The Q&A (“Question & Answer) act is a time-honored mentalism staple, one that’s been a fixture in many top performers’ acts. Dunninger, Kreskin, Banachek, Derren Brown, and countless [nameless] others have used this powerful format to surprise and delight their audiences. (The links associated with the names above showcase YouTube performances of their Q&A acts). Even if you’re not interested in the specific topic, bear with me - I promise it will be relevant to you regardless of your choice in the magic you perform.
In case you don’t know what this type of act is, allow me to briefly explain. In the traditional Q&A, audience members write questions for which they want answers or information that couldn’t possibly be known by the performer. The mentalist then divines those questions and provides witty, insightful, and interesting answers or divulges the details of the audience’s writings. If you watch some of the clips I linked above, that’s generally what you’ll see.
This is a dynamite portion of a mentalism show, and many consider it to be the greatest effect you can do in the mindreading realm. Tony Corinda had this to say about the Q&A in his famous 13 Steps to Mentalism:
“Millions of pounds and dollars have been made by people who have acquired the knack of telling others what they want to know. Mindreaders and Mediums have spent a lot of time and study on the psychology of answering questions that are put to them by members of the public, who, supposing that the mindreader is gifted with some divine insight, presume he has the ability to foretell the future and see the past and present.”
You can see why it’s easy to get excited about performing a blockbuster routine like this. But for the average performer like me, it becomes overwhelming when you try to source a version you can use. So many creators have published their own edition with unique benefits and drawbacks. But in spite of the difficulty to determine a version, it’s just too powerful a tool to skip out on. So we need a way to find the right fit for us.
Which brings us to how this applies to you, even if you have no intention of ever performing the Q&A. The process I’ve gone through to determine the version that will work for me will also help you. Here’s an outline of what I do to make these types of decisions:
Do research on what versions exist
Make a note of sources you come across in you own inventory (books, videos, pamphlets, etc.)
Check Denis Behr’s Conjuring Archive for the category of your effect to find other resources that you may not know about or may be able to track down during this phase.
Define your use case and start a list of what’s important in the version you want to perform.
Do you have any venue constraints?
What about limitations you’re placing on the effect due to pocket space, access to the environment ahead of time, or rules you set for yourself?
Start to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each effect
Categorize those qualities, if possible
Create a matrix on a spreadsheet or piece of paper that shows these aspects at a glance
Compare the versions based on the list you’ve created and choose the one that looks like it will work for you
Put the effort in to practice the routine, then put it in front of an audience
Record yourself (audio or video) performing the routine, and assess what went well and what needs more work
Revisit the list you compiled as necessary to draw inspiration or make changes to your routine as you get feedback from your audience.
This is a simplified version, but this is indeed what you have to do if you want to find “the best” version of something. BTW, if you want my matrix from the Q&A, I’ll be offering it behind the paywall at the end of next week’s write-up, so don’t miss it - subscribe below!
Lessons from Barrie
Last week, I mentioned meeting your heroes, and I spoke briefly of one of my heroes - Barrie Richardson.
This week, I was working on my script and staging for a new piece in my act, based on his excellent “Dollar Divination” from Theater of the Mind, p. 16 (link to my review of the book). The trick’s title is more or less self-explanatory: the performer divines the serial number of a borrowed bill, but does so in a big way. The trick is a masterclass in subtlety and how to structure a piece of mentalism as theater that will play to any size crowd.
I’m not planning to share my routine here, but I did want to point out a few things from Barrie’s write-up that really hit home and are worth noting.
The first was in the introduction. Barrie exclaims that this is one of his favorite effects, and yet he contributed it to the magic world at least 3 times!
“Dollar Divination” - Pabular (Vol. 7, No. 5, August 1982)
“Daring Digital Divination” - The Linking Ring (Vol. 77, No. 2, February 1997 - if you’re an IBM member, you have access to read this via the Ask Alexander portal)
“Currency Divination” - Club 71 (Issue 97, Easter 1998)
I think this is simply evidence of his incredible generosity. He performed it in many, many situations all around the country, and he knew that it would not only serve him well, it would also serve us well. I’m happy to report that I often see that same spirit of generosity exhibited by others in the magic community - happily sharing what we’re learning with each other. Never let that spirit die!
The second point that stood out to me is at the end of the write-up in Theater of the Mind. There, Professor Richardson discusses alternatives to his own handling, and some of the shortcomings pointed out by other performers. He acknowledges that it’s fine to experiment with other methods, but issues a dire warning:
“…no matter what method you use, do not make the mistake of having a spectator mark the bill. The process smacks of a magic trick and breaks the mood of the demonstration.”
And therein lies the wisdom of Dr. Richardson’s advice. How often do we turn a miracle into a magic trick (and I’m not just talking about mentalism!)? In an effort to prove that there’s no trickery, we end up putting a question in our audience’s head and grinding the action to a halt in the process.
Revisiting EDC Mentalism
Finding a suitable EDC (or Everyday Carry) piece for mentalism is sometimes a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be when you have resources like this newsletter! Read on to find out what one of my favorite moments of anytime/anywhere mentalism is.
This came up recently because I was visiting my former IBM Ring (Ring 63 in Greenville, SC). The meeting’s theme was “On the go Magic, what’s your go-to-trick when you’re out and about?” I wasn’t really prepared for it since I decided last-minute to attend, but I was able to share something from Gabriel Werlen’s Green Neck System book.
The principle in this book is an outgrowth of Bob Hummer’s “Mathematical 3 Card Monte” (click here for variations of Hummer’s trick published in the magical literature), and it gives you a very flexible system you can use in an assortment of situations, depending on how deep you want to go. It goes further that the original Hummer idea and offers advantages that simply aren’t possible in the initial publication.
The Green Neck System allows the performer to divine a thought-of object after introducing three items, allowing a free choice, and permitting your participant to mix the objects.
The book teaches the basic (and easily remembered, I’ll add!) system, then expands on that with 13 routines - here are a few examples:
Dinner-table multi-phase mentalism
A psychometry routine over the phone with a drawing reveal at the end
Russian roulette with three drinks (one is bleached)
A bank night chair test prediction extravaganza
If you don’t already know this principle, I think it’s worth your time to study. While you can use it in impromptu situations, it works just as easily over the phone or via Zoom. It helped me recently, and I’m betting you’ll put it to good use, too. In case you have more questions and haven’t already seen my review of this book, here it is.
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