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MIRROR by MATT MELLO
Artwork designed by Brian Rodgers Mental Playground Productions
© 2009 MATT MELLO
INTRODUCTION I first started playing around with this effect sometime in 2005, I believe. It began as a very intricate routine and very slowly changed into “Mirror”. To give you a bit of history, this effect was highly inspired from an effect I saw Derren Brown perform on one of his “Trick of the Mind” shows. I believe it was from the first episode. He says something to the likes of “10p, learn to be a mind reader”. I immediately thought this was such a brilliant and funny idea. But, I thought it would have be even better if he had somehow incorporated the money that he had just taken from the spectator. My initial idea was this. He would put the bill into his pocket not really drawing to much attention to it. He would have the spectator think of a number. At the end he would remove the bill that the spectator had given him and the first two numbers of the serial number would be the number he named. That effect is what you accomplish with Mirror. The way the effect sounds above is exactly what it looks like to the spectator. They hand you a bill, they choose a number, the bill is removed, and you show the first two digits of the serial number to be the number they just selected. It really is a very clean effect and I hope you enjoy it. Matt Mello
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PRESENTATION Performer: “If I told you that I could teach you to read minds for only a dollar would you take me up on the offer? Just think of all the things you could do with this ability.” The spectator takes you up on the offer and hands you a dollar. You slowly start to fold it up, then place it into your pocket. Performer: “Do you know anything at all about mind reading?” The spectator answers that she has no clue and has never taken part in any sort of mind reading before. Performer: “It’s a very simple concept. All you have to do is put yourself into the other persons position. You are basically going to look through the other persons eyes. It will almost seem like you’re looking into a mirror. You’re looking from their eyes and you’re seeing yourself. Does this make any sense?” The spectator will be slightly confused, but goes along with it anyways. Performer: “Once you feel like you are genuinely in tune with the other person you can begin to get inside their heads. Let’s try it out. I’m just going to think of a two digit number and you’ll try and guess it. Once again, try to see from my perspective. Just hold both your hands out in front of you. In a moment I want you to lower any amount of fingers on your right hand.” The performer tells the spectator to drop any amount and she drops two fingers. This leaves her with a 3 in her right hand. Performer: “Very good. We will now do the same thing with the other hand. This time I want you to drop a different amount. So you have a different number on each hand.” Once again the performer tells her to go and she drops only one finger this time. Which now leaves her with a 4 in her left hand.
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Performer: “Very good. Now, you remember me telling you how you we’re supposed to look through my perspective. Did you actually do that?” The spectator will usually say yes that she tried. Performer: “Well, looking from my perspective right now, you’ve very clearly made the number 34. If you decided to drop one more or one less on either hand we would have a completely different number. Now, do you want to know the particularly freaky thing about the number you just chose?” The spectator is of course very interested in why she chose the number 34. Performer: “It’s particularly freaky that you picked the number 34, because that’s the number I was thinking of. Seriously, you’re amazing. Give yourself a pat on the back. That’s one dollar well spent.” The spectator clearly doesn’t believe you so you try to explain yourself. Performer: “Okay, I can see that you are clearly upset by this. So, I’ll give you a refund.” The performer now goes into his pocket and removes the bill the spectator gave him in the very beginning. Performer: “It’s really a shame that you don’t believe me. I really was thinking of the number 34. What if I could prove it to you?” The spectator once again becomes slightly interested. Performer: “What if I told you that I didn’t actually think of number 34 by myself. But, I actually read it off the bill that you gave me in the beginning. Open the bill and have a look at the first two digits of the serial number.” The spectator now opens the bill and reads the first two digits aloud. 34.
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METHOD So there you have it. The effect really is that clean in actual performance. I’m going to now take you through everything you’ll need to know to start performing this immediately. We’ll start with the selection of the number. This is something that I saw on Banachek’s PSI Series. On volume 2, he has an effect called Phone Psychs. In that effect he has a page selected using number elimination involving your hands. Basically, the spectator would bring up any amount of fingers on each hand and then they would open to that page number in a phone book. The only problem with this, was that at the end of the selection process you had 15 different possible outcomes. For instance, if you held up 1 finger on your left hand and 1 on your right hand, you would get the number 11. If you held up 2 on each hand. You would get 22. 1 and 2 would make 12. 1 and 3 would make 13. All the way up to 55. This once again, gives you 15 outcomes altogether. They are 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 33, 34, 35, 44, 45, and 55. So, I took that concept and I slowly started to make it smaller. The first thing I did was this. Rather than having them hold up any amount of fingers. I would have them start out with both hands showing a 5. I would then have them lower any amount of fingers on one hand. And the lower any amount on the other. With this sort of setup, it automatically gets rid of any number with a 5 in it. So, your choices are now 11, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23, 24, 33, 34, 44. Next thing I did was I got rid of the option of having both numbers being the same by saying, “Drop a DIFFERENT amount of fingers on the other hand.” So, that now gets rid of 11, 22, 33, and 44. Which leaves us with only 6 possible outcomes of 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, and 34. Right now, you might be asking yourself “Well, what if they put up a 4 on their right hand and a 3 on their left hand? Wouldn’t that make it 43 instead of 34?” The correct answer would be yes. But, you are going to control the way the number is called. So, no matter what, when you see the numbers 3 and 4 held up, it will ALWAYS be 34. This is something that I didn’t like from the original concept. It just didn’t look right when the numbers were backwards and he called them off in the opposite order to make them fit. Which is why I created the “look through the other persons eyes” presentation. So, if the 6
number happens to come out in the correct orientation. Figure 1. Then you simply say “Ok, now I told you to look from my perspective. I can see you’ve decided on 23.” If it comes up in the opposite direction like Figure 2, then you say the following. “Ok, so looking at your hands right now. What is the number you see?” They will have the two on the left and the three on the right. So they will say 23. So either way you get the number 23. So, you’re either calling it from your perspective. Or, they are calling it from their perspective. Either way you always get one of the six possible outcomes.
So, that pretty much covers the number selection. Just a quick recap. They start out with their hands up in front of them with all 5 fingers up on each hand. You have them drop a certain amount on one hand, then a different amount on the other hand. This will always leave you in a position to get either 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, or 34. You just have to look at their hands and figure out which way the number needs to be called out. Now, that you know how to narrow down the selection to those 6 numbers. I’ll take you through how you make the numbers on the serial number match the bill that they give you. It is very simple. But, it will take a bit of searching. Basically you need to find 6 bills with serial numbers that start with the numbers you need. So, you will need serial numbers that look like this…. 12XXXXXX 13XXXXXX 14XXXXXX 23XXXXXX 24XXXXXX 34XXXXXX 7
I perform in restaurants so it only took me a day to find all the bills that I needed. But, for regular hobbyists, or people who don’t perform in restaurants it will be a bit harder to find all of them. I’ll provide an alternate handling at the end so you won’t have to find them. I just think the serial number reveal is the most hard hitting. So, now we will get into how you are switching in one of these pre-arranged bills for the bill that the spectator gives you. The answer I came up with was a pocket index. But, I use something that I’ve never seen another magician use. This pocket index will be made out of a pack of gum. Figure 3.
It’s important to get a pack that has at least 15 sticks like the one above. This will make finding the correct bill easier. Once you’ve gotten the pack, you’re going to remove the top and remove all the pieces of gum. Be sure to leave the white sleeves. You should end up with something like Figure 4.
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As you can see, those white sleeves that normally hold the gum in place now act as a perfect impromptu pocket index. I will usually take a pair of scissors and cut it at and angle to make finding the bill slightly easier. Figure 5.
I’ll now show you how to fold the bills. It is fairly simple. You’ll just hold the bill with the face towards you. Figure 6. You will then fold the left side over to the right side perfectly in half. You will then do it again. And again. Follow figures 7-9.
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You will fold all 6 bills in this manner. When they are folded you will add them into the gum index. Figure 10.
Because there are 15 spaces, it allows you to put one bill in for every 3 spots. This puts a small gap in between each bill which you can feel easily from the side. I should also mention that bills have to be put in a memorized order. As you can see, my cut is on an incline. I put all the lower number bills in the front. So it goes 12, then the second bill in is 13, and all the way up to the top one which is 34. I can feel the orientation of the incline in my pocket and I know which bills to remove. It’s a fairly easy thing to count to the correct bill in your pocket. Practice for a little while and you will get it down perfect every time. Now, that you know the basic workings, I’ll walk you through the entire routine. You will start out with the index setup in your right jacket or pants pocket. Left pocket if you’re left handed. You’ll start by getting a dollar from your spectator. If they are reluctant to give you a dollar just assure them that they’ll get it back. Most of the time people don’t mind giving you a dollar. So, every time you perform this effect you’ll get a dollar unless they are adamant about not giving you their precious buck. So, the spectator hands you the bill and you look over it really quickly. Just long enough so they realize that you are looking it over. When you are done you are going to fold it up the exact same way you have the bills in your index. Once its folded place it into the same pocket that holds the index. You are now going to ask them if they have ever had any experience with mind reading. You will then walk them through the “way” to do it mentioning how they are to look through your eyes and all that. Have them hold up 5 fingers on each hand 10
and then tell them to lower a certain amount of fingers on one hand, and then lower a different amount of fingers on the other. We’ll say they lower 3 fingers on their right hand and 4 fingers on their left hand. From your perspective you will see the number 21. So, you would simply have them call out the number they see. They will obviously see the number 12. You will have your hand in your pocket the entire time. As soon as you see the number 12. You can remove it from the index. I usually have it removed before I even ask them what number it is. Once they tell me I go into the lines about how its amazing because 12 was the number I was thinking of. They won’t believe you, so you offer them a refund. You take the bill out of your pocket and hand it to them. After a little build up you reveal the numbers on the bill like in the presentation. At this point I will usually say something like… “So, I think you definitely got your dollars worth. I’ll take that.” And just grab the dollar out of their hand and put it in my pocket. It’s usually a funny moment and people don’t care at this point. Alternatively you could let them keep the dollar. But, you would just have to go back and find another dollar which begins with the same two numbers that you just lost. Or, you could use one of the alternate handlings which don’t matter if the bills are given back at the end.
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ALTERNATE HANDLINGS HANDLING ONE Here are two different handlings that you can use with this effect. Instead of using the serial number I will sometimes carry a marker in my pocket. When the bill is handed to me I will remove the sharpie and pretend to draw something on the face. Saying something to the likes of “If you ever get a bill with a mustache on it, that was probably me.” This will usually get a laugh. I put the marker away and continue. Now, on the bills you have in your index, rather then having the serial numbers match I have written the correct numbers in George Washington’s forehead. Figure 11.
So, on the first bill I’ve written 12. On the next, I’ve written 13. All the way up to the last bill where I write 34 on his forehead. Now, at the end of the routine when I hand the bill back rather then having them look at the serial number I say something like: “Well, in any case your time wasn’t completely wasted. You remember when I drew something on the bill in the beginning. That Matt Mello original will be worth a lot of money one day. Check it out.” They open the bill and see that I’ve written the number they thought of on his forehead. They can now keep the bill. All you have to do now is go into a backroom and take out the original bill that they gave you. It will already be folded up. All you have to do is unfold it and write in the number that you just lost. Place it back in the index and you’re good to go. 12
HANDLING TWO This is the handling that I think a lot of people will enjoy and probably use more then the original routine. It doesn’t go into the whole “learn to be a mind reader for a dollar” bit, but the routine is very fun and engaging for your audience. It’s essentially a “drawing duplication/prediction” done with dollar bills. You begin by asking this question. “Have you ever gotten a dollar bill and found that old George had an unexpected mustache drawn on his face?” Everyone will agree that they’ve had a bill like this and it will usually get a laugh because of how you word it. Once they say they have I usually say… “Yea that was me. I drew it. And I knew you would find it and make your way to me eventually. But in all honestly I do usually doodle random things on my bills.” I now remove a bill from my pocket and show that it hasn’t been defaced yet. I now turn the bill towards myself and make a drawing. While this is happening I ask a spectator to remove a dollar bill. When I am finished with my drawing I place the bill back into my pocket. I now talk about my most famous pieces. “I usually draw one of six things. Never a combination. It will either be a mustache, a beard, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, an eye patch over one eye, a hat, or I’ll put a tie on him. So, with your bill I’d like you to choose one of those 6 things. Only one. And then draw it on your bill.” The spectator chooses to draw on an eye patch. You remove your bill from your pocket and show that you’ve also drawn an eye patch. The method to this should be very simple. Basically I have 6 bills and each one has a different drawing. So, one bill has a mustache drawn on, another has a beard, and so on all the way up to the tie. I usually like to put them in order of height on the head. So hat would go at the top. Then glasses (I draw them on his forehead flipped up). Then eye patch. Then mustache. Then below that is the beard. And finally below that is the tie. So you can see how they go in order. So, put them into your index in that order and you are good 13
to go. Throw an extra “normal” bill into your pocket as well. You will remove this from your pocket and show it to everyone. They will see that nothing has been drawn on it yet. I now turn it to myself and pretend to draw something. I’m really just running my finger along the bill to make sounds. While I’m doing this I have the spectator remove a dollar. I fold my bill up and place it back into my pocket. I now walk them through everything that they can draw. Hat, glasses, eye patch, mustache, beard, and tie. They draw whichever one they want. You simply watch as they draw it. When they are finished you go into your pocket and remove the appropriate bill from the index and your all set. When you’re done go in the back and put the bill back in.
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ADDITIONAL IDEAS • You could always find bills with the numbers you need that are anywhere in the serial number. For instance if its, xxxxx12x. You could grab a pen and just circle those two numbers. Do this to all the bills that you find the numbers on. So, now you have a bunch of bills with the numbers printed in the serial number, it just isn’t the first two numbers. But, it will make finding the bills much easier. So, when they hand you their bill in the very beginning, you would take out your pen and just make a fake circle on their bill. Fold it and put it in your pocket. Then simply remove the needed bill after you’ve learned the number. • Another thing is more of a presentation idea. Rather then facing the spectator when they are doing the number selection, face your back to them. This way it looks even more like you couldn’t have influenced their choice. You simply turn away and have them hold both their hands up. Tell them to lower any amount of fingers on their left hand. Ask them when they are finished. Say “There’s no way I could know how many fingers you’ve dropped yes?” You will automatically get a yes. You then tell them to drop a different amount of fingers on the other hand. They do this. You now turn around and go into the same thing of either calling it “from your perspective” or simply having the spectator call out the number they see. Once again, the only choices will be 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34.
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CREDITS As previously mentioned, Banachek’s number concept from PSI Series was a big influence on the number process that I use. I just took what he started and slowly whittled out some of the numbers to take it from a possible 15 outcomes down to only 6. I’ve never seen anyone use a pack of gum as a pocket index. So as far as I know that idea is original to me. Alternatively, you could use this idea for anything. You don’t have to use it for bills. You could just as easily use it as a billet index. You could load in more with billets as they would be thinner and take up less room in the index. Just different things to think about. As for the actual routine, Derren’s “Learn to be a mind reader” bit was a big step in creating this effect. It was basically created on what I thought Derren was going to do. I haven’t seen an effect like this released before. There have been plenty of serial number revelations and predictions, but I’ve never seen a spectator guess it. If there is anyone that I am forgetting please feel free to contact me at
[email protected] with any additional information. Matt Mello
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