in this case we will force 9, so you will need to force the
index finger from his right hand.

“As I pass my finger, just tell me THERE”…

)%
Now, you will just stop at the 9th finger, whenever your
participant says THERE. I use the word “THERE” and not
“STOP” because
because I d
don’t
on’t like the negat
negative
ive conn
connotation
otation of this
word.

Now comes a beautiful subtlety, which will allow you to

cancel the method used.

“Which is the number then?”

Your participant will count from left to right, so HE will

declare that this is 9 and not 2 (if he counts from the other
side), so it is HIS decision, even when you move your finger
on top of his hands.

Now, we will use Equivoque to force the suits. We will use

this sequence of wording:

“Ok Tom, so now separate lets imagine four symbols, four

suits, they are floating in the air. Spades, Diamonds,
HEARTS and Clubs. Choose any hand you want. The right?
Ok…

Let’s begin this mysterious elimination game. Name any of

the suits now (snap your fingers)”

)&
As you can see, we add a little bit of non-verbal emphasis
while we name “hearts
“hearts”,
”, due the fact the Equivoque in here
is structured in such a way that the participant can choose
directly “hearts
“hearts”” as option. At this point I need to mention
that this scenario ISNT, and read again my dear reader, ISNT
“the most
most direct a
and
nd power
powerful
ful optio
option”.
n”. EVER
EVERY
Y optio
option
n is the
one that you want. EVERY option is THE way in which the
process was planned, so it doesn’t matter if “Tom
“Tom”” says
“hearts
“hearts”” directly or if he names it second, or third of fourth.
Every decision is the correct path and you MUST believe this

first in your own mind, communicating this completely in

your subtext, and everything will be accepted. Remember
that you are the “reality crafter” in here. If you say that this
is the manner, it will be. Remember the meaning of
“ABRACADABR
“ABRACADABRA”.
A”.

You can realize the power of the word “elimination

“elimination”,
”, due the
fact is ambiguous enough to communicate the idea that the
decision made will eliminate the REST of the suits and the
decide one will be the chosen, or that this first action is just
the beginning of a bigger process (David Berglas-Equivoque
work)

Remember, you are the “reality crafter in here.

)'
You can check as well as the other small finesses, the use of
the word “now
“now” at the end of the sentence, at the same time
that you snap your fingers. This is done so the participant
feels social pressure to reply as quick as he cans.

So now will have two options:

1. Your participant names “hearts”.

2. Your participant doesn’t names “hearts” and names
other suit.

If the first case happens, add a powerful question:

“Are you sure? (Wait reply)”

Why this question is so powerful? Because implies meaning

of the decision (when nothing has been declared yet) and
allows the participant to feel other process of free decisions.

If Tom, your participant keeps his decision, now move to the

second phase of our Equivoque, which we will look in a

moment. Honestly this happens 70% of the time in my
experience, so be prepared to be awesome in a short period
of time. This is not better than the other options, remember,
just a little
little bit s
shorter.
horter.

Remember also that every step, every procedure MUST be

not just entertaining but also interesting. Work hard in that.

)(
IF the 2nd case applies (your participant names other suit),
add to your statement:

“…and obviously grab other suit with your other hand and
name it out loud now”

In this line we will presuppose the idea of continuing the

process with the adverb “obviously
“obviously” (Kenton Knepper-
Wonder Words). This is highly effective.

After this, you can arrive to two possible situations:

2.1. Tom takes “hearts” in his other hand.

2.2. Tom took other suit, leaving “hearts” floating
with other one.

Now comes the fun in the group in which you are performing.
Normally Equivoque is being done for one participant, but if
you are in a group, in a table performing in a wedding, in a
party, why not use the rest of the audience?. This openness
in the process is inspired by Kenton Knepper-Cold Equivoque,
which allows us to understand the flow that Equivoque can
have, although Kenton pushes this further with interesting
linguistic techniques. Be sure to check this in his “Completely
Cold” release.

))
If 2.1 happens, grab the “floating remaining suits”, give them
to other member of the audience (let´s name her Kathy) as a
gift (implying that they are not part of the process anymore)
and focus in the ones that your participant has. I have used
this “giving invisible gifts” as ploy in Equivoque for years and
it´s very effective and fun.

In this want to mention the simple and important fact to ask

the name of that member of the audience which will receive
the “invisible gift”. Gave her importance asking for his name
and care about it.

“What`s your name? Kathy.

“What`s

Kathy, you will receive the black Nines an invisible gift. You
can now play an invisible game of cards with those cards
whenever you want”

Now you need to add one more moment of decision to arrive

to “hearts
“hearts”.
”.
“Ok Tom, one more choice. Hand one of those suits to the
gentleman next to you now”

In here you can see that I add the line “one

“one more choice”,
choice”,
which ambiguously implies the idea of “last choice” or just

)*
“one more choice fr
from
om the o
others
thers tthat
hat you will
will do”. T
These
hese
are what I called “invisible seeds” that you can let grow
during your script if you need them. Also in here don’t ask
the name of your new participant yet. You will use this in
your favor in a moment…

Now the situations:

2.1.1. Tom gives “hearts” to your new participant

2.1.2. Tom gives the other suit to your new participant.

If 2.1.1. happens:

“As you can understand Tom, seeing an invisible object is

rather difficult. Which one did you hand to him?” Hearts.
Great, what`s your name (to the new participant) George.

Tom, as we said, you had your last choice (invisible seed

growing), so the
the other suit is for you as a gift, tthe
he same as
as
Kathy, you can play and invisible game with that one playing
card the Nine of Diamonds, whenever you want. An applause
for Tom!”

*+
If 2.1.2 happens, add:

“As you can understand Tom, seeing an invisible object is

rather difficult. Which one did you hand to him?” Spades

Great, what is your name (to the new participant) George

George, the same as Kathy, you can play and invisible game
with your new Nine of Spades whenever you want

Tom, you arrived to the Hearts, so the card is indeed the

Nine of Hearts, right?…”

This “invisible gifts” ploy becomes now a running line during

the performance. Take this in your favor, it`s very fun.

As you can understand now, we are focused on “hearts”. Our

Equivoque is done.

If 2.2 happens, add:

“Excellent Tom, those are your gifts. You can take them
home and play an imaginary card game in which only 2 suits
are used”

*!
This line again implies that the first process was done as
elimination, and shifts the attention to the funny idea
presented. Comedy, well used, is an awesome tool in
Mentalism, that can elicit a brief emotional response that
allows us to implant ideas in a better and more direct
manner, in this case, let the audience understand the
process as “elimination”, without saying it directly.

Our mind is wonderful and at the same time very limited.

Our cognitive attention can be only focused in a single
thought, so if YOU as the “reality crafter”, places the
conversation and attention to your desire thoughts (and not
in the apparently uninterestingly aspect of the process),
everything will be accepted easily. This occurs especially
when you elicit attention to imaginative processes. When you
ask the participant about imaginative thoughts, about
emotions, about memories, the mind becomes completely
open and the critical factor that, as mystery performers, isn’t
our direct friend becomes relaxed.

So, back to Equivoque, now the scenario is that you have

one indifferent suit and “hearts” that are “floating in the air”.
Regarding the situation, move the attention to other
participant (let’s keep the example with our 2nd participant
“Kathy”)
“Kathy”) and sa
say:
y:

*#
 “Kathy, this will be now your choice. We will do something
different, ok? Ok

You will remove the last one from the air and hand it to me.
It is your choice. Take a deep breath….and do it now…”

In Equivoque it´s very important to label each inner step in a

different manner. If you ask the participant to “remove”
something at the beginning, now use other action word to
the next. Not only change the word, but also the dynamic of
the action. Saying that she will “do
“do something different”,

gives you the opportunity to interpret her action in the

manner that you want in an effective manner, plus your own
subtle commanding and charming attitude and psychological
ploys that allows this technique to be such a wonderful tool.
Again, two situations can happen. No matter what, you will
always keep “hearts” as the final decision:

2.2.1. Kathy takes “hearts” from the air and give it to you

2.2.2. Kathy takes the indifferent suit from the air, leaving
“hearts” floating.
floating.

*$
If 2.2.1. happens, say:

“Ok Kathy, you could take X (name the other one) but you

decide to take in your own hands the “hearts”. Tell me, how
do you feel it in your hand?”

Before this line, you can obviously add the question “are you
sure?” one more time. Also notice the cognitive shift that the
question “how
“how do you feel it in your hand?” allows us. Now it
is not matter of critique the action as decision or elimination,
rather you invite your participant to a new thought, a new

flowing movement of ideas. If you study that question, you

can also realize the attention is on his apparent/possible
feeling, so the decision becomes a presupposition.

If your participant doesn’t feel anything (normally this

happens, and this reinforce the playful nature of the
process/game), just add to this line a relaxed manner so
your participant can spontaneously say different things,
playing as if she is really feeling a “heart” (Ormond Mc Gill-
Telepathy in Action)

*%
Now, let’s see the 2.2.2. happens, say:

“Excellent, so the same as before, this is a gif

giftt for you

Kathy. You can play in your house a game of card with only
one suit…

After all the

the dec
decisions,
isions, we arrive to just one (point to the a
air
ir
when “hearts” is) , the hearts…”

As you can see, with the line “the

“the same as before”
before” we are

giving the process an important factor of congruency. So now

as you can understand, no matter what the decisions are, the
“hearts” is chose
chosen
n by a si
simple,
mple, e
entertain
ntertaining
ing and myster
mysteriously
iously
interesting process of elimination. Also you can see the
power of implication when saying “we arrive to just one”,
while you gesture towards the “hearts”.

If you say it directly, the will confront that directly. Never

state the obvious (Docc Hilford). Use your words wisely
always, saying whatever you want to place in the attention of
your audience. We have wonderful opportunities of
communication via non-verbal ways. Use them as your tools.
This reads like a lot, but this is in reality our inner study of
the technique. This whole Equivoque step happens in 10-15
seconds.

*&
So now, you are ready to recapitulate everything, the
number and the suit selection, and reveal your prediction.

Extra Ideas
1. You can learn other Equivoque sequence in the
“Ungimmicked
“Ungimmicked B´Wav
B´Wave”
e” rout
routine,
ine, available
available as
individual project at Mentalism Center, or part of my
52 eBook.
2. If you don’t want to carry a playing card in your
leather card holder, you can just write any playing

card as written prediction.

Inspiration and Reference

The “Ambidextrous Force” is part of several techniques that I

found, in which our hands can be used in natural ways. You

can learn fantastic Equivoque ideas from various other

authors such as David Berglas, Annemann, Docc Hilford, Max
Maven, Kenton Knepper and Mark Eldson.

*'
*(
Tangible Energies

History

Being able to create Psychokinetic Metal Bending on stage

has an inherent visual challenge. For that reason, I wanted to
create a routine that offers the audience a visible experience,
so in combining a classic hypnotic/energy practice with a

spoon bending for a couple, you can achieve this and also a
powerful message about trust.

Outer Reality

A couple is invited to stage to participate in an intriguing

energetic experience. The performer hands a black bag and a
spoon, while the lady is placed in center-stage and his couple
stands at her back, in a “holding” position.

The spoon is placed inside the bag and the lady holds it. After
some moments of concentration, the performer is able to
move her slightly using the “energetic push”, finishing with

*)
dramatic movement that shows the power of intention and
energy.

Finally, the spoon from the bag is shown to be completely

bent. The spoon is offer as souvenir of the experience of
trust and tangible energies.

Inner Reality

This is truly one of the pieces that people remember. Being

able to PUSH someone with your energy alone is a

memorable experience for your audience.

What is the gimmick that you will use? Electronics? Magnets?

A very strong thread?

No

Real energy.

Well..that is the subtext of your Outer Reality, and I invite

you to also believe it in your Inner Reality as the method.

From a psychological, more pragmatic view, you will suggest

the movement of your female participant, alluding this not
only with your hand gestures and drama, but also taking
advantage of the participant ideomotor response that she can

**
exhibit (this is a normal demonstration in esoteric groups
called “Energetic Push” and also as the proof of the “Holy
Spirit” in the context of a Tele-Evangelist, check Benny Hinn
for this) and also the indirect suggestion of “trust” that you
will implant by placing the male participant at the back of the
lady.

All of these, will create this experience. If you believe it and

you act like a competent performer with authority in this
matters, it WILL happen. If the movement doesn’t happen,
don’t worry, using your script you will still create the reality
that the energy made miracles.

You need a normal spoon and a black velvet bag, which can
contain the spoon. You will achieve the bend using an
interesting variation of a dynamic that I saw Banachek using,
which adds a new visual aspect to PKMB. In my method, you
will bend the spoon through the fabric of the bag, for this

reason I recommend you to use velvet, so it doesn’t sounds

(if you use a paper bag it will not work properly)

!++
“Let’s experiment with some energies. We will use this spoon
and this bag. Take this spoon, looks normal right? It is
actually a spoon from the local soup restaurant, just joking of
course, and this bag, that you can see, it is empty, but for a
moment. Please place the spoon inside the bag. Excellent…”

As you can read, I prefer to be subtle with my suggestion

about the fact that the spoon is normal. If you want, you can
be more direct and let them check it, but it is not necessary
at all. Now, after the spoon is inside the bag, just take back
the bag and place your participants in the correct spot. While
you do this, you have all the time in the world to bend the
spoon through the bag. You can do it with two hands or just
one with the classic thumb technique.

“You trust him, right? If something happens, if you feel some

movement back and forth, don’t worry, he will support you…”

This is a line that I love, and works in a symbolic manner. So

now, everything is ready so you can start your “energetic
push”. Ask her to place the bag in front of her chest, and
obviously never touch her to keep the premise of the
experience, and for basic respect.

Take this demonstration as if your participant is a “human

pendulum”. Start slow, let her feel first some warmth

!+!
sensations, move her in soft manners and end with several
more dramatic moments in which you cannot just push her,
but also pull her back. It is truly amazing to be able to do
this. YOU CAN DO IT

(years ago, doing this piece in a parlor performance)

After all the different energetic situations that you can

create, ask her to take the spoon from the bag and to show
to the audience. It will be indeed bent, tangible proof that
the energy was powerful. If you want, you can do other
phase of PKMB with the spoon, or leave it as is. Remember
that this is just a cherry on top of the memorable experience
of “energetic push”. Be subtle.

Now offer the spoon as souvenir while saying:

“This is a piece of energy that both of us can keep as

reminder of the power of trust and intention”

!+#
Extra Ideas

1. What if she doesn’t move at all? This rarely happens,

but if you feel that she is not responding, you can

add: “I sense that you are a little bit nervous, and
that’s fine but not just inhale, exhale and as you hold
the bag, you can feel that the spoon will start to move
in a subtle manner inside the bag while I direct my
energy…That’s right… and now! Open the bag…”
You will have your visible climax, so don’t worry if the
energetic push is not dramatic enough. Just a little
bit, a small subtle sensation is enough to allude the
energetic experience.
2. For close up situations, you can use a coin and not a
spoon. Just ask for a coin and switch it while you
place it inside the participant´s pocket or hands.
3. You can also combine this with PK Touches.

Inspiration and References

The use of the “Energetic Push” in combination of a PKMB

piece is a far as I know, an original idea. Anthony Jacquin
and Anthem Flint has work with this demonstration. The
bending method, using the bag, is inspired by Banachek-Bag
Method.

!+$
!+%
The Unique Key

History

My favorite TK routine without a doubt is the “Haunted Key”.

I love it for the simple reason that the core method is as
close as I can get (for now) to move an object with my
thoughts. I have several different scripts and narratives with
it, one of them is this one, especially crafted for couples.

Outer Reality

A couple is invited into an experience using an old skeleton

key. They join hands while placing the other hand on top of
the key, which is on top of the performer´s palm. Each one

focus in one moment in which they felt the love of the other
person in his life. Suddenly, the key starts to move in a
mysterious manner, turning almost like by the power of the
emotional memory.

!+&
Inner Reality

This is the key that I use, you can get yours at Arkanosophy,

or use the one that you have.

If you don’t know this classic, I will give you the instructional
video that I offer if you get the “Arkanosophy Haunted Key”

https://youtu.be/nXKfLPSZldw

The Outer Reality is a simple as you read it. Just add your
own pieces of fundamental script, and don’t say unnecessary
words. This piece is ALL about their own experiences. Be the
channel of the mystery, and don’t block that with your ego.

!+'
Let them join hands, place the free hand on top of the key,
while you place it in your palm, and activate it with your
mind (ideomotor response, as I explain in the video)

After the key turns completely, add:

“That’s the key”.

Nothing more. Let the symbolic dynamic be absorbed by the

unconscious mind, and thank them for their time and effort.

Less is more, and a lot more in this routine.

Extra Ideas

1. You can offer a written prediction to the male

participant, to open the next day which says:
“(female
“(female parti
participan
cipant)
t) will as
ask
k which wa
was
s your
memory”, alluding to the curious nature of a woman
to know her couple´s emotions.
2. If you want, you can give away the Key as a powerful
symbolic piece to keep. Give it with a black velvet
bag, and if you do it, contact me and I can sell you
five keys for a discount price.

!+(
Inspiration and References

My main inspiration in this wonderful work is my friend Jorge

Garcia aka The Jack (RIP my brother). You can study more
ideas with the “Haunted Key” with Docc Hilford and Paul
Voodini (he has a good eBook at Mentalism Center)

!+)
!+*
Conclusion

Thanks for your interest in my infinite exploration of Minimal

Mentalism. I hope that you find value in these pages and
ideas.

Remember always that all these ideas are beautiful indeed,

but they are nothing in itself. It is YOU, and only YOU that can
take all these and transform into something beautiful for your
audiences. I know that you are competent, I trust in you.

Study your role carefully, the Outer Reality that you want to
create for them, be subtle, rehearse and have fun!

Anything that you need, just contact me and we can talk at

[email protected].
[email protected].

Good Energies!

Pablo Amira,2019

!!+
!!!
!!#