Dustings #104

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I was reminded recently of this trick by Pit Hartling. It’s a card calling routine where he drinks orange juice to imbue himself with a super-powered memory.

The book this routine was published in came out over 20 years ago. I think it’s a good example of “early Imp technology.”

As J.S. wrote in an email recently: “I'm sure people ask for his orange juice trick, not his card calling trick.”

I bet that’s true. As I said in Tuesday’s post, the Imp is usually the most memorable part of an effect to non-magicians.

But, this is also an example of what I referred to on Tuesday as a Weak Imp, because he never suggests why drinking orange juice makes his memory good. If there was more of a story there, more of a connection there, it would be stronger. As of now, it’s just kind of arbitrary. Which is why, if you had asked me about it, I would have remembered Pit’s OJ trick as a thing that existed, but I wouldn’t have remembered the premise at all (a memory demonstration).

Here’s the tweak I would make if I wanted to drink O.J. on stage and do a memory demonstration.

“Do you know how they say an elephant never forgets? Well, there’s some truth to that. Elephants have an extremely large cerebral cortex. And they’re able to recall people they encountered decades earlier. And, in some cultures, elephant semen is known for its memory strengthening capabilities. And uh… I have to tell you… it works. I’ve been drinking a liter a day. And… I mean… yes… it’s fucking disgusting… even just procuring it is… soul-crushing… but it works! I’ll show you. I have some here. I mix it with orange juice to mask the taste a little. The no-pulp kind. The semen itself already has a bit of a… chew to it.” 🤢

One thing I didn’t hit on during Monday’s mailbag post about Xeno is that I think the best Xeno sites are the ones that have a reason for existing that is not already addressed by other sites online.

For example, I wanted a Xeno site for ESP symbols. Now, the easiest way to show someone the ESP symbols online would be to tell them to do a google search or wikipdia search. Not go to a specific site. So I created a site that’s about how to mentally send the ESP images. This isn’t something that can be found just anywhere, so it makes sense to direct them to that specific site.

Similarly, the site used in the trick Big Data vs Holistic Mind-Reading, is one that the spectator would have to visit in order to tell the story that goes along with the trick.

I think you can get into trouble if you’re like, “Hey, I’d like you to think of a band. Go to this random webpage with bands on it.” That can raise suspicion. Why do I need to go to a website? Why this website? etc.

So if you’re going to create a Xeno site, try to create one with information that can’t just be found somewhere else online or in the spectator’s own head.

For example, if the subject you wanted to use was bands, then maybe a site created by a guy who surveyed band’s fan bases to find the band’s most beloved song. So here is a site of 100 bands/songs. “So find a band you like. And one where you agree that the song listed is one of their best.” blah, blah, blah. The point being, this explains why you’re directing them to this particular site.

Here are some ideas on the Damsel Cull Force (version 3) from G. Dabat. For me, the most valuable idea in the video below is—when forcing two cards—giving them the option of if they’d like the two cards above the card they inserted, the two cards below, or one on either side of the card.