Mailbag #83
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Years ago Ian Rowland released a humorous “influence” trick that I often perform. I don’t recall the original title, but the effect goes like this. You show eight cards one by one, which you claim have been painstakingly chosen to influence the spectator’s choice of one of them. As you show them, you comment on the appeal of each. “There’s the Ace of Spades, which is the first card many people name when asked to name a card. Very popular choice. But also has dark associations, which is why many avoid choosing it. Or perhaps you’ll choose the Seven of Clubs, which is attractive to those who think it’s a lucky number. Or maybe you were born in July, the 7th month. The Joker represents the inner trickster, or the wild side of one’s personality and may be especially appealing as it can be a wild card in many games and assume many identities. Just as you do from time to time. Then there’s the Queen of Hearts, the feminine principle, the anima, the goddess….” And so forth. Each comment suggests why that card may be appealing, but perhaps reverse psychology is at play, and they are being influenced NOT to select that card.
After all the cards have been shown (including the Three of Diamonds which has the words “Don’t Pick Me” written across the face), the participant makes his choice by sliding the chosen card out of a face-up ribbon spread. You then gather the remaining cards and show the backs. Each non-chosen card is seen to have a red back with a large X drawn from corner to corner. Now the selected card is turned over. It is a blue-backed card with no X.
[Andy’s Note: I believe the effect is called Persuasion and is in the January 2004 issue of Genii. All digital back issues of Genii are available with a $35/year digital subscription.]
As for the reveal, I ask why they chose that card, and comment on their response. Then I say something like, “That felt like a free choice, right? You could have taken the Queen or the Seven. But you went for the King of Diamonds. That’s what’s amazing about the influence of these cards. You may not feel it directly—but it’s there. Or maybe it’s the influence of what I said. Or maybe these factors had no influence on you whatsoever. Maybe it’s all BS. But then, how do you explain this?” And then the reveal.
Your thoughts? Or not. —AK
I like that. It sounds like a fun routine.
This brings up an important distinction I haven’t mentioned in the influence posts this month…
The routine described in the email above is one where “influence” is the stated premise from the outset. It’s the theme of the trick. I think routines such as this come off as relatively benign for the vast majority of spectators. In this situation, the influence is set up almost as a game.
The influence effects that I think sometimes come off poorly is when influence is the surprise (supposed) methodological revelation at the end of the trick. “I didn’t really read your mind. I actually influenced you to think of the 3 of Diamonds!”
Think of how that can come across to some people. We’re enjoying a pleasantly fictional experience of “mind reading” or “coincidence” or whatever the case may be. Then at the end, I say, “Aha! What actually happened was that I manipulated your mind!” I think it’s understandable why many laypeople (not magicians) will hear that and be turned off by it. Whether they think it’s what really happened. Or just that you want them to believe that’s what happened.
It’s different when influence is the stated premise at the beginning of an effect.
Think of it this way. Imagine I had a trick where a ring disappears from a ring box. We put the ring in the ring box and I tell you to go home and put it on your kitchen table. Then I tell you to make sure all your doors and windows are locked and that there’s no way anybody could get in the house because at some point tonight I’m going to find a way to invisibly sneak my way into your house and steal the ring out of the ring box.
You wake up the next morning. All the windows and doors are still locked tightly, but the ring is gone. You probably wouldn’t really think I snuck into your house. And you’d probably be fine with the whole interaction.
But what if I said, “Place this ring box on your kitchen table.” And I never mentioned locking your doors or windows. Then the next morning I said, “I’ve used my magic powers to make your ring disappear.” Then, after you checked that it was gone, I said, “Actually, what I really did was sneak into your house last night and remove the ring while you were sleeping.”
You might feel like that was a violation. You might be unsettled that I would do that, or that I would apparently want you to think I would do that. Either way, it would be odd.
That how’s the “surprise” influence reveal can come across. Except instead of it being their house that you invaded without warning, it’s their brain.
Some years back I performed Michael Murray's "Sublime Influence Evolution" for my wife. (You have mentioned and recommended it some time ago, so I assume you know what it's about.) […]
After the ending of the effect, she was impressed and surprised, but she also seemed a bit unhappy. Normally, she is laughing and having a lot of fun with magic tricks, but this time she was just "fooled".
When I asked her about it later, she told me that she is generally concerned about being easy to manipulate. So me manipulating her in such a strong way did not feel good. […]
So since then I have been thinking a lot about whether I was doing something wrong or maybe she a bit sensitive in this area. Or could all those mentalists be wrong? Derren Brown bases his whole professional personality on "I influence you to think about a red bike". People still seem to enjoy it.—SM
Yes, your wife may be a bit sensitive in this area, but that’s not an uncommon thing. I’ve seen many people (usually women, but I tend to perform more for women) who enjoy all types of magic/mentalism, and joyously engage with the tricks and presentations, but who then get withdrawn or guarded when seeing a trick where someone supposedly “influenced” them.
Derren Brown bases his whole professional personality on "I influence you to think about a red bike". People still seem to enjoy it.
For the participant, this goes back to last Tuesday’s post on the Bombardment Principle.
And keep in mind, that unlike you or I, Derren Brown is claiming to influence one person, but millions of people are watching.
It’s definitely interesting to watch other people getting influenced. Whether you think it’s real or think there’s a trick behind it.
But for an amateur, performing socially, your “audience” and the person being “influenced” are often one and the same. So if they do have a weird reaction to claims of influence, then you’re potentially alienating your whole audience for the sake of no one else, because no one else is watching.
Coming up later this week: two reframes that take the word “influence” completely out of these types of tricks.