The Impression That I Get

When you use an impression pad in a routine. How do you make it seem like an everyday notepad?

Im guessing its something you already use to make notes in your day to day life. Maybe the pad is on one side and notes on the other. Is it something you carry with you in general? Or more specifically for a certain planned routine?

Also if you are planning on using it for a future something, do you consciously use it as a notepad beforehand and let people see you use it? —JC

Here is what it would look like if I used an impression pad with you in a social situation.

We’d be having a conversation. I’d suggest we try something out. You’d think of a word or whatever. I’d ask you if you have anything to write on. You’d likely say no. I’d dig in my bag a bit and pull out regular small spiral notebook.

I’d open it up to the first blank page and have you write down what you’re thinking, tear out the sheet, close the notebook and set it aside. That’s it.

I’m as concerned about overly justifying something as I am about not justifying it. I think both are equally suspicious. I think having a small notepad in my computer bag is not something that needs justification. That doesn’t seem unusual to me. So no, I don’t really go out of my way to make the notepad seem “normal.”

Now, if I was just carrying it around in my pocket, then I might feel like I needed some more justification as to why I had it on me. Not that carrying around a notebook is completely unheard of. But in an era of cellphones that you can use to make notes and record voice memos, it’s a little odd that you would give up your limited pocket space for a notebook and pen.

So, for me, it makes more sense to keep an impression pad in my bag, in a drawer in my house, or maybe in the glove compartment of my car. When it’s in one of those places I can choose to use it spontaneously. If I have a specific trick I want to use with an impression pad, then I will plan it so that my target audience is in the location that is near the pad. I won’t bring the pad to them if they’re somewhere where it doesn’t make sense.

This is a general concept in amateur magic. When you’re a professional, you bring your props to the show. When you’re an amateur, you bring your show to the props. Where does a notepad feel not out of place? That’s where you should arrange for your performance to occur.

The next question I’ll get is, “What impression pad do you use.”

Believe it or not, I make my own with a charcoal stick. It takes ten seconds.

I played around a lot with many of the commercially released impression pads. They’re all more or less fine, and they’re good if you need to read the impression immediately. But that’s less of a concern for the amateur performer. In fact, I generally don’t want to take the pad back right after they write something.

The limitations of this version of an impression pad have pushed me to use it in more “long form” performances. And because of that, I think my usage of the pad has become much more deceptive.

Consider the two major issues performers have with impression pads:

1. Justifying why the person has to write down what they’re thinking of

2. Getting the peek in an invisible manner

It can be difficult to justify why they’re writing something down if the trick is completed in a couple minutes. But if you’re doing a long-form trick—in the style I enjoy performing—then maybe they write it down to later burn the paper with the word on it, or rip it up and flush it, or feed it to a goat, or mail it to someone, or sleep with it under their pillow.

And since you’re not immediately finishing the trick, you may have minutes, hours, or even days to get a proper peek from the notebook. The longer performance allows for more rationales you can use for writing something down and more opportunity to get the impression from the pad. So it fixes both issues one might have with the impression pad.

My most used trick with an impression pad is to have someone write something down and then I figure out what they wrote. Ok, I know that doesn’t sound that interesting. But consider the difference between the trick as short-form vs. long-form trick.

Short-form - The person writes something down on the pad. I take the pad back. Then I tell them what they wrote down.

In a short-form performance, the pad is in play for a significant part of the interaction, so it’s not a surprise that it could draw some scrutiny. Especially with me taking it directly after they wrote something on it.

Long-form - The person writes something down on the pad while I’m on the other side of the room. They rip out the page and toss the pad aside. I tell them to fold up the page and put it in their pocket. “By the end of the night, I will figure out what that word is. Don’t fight me on it, but also don’t let the word slip. Actually, the first thing I want you to do is recite the alphabet for me.” Blah, blah, blah. You see, I’m already moving on to something not “pad related.” The pad is outside of the purview of the experience almost immediately.

As the night goes on and I engage the person with a few more processes or questions designed to tease out the word they’re thinking, the memory of the pad will fade even further into the background.

Yes, at some point in the evening, I will need to be alone with that pad for a couple seconds, but it shouldn’t be that hard to find an opportunity for that. And when I do eventually reveal the word, the pad will have been in play for less than 1% of the time since the effect started. In all likelihood it will be mostly forgotten. And that’s the ultimate goal for any impression pad based effect.