From the author of Edison Notes and Tesla Files comes the exciting conclusion to the trilogy. Steve has traveled across the United States and collected stories of lightning strike survivors who gained seemingly supernatural powers. These stories form the basis for everything that follows in the PDF. “This is real world LIFE CHANGING Mentalism. The effects are easy to do, but very strong.” – Reese Goodley (author of Navigator) EFFECTS Clap Hands — a modular palm reading system that you can add to your current knowledge or use on its own to appear as an instant expert. + by Craig Logan — your spectator chooses positivity every time. An instant classic business card routine with a beautiful message. Songs of the Century — You guess a song stuck in someone’s head and then are able to get it out in the most impressive way possible Sea Change — This is the REAL DEAL. Learn how to change a belief about your participant in a theatrical way. Any time, anywhere, with no preshow, no hypnosis, no failure. This will become a skill that is always on you for audiences large and small. ESSAYS Happy Feet A new way of looking at performing in daily situations and Jazz Mentalism. Are U Positive Adding variety in your routines. Methodless is the New Propless Steves approach and thoughts on having an arsenal of effects without a method Fourteen Rivers, Fourteen Floods Inviting REAL MAGIC into your performances. “Sea Change is the BEST THING you’ve shown me so far.” Adrien Lochon (author of The Jafi Read) 4 essays. 4 effects. 4 survivors. These are super powers. This is “What I Could do After the Lightning Strike.” TESTIMONIALS This one is a winner for sure. Its packed with so much and Im barely halfway through Thaddius Barker (author of Prose and Cons) Songs of the Century what a brilliant idea for producing an engaging piece of mentalism Steve Wood (author of Lost for Words) It is a great read and Im sure it will spark some good ideas Luca Volpe (author of the Emotional Mentalism series)
TABLE OF CONTENTS Happy Feet Essay page Amara Alexander Story page Clap Hands page Joseph Weldman Story page 17 Are U Positive Essay page 18 +/- by Craig Logan page 22 Methodless is the New Propless Essaypage 28 Nathan Sakina Story page 32 Songs of the Century page 33 Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods Essay page 40 Adrien Lochon Story page 46 Sea Change page 47 SAW LIGHTNING Hopefully it’s apparent from the title of this PDF that you’re not in for a standard Mentalism release Even better, if you knew that already because my name is associated with the PDF If that IS somehow the case, then know I’m feeling warm and fuzzy inside! What follows is a set of TRUE stories about people who have been struck by lightning and apparently received special powers Of course, I can’t guarantee the accuracy of any of the stories and completely reserve the right of creative licensing to adjust them as I feel necessary I this for a reason, Mentalism can be real To many people, Mentalism IS real For the next several dozen pages, I want you to imagine it is real too You can go back to your normal life whenever you want, but as you read these pages, remember how we can affect people, make their day a bit more interesting, make them look at life from a new angle, and be a bit more striking I’m not asking you to suddenly claim supernatural powers or change your persona I’m just here to present you some of my favorite ideas in a bit more left of center kind of way This was an excuse to get more essays into a book, as people seemed to really enjoy them, as well as to swing for the fences as far as end results of a routine go On to the show! HAPPY FEET AN ESSAY None of you would know this, but for most of my youth I was involved in soccer I even coached a kids summer league for about ten years During high school, we had a specialty coach come in who taught us yoga and other things that were seemingly unrelated to kicking a ball I still some of the yoga, despite what my “enhanced stomach” would tell you The one thing that stood out more than anything was something called “Happy Feet.” It was, in fact, named after the movie In order to control a soccer ball, you want to put your foot up slightly and on a bit of an angle in order to create a rolling slope Put your foot too high up and you make a wall, which the ball can bounce off from If your feet are flat on the ground you’re going to lose a split second having to put your foot up in this position and thus lose the opportunity to control the ball The remedy to this is to keep your feet moving, essentially stepping up on to your toes as you shift your weight from foot to foot It’s a mix between walking in place and an almost dance…Happy Feet If you’re on the field, it’s possible for the ball to come to you, and thus, you need to be ready What does this have to with Mentalism? Everything You can’t be caught flat footed Let’s say you’re someone who’s just getting started in performing and finding it difficult to perform in casual situations (or paid gigs) The first step is, of course, rehearse a couple effects that you know you can get into in most situations Now, we’ll get a bit esoteric Imagine that good things are coming to you Imagine that performance situations will reach you this day and that you’ll take advantage of them Is this a pie in the sky theory? No, not really If you’re playing the game at all, opportunities are going to come to you eventually What I mean is, if you’re living life at all - getting out of your house and interacting with people in any way - then an opportunity is going to come your way If you’re imagining this to be the case, you’re more likely to notice them when they come This is you being on your toes Some of the best ways to get into casual Mentalism is to start by having a conversation Just a quick, “how’s it going?” can be all it takes If you have focused down to a small handful of potential effects, and know them inside out, you’ll be able to more easily transition into performing them It’s even better if you can break your effects down to certain general themes that are likely to come up in conversations Focusing on these themes and knowing they’re going to come up in the day will have you ready to pounce on the opportunity to present them This concept can be applied to your actual effects and routines too The only way you can fail in a Mentalism effect is if you stop If you find yourself in more of a Jazz Mentalism kind of attitude, then make sure to imagine a few likely negative scenarios that could happen during your effects and rehearse for them Things like a psy force not working out, missing a pinky break, illegible handwriting, equivoque, or almost any propless effect where words are the method Knowing what could go wrong and what to in case it does will give you options Keep moving In regards to that last concept, look into Kenton Knepper’s Outs on Purpose for more information about potential failings in standard effects and how to react This is entirely different from the idea I’m giving you here and it’s something every Mentalist should be aware of Remember these ideas while you’re reading the rest of this book A couple of these effects are opportunity driven and aren’t things you’ll find yourself performing from table to table at a show You’ll need to stay on your toes a bit to see when the opportunities come to you Sometimes you’ll need to adjust in the moment in order to get the best possible effect Occasionally, you’ll even need to abandon the effect entirely! With that said, these are some of my absolute favorite pieces and favorites of my performing friends For instance, Sea Change, found later in the book, is something Adrien Lochon has performed multiple times a day since learning it! Of course, none of this concept is BRAND NEW, I’m just hoping that I can give you a different way to look at it with the Happy Feet story You need to move when the ball is near you or you’ll possibly miss out or not be able to react to opportunities as they come to you If you’re playing at all, you have the potential to get opportunities Again, if you’re living and making any effort to get out into the world, opportunities CAN come to you If you feel like you’re sitting on the bench, that’s when you need to get up and create an opportunity I can say that from experience as I was a constant benched player If I was benched, I would stand up and follow my coach around until I got put in If you’re not getting opportunities, something new, imagine things are coming your way, and stay on your toes AMARA ALEXANDER Survivor The year is 1962 Amara Alexander is a 30 year old woman asleep during a storm in her rural Illinois town of Springfield Suddenly a bolt of lightning strikes through her window, shattering it completely Her bed is set on fire The blinds fall from her window She becomes completely entangled Terror sets in She’s unsure how she survived A life of running a second-hand store, feeding chickens, and keeping mostly to herself, is completely changed “I saw pictures I heard and felt things about my family - it really upset me I cried a lot and saw my minister and physician Then one day I found an old medical book.” Inside was a picture of Apollo with a Star of David in the middle The words said: “You will hear, sense and feel.” It all suddenly made sense Amara, now with a long, gray, beehive of hair, began giving palm and numerology readings The electric shock seemingly empowered her to prophesize, predict, and prognosticate She even helped police find missing people Her insight was crucial and undeniable I meet her in her office in Delvan, Illinois Tapes of “celebrity” readings are strewn across the make-shift shop in the living room area of a 150 year old barn A copper wheel of pendulumns sits on the front counter next to a near out-of-place iPad register I’m invited to the next room where she’s studying the black ink stamping of my palm that I mailed to her the week prior to my visit Peculiarly, all the blinds in her office are shut There’s almost no light in the room I can barely make out her large frame I notice that she’s not wearing shoes “I like to work in the dark”, she says Perhaps she’s had enough light for an entire lifetime I did my research before my visit While she has a slew of detractors, the police reports are hard to dispute With no connection to the events, she was able to describe details that no police officer working the case could have put together I went in skeptical, but very much open What she told me about myself in that dark room, with no way to really see my facial reactions, perhaps no way to even see my palm…I will never forget She claims to get this information from two spirit guides, guardian angels, she calls them Raoul and Isaiah are said to connect her to Heaven Raoul is tall with olive skin and a receding hairline He’s always dressed in a suit He doesn’t like how Amara dresses He also thinks I need to get a haircut “They tell me a lot of stuff I feel like it’s a connection.” CLAP HANDS Amara’s story is what started this whole book for me I had a bunch of these ideas sitting around in my notebooks, but suddenly I started seeing them come together from the story of a woman who read palms in the dark You don’t need to this routine in the dark, but technically, you could The effect is pretty straight forward, you have someone choose a card and then, using palmistry, you’re able to determine their chosen card as well as tell a bit about their personality Paul Voodini uses this concept in his absolutely wonderful “Palm Reading for Magicians.” This is THE source to go to if you want to palm readings in an entertainment setting Luke Jermay also has his $1,000 Palmistry Demonstration effect in his “From the Notebooks”, which is another excellent book to get your mind going along the lines of fortune telling What I add to this plot is a quick and relatively painless way to make it appear that you know a lot about palm reading It’s also a system that can grow with you as you learn more about the subjects that follow I’m going to teach you four different types of palms, the Earth, Air, Fire, and Water palm You’ll determine which palm your participant has and then use that information to seemingly work out what card they’ve chosen While it isn’t necessary to know for this effect, I’ll also teach you which playing cards correspond to each element That way, you can slowly add more knowledge to your arsenal and appear to be a person that knows much about some very curious subjects! To determine which type of palm your participant has you’re going to look at two things; the overall shape of the palm and the length of the fingers We’re only dealing with square or rectangle palms and short or long fingers THE AIR HAND: The Air Hand has long fingers and a square palm This next part isn’t necessary for the effect, but it’s good to know Air hands are etched with many fine lines (think of the wind) In order to remember the Air Hand’s shape, I imagine a square kite with four long, curving lines representing the wind blowing the kite The thumb is the string of the kite This helps me remember long fingers and a square palm Air Hands tend to be expressive, emotionally stable, and intellectually curious They may gravitate towards professions involving communication, such as writing, education, or public relations Attach these ideas to the idea of wind You can’t see the wind, but you can see it represented (or expressed) by the things around it Emotionally stable is like negative thoughts just blowing away in the wind For Intellectually curious, you can imagine Benjamin Franklin flying his kite (the same kite that reminds us of the shape of the palm - long fingers and a square palm) The element of Air is connected to the playing card suit of Spades This is something you don’t exactly need to know for the effect to work, but the more of this information you can keep in your head, the better 10 ADRIEN LOCHON Survivor “Did I tell you about Sandy? I don’t think I did….” “There’s not much to tell My whole family had horses When we were kids we had all learned how to ride them It’s just something I grew up around We had this sort of school where people from the surrounding neighborhoods would come on the weekend and learn how to ride a horse for free Well, that and drink beers! There was this one horse, which was the most amazing animal ever Sandy Usually the horse senses the rider’s fear and gets nervous, which is bad, especially when you have a bunch of new riders around Sandy, however, was a freaking rock She was always calm and she had this weird, soothing vibe I had a friend who was terrified of horses, wouldn’t go near one, let alone ride one, but he wasn’t afraid of Sandy He’d ride with Sandy for the longest time One time, it was raining like hell I was in the field trying to cover the straw with a sheet of plastic This was so that the horses had something to eat the next day As I’m doing it, Sandy keeps biting me in the ass! It was completely out of character She was nearly pushing me at times I gave up on the straw and decided to go inside.” “Lightning struck right where I was standing Sandy saved me” 46 SEA CHANGE Effect: Two new friends have been talking for a while One of them, oddly enough, claims to be a Mind Reader of some kind Despite this clear warning sign, the two continue to chat late into the evening As the conversation comes near a close our Mind Reader turns to their new friend; “Is there a belief, either about yourself or things in general, that you wish you had, but don’t?” The half smile drops as the friend brings a recent thought to the surface Their eyes nearly glaze over, briefly, before nodding “Do you think I could change that belief, just by snapping my fingers?” “No, of course not.” The Mind Reader asks them to close their eyes They talk briefly as the friend’s breathing slows and gets a bit deeper A snap of the fingers cause the eyes to open….tearing up The smile returns, bigger than ever “That’s the first step in a chain reaction of events that will lead you to your goal!” 47 Method: I’m keeping things a bit dramatic in the initial write-up, but what you’re looking at is a Change of Belief type routine that you can one-on-one, small groups, or even large groups, and in almost any situation that you’ve built up a bit of trust with your participants Technically speaking it can’t fail Everyone perceives what’s going on a little differently, but there’s no dual reality in the traditional sense This utilizes hypnotic elements, but it isn’t strictly hypnosis You’ll likely have needed to soak in all the previous essays in order to know how to pull this off, but even then, you can’t outright fail with the method This is something that I originally put into a notebook ten or more years ago It’s also something that has been done one way or the other by many unscrupulous characters to achieve something that isn’t as uplifting as the way I present it For some of you, this will just be an interesting read Please don’t perform this if it doesn’t fit your character Performers have told me that I shouldn’t have put this into a book that was so cheap, so please respect the method and it’s potential benefits and only perform this if you’re willing to it properly With that said, let’s get into the full scripting and all the additional subtleties going on Essentially our method is using words to create a change in the spectator that they can’t deny That, combined with actually paying attention to and caring about another human being for several minutes, can cause big reactions in people The method can’t outright fail, because we nudge them into agreeing with us the entire time While deceptive at its core, honestly caring and trying to help someone has caused people to actually get watery-eyed from this experience In fact, I started off doing this routine to myself at some of my lowest times, so I know it 48 can have an impact Let’s start with the full script and we’ll break down elements of it afterwards “Is there a belief, either about yourself or things in general, that you wish you had, but you currently don’t have?” Yes “Are you willing to talk about it in front of everyone or you want to keep it to yourself? If you keep it to yourself, I won’t try to guess it, work it out, or make you explain it to anyone.” I’d like to keep it to myself “It would be impossible for me to snap my fingers and make you suddenly change this belief, correct?” Yeah, it would be impossible I wish! “You seem pretty sure about that standing there So, I’m going to have you switch places with me for a second.” At this point, the person is asked to stand up and switch places with the performer They’re now standing across from each other “Take a deep, easy breath in Breathe out and close your eyes In again…and out To say something is impossible is to say that you know every possibility of the 49 known universe I know I couldn’t, but you agree that you couldn’t know every possibility of the universe, right?” Ha…uh…right “So, you have to admit, that at least on some level, it is possible, even minutely, right? On the count of three, I want you to open your eyes and be wide awake One, two…*snaps fingers*…three.” “You can see that just over there you were completely sure that there was no way to change your stance on this And now, you admit that it’s at least possible That’s the first step and that first step causes a chain reaction leading you towards the belief that you want Each little step getting you closer, causing you to easily change to the way you want Eventually, looking back on today having been the start Sometimes it just takes looking at things from a different angle!” Script Examination: “Is there a belief, either about yourself or things in general, that you wish you had, but don’t currently have?” A couple things are going on in this first sentence This is another very loose opening line that implies absolute freedom from the participant There is seemingly no restrictions placed on what the participant can think of At the end of the sentence, we sneak in the idea that it’s a belief that they wish they had, but don’t currently have This does imply that it’s a belief they’ve already been working on and perhaps just need to give themselves permission to accept that they already 50 have it to some degree “Are you willing to talk about it in front of everyone or you want to keep it to yourself? If you keep it to yourself, I won’t try to guess it, work it out, or make you explain it to anyone.” When I first started performing this, I skipped asking if it was something they wanted to talk about and instead implied that it was too personal I would skip the first half of the script and go straight into “I won’t try to guess this, work it out, or make you explain it to anyone.” The choice is yours Having them talk about it gives you a chance to resolve it right there and perhaps not even use the rest of the effect If they decide to talk about it, you can use some really old psychology and ask them why they want that belief What would that belief accomplish for them? By asking one of these questions once or twice in a row you’ll end up getting to the core issue This alone can help someone From here, if you want, you can continue with the full effect to make it visually interesting to the rest of the audience (if there is an audience) Otherwise, you can skip to the closing lines of “this is a first step that causes a chain reaction of smaller steps Eventually you’ll look back on today having been the start Sometimes you just need to look at things from a different angle.” An example is “I wish I could eat healthier.” You would then ask why this is important to them and perhaps they respond with, “I would feel better about myself if I lost some weight.” We can now see that confidence is the underlying issue 51 If this all feels too much, remember that you can skip asking them to talk about the belief out loud and just imply that it’s too personal instead “It would be impossible for me to snap my fingers and make you suddenly change this belief, correct? You seem pretty sure about that standing there So, I’m going to have you switch places with me for a second.” I’ve reworked every question in the beginning of the script to end with a positive response from the participant as often as possible I want them agreeing with me throughout the entire process So, the first question here should end with a positive response, even though they’re saying it’s impossible for you to change their belief The next part of asking them to switch places with you is a Milton Erickson technique We’re associating their response to the place that they’re standing and then moving them from that location On some level, the subconscious understands that you’re asking them to leave behind that line of thinking We essentially dissociate the participant from that line of thinking It also gives the audience a piece of information with little explanation, so their minds are going to look for an answer as to why you did that This is a “Witch Doctor Moment” as Banachek calls it Try this out on yourself a few times If you ever feel down, or perhaps you feel low on energy when you need to get something accomplished, attach those feelings to the location you’re currently in and tell yourself to move to another spot I find that this works amazingly when you go from sitting to standing A major lesson from Kenton Knepper with this type of material is to try it out on 52 yourself multiple times before attempting it for an audience This circumvents any need for acting, as you’ll be talking from experience You’re able to describe it more accurately to your participant as well as have conviction in what you say “Take a deep, easy breath in Breathe out and close your eyes In again…and out To say something is impossible is to say that you know every possibility of the known universe I know I couldn’t, but you agree that you couldn’t know every possibility of the universe, right?” This is another Witchdoctor moment in order to give the audience something visual as well as give the participant permission to change their own beliefs I like to rub my hands together and pass them on either side of the participant’s head with their eyes closed, making it even more visual This is another small unexplained piece of information that your audience has to make sense of It all looks very magical Essentially, this one sentence alone “to say something is impossible is to say you know all the possibilities of the universe”, is the entire method to the effect That’s not strictly true, as we have a lot of psychological techniques working for us, but as far as deceptive method goes, it’s true Rarely does anyone believe anything 100% You usually reserve some amount of healthy doubt However, we’re labeling the participant’s actions in the beginning of the routine as 100% definite Any change in that percentage means our “effect” has worked Since the participant was never truly 100% convinced, we technically cannot fail We’ve also dissociated the participant a couple times We’re not questioning their belief any more, rather their response to it Compound 53 this with the fact that they want the belief (and are really just looking for permission to give it to themselves) and you have a winner It also helps that there’s no way to confirm or deny that the change has taken place “So, you have to admit, that at least on some level, it would be possible, correct? On the count of three, I want you to open your eyes and be wide awake One, two…*snaps fingers*…three.” Notice again that the questions have been worked to achieve a positive response from your participant Counting the participant up from one to three reminds of hypnosis, though this isn’t hypnosis It’s another Witchdoctor moment that gives the audience a supposed method This can also help the participant give themselves permission to change Hypnosis can be almost a scapegoat in this scenario Finally, I’m snapping my fingers to “wake them” as a call back to the initial concept of snapping the fingers to create the change This whole process can be disorienting to the participant and helps with getting some form of reaction at this point Don’t bank on it You may not always get a very visual and strong reaction If you’re doing this on stage, you’ll want to have something to follow it up with just in case “You can see that just over there you were completely sure that there was no way to change your stance on this And now, you admit that it’s at least possible, right? That first step causes a chain reaction leading you towards the belief that you want Each little step getting you closer, causing you to easily change to the way you want - eventually, looking back on today having been the start Sometimes it just takes looking at things from a different angle!” 54 This is the “after cure” moment We’re going to talk about the change as if it happened, knowing that at least something has happened with the participant You’re building it up for the audience, but you’re also implanting ideas for the participant, just in case they have begun a change for themselves At the very least, you’ve spent the last few minutes caring about another person and their feelings That alone is HUGE Truly doing that, truly listening to someone without adding anything, can be better than any effect you perform The true purpose of this effect is to give the person permission to change themselves It’s my belief that whatever they’re after is already inside them and they’re just doubting it A few other tips for this Any time you get a negative response from the participant, label it with their old stance I talk about negative responses as if it’s another person in the room Any positive responses, anything that is even close to a change, or talking about the future, is put on the participant’s “new stance.” To recap We’re asking the participant to think of a belief that they want to have We’re then labeling their responses as if it’s completely certain that they don’t have it After our change moment, we treat it as if they have it We essentially give them permission to believe in themselves Combine this with the fact that no one can confirm or deny that a change has taken place in the moment and you have yourself a winning effect It just so happens that this can truly AFFECT someone Please, keep that in mind While there is some deception in this effect, it’s not deception in the traditional form It also doesn’t diminish the true power this routine can have 55 Remember, you’ll need to play with the reactions that you get from this routine Sometimes, you’ll get what looks like a miracle Other times, you’ll need to amplify the participant’s reactions and move into something else after “Now that’s pretty interesting, let’s try something with that new belief.” From here you can move into another effect that seemingly uses their new found belief Another option is to just thank the participant and have them leave the stage to a round of applause If you’re doing this one on one (or even a very small group), you don’t need to move into another effect You would just introduce this as something you’ve done for yourself and say it felt like maybe something they’d be interested in too 56 OUTRO Thank you so much for your direct support I truly appreciate anyone new to my journey and especially appreciate those of you who have stuck around the last couple years I really love the pieces that are in this book and I hope you as well I’ve noticed that I’m drawn towards occasionally shaking people up from their day to day experience We live in a truly magical world that seemingly shouldn’t exist, and to exist in a mundane way in such a magical world feels wrong to me Mentalism can help nudge people awake to the world around them I know this PDF will feel jarring at times, but I also know that it will creep into your thoughts for a long time to come You’ll find elements of this book flashing into your mind suddenly, giving you a new insight Future reads will suddenly have things “make sense” and click into place You may doubt me now, but you’ll be surprised later! I can’t wait to hear your story Just know that you don’t need to be struck by lightning to get your powers You just need to give yourself permission to use them - S, July 5th, 2019 57 OTHER RELEASES “Subliminal Mixtape” Contribution (Kenton Knepper’s Powers and Principles 2) Bent Cent (Available at www.WonderWizards.com) Mentalism Trance Powers (Available at www.WonderWizards.com) Night Flight to Rio (Mind Reading Membership Lesson 10) Edison Notes Bedroom Light The Americano Method Book of Spells Tesla Files Alphabet Soup JOIN THE FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/108882946442394/ 58 Written by Steve Wachner No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored or transmitted in any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of the writer TV rights are withheld without prior permission Copyright 2019 “Steve, The Amazing” unless otherwise noted For more from Steve check out www.Facebook.com/SteveTheAmazing or you can email Admin@TheUsedMagician.com 59 ... their fist on the negative card in the first phase, you will continue having them eliminate the negative by setting their fist on the card they believe is negative If they set their fist on the. .. want to give To minimize the “miss”, I start to give the reading to the participant In the script above, I deliver it as if I? ??m talking about someone else, allowing the participant to pick and... thing that I? ??m doing in this scenario is not bringing up exactly what? ??s going on I? ??m not asking them to HIDE the coin I? ??m not telling them to MIX it up or make it 30 DIFFICULT This is just an