Mailbag #124
/[Re: The Delayed ESP post]
After the person chooses an esp shape, you can tell them to look for things that are that same shape during the day.
Then, when you are reading their mind, you can ask them to send you the image(s) they saw during the day.
This way, instead of reading their mind to learn an essentially random shape, you’re reading their memory of what they saw, and you can also see it, well enough to get the basic shape.—PM
You could definitely do it like that, but it might be of limited effectiveness because in the end you can’t actually tell them the objects they’re thinking of. You’re still just revealing the shape. And I think they might be expecting you to say what they saw earlier in the day.
Instead of using “real objects” as part of the set-up, it would probably be stronger to use them as part of the reveal.
You talk about how they’ve been focusing on their shape all day, and in particular how to transmit that shape to someone else.
You then take their hand or have them rest their hand on your shoulder and you’re “guided” to different objects in the room, which turn out to be the shape they had in mind.
This would be super straightforward with a circle or square.
The plus sign could be “found” in any two intersecting lines you find.
Wavy lines might be tricky, as you won’t find exact representations of that in most places. But that imagery could be found in the drapes, or anything fabric. Or in anything liquid in the room. Or let them guide you to the fridge where you pull out a package of bacon.
The star could be difficult if there’s nothing star-themed in the room. Here’s what I would do. I would let their mind guide me to different objects all over the room. And I would act like I don’t get understand why I’m being drawn to those objects. A soda can. A picture on the wall. A book on the shelf. The door. A birdcage. Again, I’m drawn to those objects. And again. Soda can, picture, book, door, birdcage.
Ah! Then it hits me. I’ve essentially mapped out the shape of a star on the floor by walking from object to object in the pattern I’ve been guided.
In [this post] you wrote about having a “small display” of decks in your house. What constitutes a “small display” in your mind? Is there a minimum or maximum you shoot for?—SL
Hmm… I don’t know that it’s that important generally.
But personally I’ve made a change to my deck display in recent years. I used to display all my decks (like, all my ungimmicked decks, I mean). But now I’ve cut that down to about a dozen or so decks.
Why?
Well, when I had 70 or 80 decks on display, it was because I wanted people to notice them and be drawn to them, which would naturally allow me to transition into an effect.
But I asked myself if I would have such a large display if I didn’t want to use it to transition into a trick, and the answer was “No.” Large collections of objects aren’t really my thing. It suggests a sort of obsession that I don’t really feel for objects.
A small display of a dozen or so decks will still draw people’s attention. But I feel like it implies a relatable level of interest.
Most guys probably have one bottle of cologne. I have a half-dozen or so. So you might say, “Oh, this guy likes cologne.” But if I had 50 bottles, that might come off as “weird cologne guy.”
A dozen decks represents a slightly outsized interest in playing cards without seeming goofy.
Of those dozen decks, half are normal decks (some of which are stacked in some manner) and the other half are decks that are unusual in some way (e.g., they’re not typical playing cards, or they’re playing cards that supposedly have some strange history, or something like that). This is the other benefit of a smaller deck display. It allows me to more easily funnel them towards a deck I want to do something with than if I just had these dozen decks mixed in with 50 other normal ones.