Marko - The Great Eyeless Vision Act

The Great Eyeless Vision Act
By
Marko
This act has produced many bookings for the author.
Worth many $$$$$ to the working performer!
I am going to explain to you, step by step, one of the most effective and
practical tricks you can do, namely, the X-Ray, Blindfold or Seeing With the
Fingertips Act. This is a trick that can work real wonders for your act as it
has done for mine. This has been my finale for about five years now (I am
writing this in 1994) and I have polished and developed it throughout that
time, constantly adding new touches. I am giving you all the details here, so
that you too may enjoy success with it.
First let me tell you that you don't have to be a so called mentalist to
perform this in your act. Even though it is very strong in effect, it's still a
trick, just like the Egg Bag or the Cut and Restored Rope. In fact, I perform
this as the finale of my act in which I previously perform the above two
tricks! Many will think this is heresy as traditional thinking forbids mixing
magic (and articularly this kind of magic!) with mentalism but not only it can
be done but I have found from experience that it is most effective.
You too can mix magic and mental tricks and in doing so place yourself in
the company of the likes of Pinetti, Robert-Houdin, Herrmann, Kellar, Carter
the Great, Dunninger, Copperfield.... nice company, isn't it? So take out of
your mind the notion that if you do a magic act you can't include mental
type tricks. Mental tricks need not be that different or special. They just
show another of the magician's "powers": that which allows him to divine
facts as opposed to those which allow him to cut and restore a rope or make
an egg appear and disappear. Of course there is a difference in quality of
effect, that's why the Blindfold trick is the finale of my act!
There is something else. I don't believe in the supposed extra sensory
powers of the mind. I know that many people believe in these things and
this belief costs them time and money. Because of this I decided a long time
ago not to foster the belief in the so called paranormal and deleted from my
patter all references to the mind, telepathy, ESP, precognition, and all like
terms. Furthermore, I don't act as though I'm concentrating or exerting any
kind of psychic force. This in no way lessens the impact of this or other
mental tricks I have included in my act from time to time. On the contrary, I
believe that by taking out all these terms and histrionics my presentation of
the Blindfold Trick has developed along more effective lines, as you will see.
Okay, now you know how I stand on the ethics of this matter. Of course you
can do as you wish.
Let's begin then with the matter at hand which is the explanation of the
Blindfold Trick. I use the best known of the different methods for this trick:
the downward peek and since the method is the least important part I'll take
care of it at once.
http://www.magic4you.co.uk/books/blindfld/001.html (1 of 18) [6/2/2002 9:05:12 AM]
First you need a blindfold. The drawings show you how to make one just like
mine, which is not faked in any way. It is a simple sewing project. Next
you'll need a roll of 2" wide and a roll of 1" wide surgical tape. You can buy
this in any drug store. They have flesh color and white. Buy white. You also
need two half-dollars size coins.
From the 1" tape cut two pieces about 3 1/2" long. From the 2" tape cut one
piece about 7" long. Stick one coin in the center of one of the smaller pieces
of tape and closing your right eye, stick the coin over it in a slanted position
just like drawing 1 shows. Now stick the other coin in the center of the other
small piece and closing your left eye, stick it over this eye the same as you
did with the other. Drawing 2 shows how you should look.
Now take the wider piece of tape and stick it horizontally over your eyes just
like drawing 3 shows. When doing this, close your eyes tightly and press the
tape over your brow so it sticks there good. Of course you also press this
tape all over so it sticks perfectly to your face. The most important place it
must stick is both sides of your nose so that there are no holes in any of
these sides.
At this moment you can't see anything (mainly because you have your eyes
closed! Before putting the blindfold on top of everything, open your eyes and
exert a little force with your brows and the tape will unfasten from the sides
of your nose and you will have a clear view downwards. Now you can put on
the blindfold and as long as you don't put it way down, it won't have the
least effect on your downward peek.
Practice this a few times so you can get the hang of it. Then have some
relative blindfold you some more times. You will find that this is so easy it's
ridiculous. Just as it's impossible to tie somebody with a long rope and not
leave some slack here and there, it is also impossible to blindfold you so you
can't peek along the nose.
I should say "almost impossible" as once, in one my first public
performances of this trick, I was blindfolded in the way I have explained to
you and I couldn't see a thing. That is why I told you to check if you can
peek before you have them put the blindfold on top of everything. I always
did it from the very first time I began performing this and since I had
anticipated this could happen I was ready with a solution which consisted
simply in asking for the blindfold, taking it with both hands as shown in
drawing 4 and putting it on myself. Note where my thumbs are in this
drawing. Lower your head a little and when you put on the blindfold as
shown in drawing 5, both your thumbs go under the tape at both sides of
your nose and unstick them a little. The moment you do this, move our
hands to the back of the blindfold and straighten your head so nobody thinks
you are cheating which is what you just did. It must be the work of an
instant. Now have the blindfold fastened at the back and you can begin to
wow them.
There is another problem you will find the first times you do this: your eyes
will tire and your vision will blur. This will mostly happen when in public and
I suppose that the natural stress of being before an audience may worsen
this condition. The only thing you can do is, as they say, practice, practice,
practice. Put on the coins, tapes and blindfold at home and wear them for
longer periods of time each day until your eyes get so used to this that you
won't have this problem any more.
Those of you who wear a moustache may have some trouble with this,
depending on the bulk of the moustache. I don't know but I suppose it could
pose a problem if it's too bushy.
If you wear glasses you will have to take them off to do this, of course. This
is one problem I had but I changed to contact lenses and that was the
solution. Using contact lenses you can peek perfectly downwards without any
problem.
The last problem I will talk you about is your eyebrows. When you finish
doing this trick you'll have to take off the tapes. You can also take off half of
your eyebrows. The way to take off the tapes is to do it s-l-o-w-l-y. You'll
always take off some hairs but not quite as much as if you pulled the tapes
fast. Besides, there is a kind of knack I can't explain to taking off the tapes
which you'll get once you have done it a few times.
Okay, now you know everything there is to know about the technical side of
this trick. Now we'll pass on to explain the presentation which is the most
important part.
Props:
Besides the blindfold, the coins
and the pieces of tape you'll
need a metal tray big enough
so you can stick the tapes to it
and place the blindfold on it.
Also you'll need a felt marker
and a big drawing pad. Draw a
line accross the middle of the
first page of the pad and place
an "X" on the top section
(drawing 6). The tray looks like
drawing 7 when everything
(except the big pad, of course) is on it. This is one of the features that
makes this trick so practical: the preparation is simple and everything goes
on a little metal tray. You can place the big pad on a chair and the tray on
top.
Performance:
Ask for a lady and a gentleman to come on stage. In my case they are
already there from a previous trick. I just ask them to stay with me for five
more minutes. This is a lie as the blindfold trick takes more time but if I ask
them for just five minutes they'll say yes. They are both at my left side, the
man nearest to me.
Now I'll begin putting my patter in italics.
"I'm going to finish my performance with something completely different
from what I have shown you so far. Please, notice something very
important: In a moment, all the things I'll be using in this demonstration will
be in the hands of these two persons from the audience. They can examine
everything and if there is some kind of trick they'll surely find it."
Take the pad and show it to the audience.
"However, my first instructions are for ail of you. In a moment, Henry here
will go back to his seat and he will take with him this pad and a felt marker I
want you to notice that the pad is divided in two sections by this line across
the middle. Henry will approach somebody, anybody in this audience and
what I want that person to do is just take the felt marker and write his or
her signature on this top section of the pad; the one marked with the X.
Now, I don't want you to write a small signature. What I want you to do is
write it very big. If it is possible I want it to take all this top space so even
the nearsighted grandmother in the last row can see it clearly! Henry, please
take this pad and this marker and place them near the stairs so you can pick
them up when I tell you. Meanwhile stay with us up here."
When you tell the audience how big the signature should be written, you
gesture with your finger on the pad so they understand clearly what you
want them to do. Take the blindfold and give it to the man.
"I have here a blindfold. Please examine it. You can feel it with your fingers.
Is it made of several layers of very thick material? Yes? Can you feel any
kind of mechanism inside it? Please pull on the ribbons. Do they come off do
something suspicious? Examine the seams. Do they come apart or open
anywhere? Okay. Now the true test. Put the blindfold over your eyes and
look at that bright light over there. Can you see anything through the
blindfold? You can't! Do something else. Turn the blindfold around and look
through the other side. Maybe somebody could think this is some kind of
special material you can see through from one side and not the other! Can
you see anything through this other side? Of course you can't. Please pass
the blindfold to Helen and would you please, test and examine that blindfold
any way you see fit."
It is very important that when you have the spectator put the blindfold over
his eyes, you ask him if he can see anything through the blindfold. If you
only asked him if he could see anything he could answer yes because he will
be seeing downwards! Please, remember this. On with the patter.
"Now here I have two half dollars. Please examine them. You'll find they are
common 50 cent coins and have not been altered in any way. Pass them on
to Helen so she can also examine them. I also have some pieces of surgical
tape, the common kind you can buy in any drugstore. Here, look over this
piece. Helen, you look at this piece. And here I have this last piece of tape.
Look it over also."
At this moment, everything is in the hands of the two spectators. The tray,
which you should be holding, is empty. Show it to the audience while you
say:
"Now everything is in the hands of these two people. They have examined all
the elements I will use. If some of these things were faked, they would
surely have found out. Are you two sure you have examined everything to
your complete satisfaction? Have you found anything unusual or suspicious?
Then we shall proceed. Please give me the big piece of surgical tape. I will
stick it here to the mike stand."
Take the big piece of tape and stick it lightly to the
microphone stand as shown in drawing 8. This is so the
spectators don't have their hands full and to avoid the
danger of the tape sticking over itself or to another tape.
Now the blindfolding begins.
"Please give me the coins. Thank you. Now give me one of
the smaller pieces of tape. I'll stick one of the coins to the
center of the tape. Please, open your hand."
Show the tape with the coin stuck in the middle on the
hand of the audience and place it on the hand of the
nearest spectator. Stick the other coin to the second piece
of ta e and hold it in your hand.
"Now that both coins are stuck to the center of a piece of
tape I will stick them over my eyes, one coin over each eye
beginning with the right eye which I first close."
Close your right eye and stick the coin and tape over it. Make a great show
of sticking it firmly in place.
"Please give me the other tape and coin. This I will place over my left eye.
Henry, please, check this out. Press firmly on the tapes so they stick tightly
to my face. Go ahead. Don't be afraid, these are not your eyes! Are you
satisfied? Now, Helen, you come here. Women are better at detecting
cheating. Press over the tapes so they stick perfectly to my face. If you am
not too sure about this, you can peel off the tapes and stick them again as
you wish."
They'll always say they are satisfied with how the tapes are stuck but if
someday somebody peeled off the tapes and stuck them in place again,
there would be no problem as I could hold them in the position I wanted for
the spectator to stick them.
"Now, Henry, take the bigger tape which is hanging from the microphone
stand and stick it on top of my eyes, horizontally."
With your hands you gesture horizontally over your eyes so the spectator
knows just what he is supposed to do.
"Here you must do a perfect job. See that the tape is perfectly stuck to my
face and that you don't leave any holes. Watch out specially the sides of the
nose. I don't want anybody to think that it is possible that I could somehow
see through there. That's why we use adhesive tape, so you can stick it
firmly to my face without leaving the smallest hole. Are you finished? Helen,
come here and check this out Please, press with your hands so that the tape
sticks perfectly and firmly to my face. Are you both satisfied that I cannot
see anything? Is everyone in the audience satisfied? If there are any
skeptics, they should come up now to examine everything. Is anybody
coming?"
In the above, by boldly mentioning the possibility of seeing by the sides of
the nose, you eliminate this possibility of explanation from the mind of the
audience. Your invitation for them to check and re-check makes all seem
very, very fair. Nobody ever comes up from the audience but the open way
in which you invite anybody to come up convinces them that all is above
board. Now you turn your back on the two spectators on stage so the man
can place the blindfold over your eyes. Open your eyes to check if you can
see. You should be sideways to the audience. Once you are assured of your
downward peek you continue:
"Please, Henry, place the blindfold over my eyes and fasten it at the back.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, now that I am completely blind I'll begin
this demonstration. Henry, please take the pad and felt marker to someone
in the audience who will boldly write his or her signature. Please remember
to write it big enough. Henry, when you have the signature, please return
with it and the felt marker to your seat. Let's give Henry a hand."
I always have the man place the pad and marker near the stairs of the stage
so he can pick them up when he goes into the audience. When telling him to
pick them (in the above) I can perfectly see where they are but a subtle
touch I use is to point apparently at them while I speak but instead point to
a point a little to the side. They see this and the idea that you can't see is
further reinforced in their minds.
"Now I want you all to help me. I want everybody here to take some object
from their pockets, purse or wallet. You can take anything you want If you
hold this object in your open hand like this, I'll pass through the audience
and I'll pass my fingers over this object without touching it.... please keep
that in mind. I will not touch the objects.... but I'll try to tell you its color, its
shape, what material it's made of and I'll even try to tell you what the object
is. The only thing I ask of you is not to take out objects that are too common
like cigarettes, lighters or pens. Instead take out the most uncommon object
you have with you, something that you feel will be a challenge for me.
Helen, please grab my left wrist. Your job will be to take me through the
audience so I don't fall down and wherever you see something uncommon
that you think will be interesting, you take me there. Now help me go down
the stairs."
Here the demonstration proper begins. While she is helping you to go down
the stairs off the stage (if there is one) you close your eyes so you are really
blind. Thus you can give a passable performance of a blindfolded person
being helped down the stairs. I say passable because with time you'll get so
used to this that you could even run down the stairs with your eyes closed.
Now the woman takes you into the audience and she approaches some
object she thinks is interesting. I haven't yet talked about the microphone.
You have it in your free hand and the best is a wireless one. These are fairly
common in Spain where I live but one with a long cord is the next best
thing. You should consider having your own wireless mike which you won't
have any trouble connecting to the main system in the place you perform.
Otherwise you could could carry with you a long microphone cable and
several types of jacks or plugs to adapt to any mike you find.
When you approach an object you can see it some time before you get
there. The moment you see the object ask the assisting spectator to place
your hand over it without touching the object and you wiggle your fingers
over it and begin telling things about it. I'll go into this later. Once you know
exactly what the object is, you should turn your head away from it. This
should be done in the first few seconds when the assisting spectator is
placing your hand over the object. When you first approach any object ou
can see it before getting there. If you identify it then, the moment the
assisting spectator moves your hand towards it, turn your head away. Do
not call attention to this fact. They notice it. The idea you want to transmit is
that when you got to the object your face was pointing the opposite way.
You will be shown many kinds of objects, some really hard ones and some
easy ones that the owners think that will be hard for you. Hopefully the
patter has eliminated all silly-easy objects which would just make this trick
die. I got the idea for this by reading "The Blindfold Book" a booklet that
came with Richard Osterlind's Apex Steel Blindfold. In my opinion the best
part of this booklet is Section IV where you find the correspondence between
Fauceft Ross and Paul Fox about this trick. It is very interesting and maybe
you should read it.
On page 27 Ross mentions Dr. Tarbell's performance of this trick and how he
didn't get any "breaks" the night he saw it and the presentation was plenty
sad. He also mentions Francis Carlyle and how he also depended on "breaks"
or special circunstances or objects that could be profited upon by the
performer. If you didn't use my patter or something like it, the audience
would mostly show you silly things like cigarettes and eyeglasses but using
the words I teach you the audience feels this is a challenge and they show
you folding scissors, eye cups, condoms, fake plastic female breasts, cough
medicine, tampax, bananas! I have all these and many, many more taken
out for me to "guess".
Another very important detail is the number of objects you should "see".
Never, never do more than five. Even with all the things I'll teach you to
make this an interesting and impressive show every new object is more of
the same and they'll get bored and will begin to think that you can see.
Now I'll teach you a lot of very important details that will make this a
sensation. All of these details have come through the many repeated
performances I have done of this trick. When you approach the first object
you try to see it efore getting there. If it is fairly common you "photograph"
it in your mind and turn your head away while the girl assistant places your
hand on top of this object. By "photographing" the object I mean that you
don't try to consciously remember its color or shape or what it is but just
form a picture in your mind without using words.
Its very important that in the first two objects you don't completely get what
they are but get close enough so there is no doubt you know what you're
talking about. This is a way to build tension and the wish in the audience to
see you succeed 100%, which you'll do on the third object and there you'll
get a strong hand.
Let's suppose the first object you identify is a gold medal or locket without a
chain. You can tell them something like:
"This is something very small. I think it's made of metal, maybe silver. The
person who is holding this is the owner? You were wearing this a moment
ago, weren't you? You just took it off to test me! It's some kind of jewelry
and it has engraved on it the figure or a woman. Please show it to everybody
so they can see if I'm wrong or I'm right."
It's important you deduce things about the object you couldn't possibly know
even if you could see them. In the above example (which by the way, is very
common) the fact that the medal was without a chain almost certainly
means that the person was wearing it and took it off a moment before to
show it to you. There are some near misses like saying silver instead of gold.
This gives credibility to act.
There is another thing I call "The memory of objects". It means that there
are many, many things you know and the moment you see them you don't
have to see them anymore because you can describe the object in your
mind. For example, sometimes they show me a contact lens case. This is
usually white plastic with a couple of compartments each one with a screw
cover. This is the pocket or purse variety and since I wear contact lenses and
have one of these myself I know that it has a little heart engraved on one of
the covers so that you can put the left eye lens there. I also know that if the
person has this, he or she must surely be wearing the contact lenses and
has the case in case his or her eyes grow weary and has to remove them. In
this case the case is surely filled with special contact lens fluid. Here is more
or less how I do this object:
"I feel some kind of bottle. It is filled with some kind of liquid. I feel it's very
clear in color or even white. Somewhere, maybe in a label it has the picture
of a heart Is this true? Yes! Now I get it! It's a small plastic bottle of
sweetener! No? Don't tell me! Hmm, the liquid inside.... it's not sweet. It's
rather salty. There was something inside this bottle but now it's not inside
anymore. I think you are wearing this somewhere on your person. I don't
get it. This bottle is really strange. Now I feel two covers and one of them
has the drawing of a heart. Is this all true? Could you show the audience the
object?"
As I told you, the first two objects you don't tell what they are. You just get
close as shown in the examples and it really gets the audience wanting you
to succeed 100%. It also convinces them subtly that you can't see because if
you could you wouldn't make those "mistakes". The mistakes in this case are
much, much better than being completely correct because you get so close
that it looks real.
After this you get to the third object and in the same style you begin homing
on it until this time you tell them what it is. Every time you finish with an
object you ask the person to show it to everybody and ask the rest of the
audience to take out difficult things. By this time the woman assisting you
should have caught on and will take you to interesting objects. If you see
she takes you to a silly object like a pair of eye glasses of a key chain you
can try to pass on to another object in hope it would be better. In some
cases you'll hear people calling the woman to take you to where they are. If
you detect it is a group which is calling by all means go there because the
object is bound to be very good and will most probably give you a chance at
comedy. In this way I've got shoes, woman's sanitary napkins (unused and
in their wrappers, of course) and many off beat objects like a carrot, once.
Depending on where you are performing you'll get gross objects but please
remember its not you who took this out but them. You just describe it the
best way you can and sometimes you can make clear what the object is
without mentioning its name. There is a candid way to do this that will get
you laughs and applause. I have never performed in the United States and
the idea we have here maybe wrong) is that it's a very prudish society. I live
and perform in Spain where people are very open about sexual matters: any
beach is full of women without any bras, you can see porno films on TV and
sometimes I get items that might be considered risky in other countries but
here it's done in the spirit of fun. I leave to you to play it by ear should you
be shown one of these objects. However I'll tell you how I deal with a
condom. Let's say, as is usually the case, that a man --the owner-- is
holding it up for you.
"I get the idea that the owner of this object is a very optimistic person. (This
is a big laugh). He has been carrying this thing in his wallet for a long time
now. (Another big laugh). I think it has expired. (Another laugh)."
Telling what that the object is a condom would be an anti-climax in the
above example so you just move over to the next object.
I'll give you some more examples so you can get the feeling.
Always remember to tell more than could be known simply by seeing the
object. For example, I perform a lot at banquets and dinners. Many times
somebody (almost usually a man) shows me a blister card of pills, great big
round pills I immediately know are Maalox or some other preparation for the
stomach. The man suffers from a stomach disorder, possibly even an ulcer.
He thought he would have acidity from the food. If all the pills are there you
can bet he has had a good dinner. However if you see pills missing he has
had trouble with the food but you don't want to say anything about this
because you might want to continue working in this restaurant! Sometimes
you'll see that instead of taking the whole blister card of pills he has cut a
section maybe with four pills. This is what you can say:
"This is something plastic. Possibly a credit card, but I don't think so. There
is some metal, silver metal. There are also some round things. Could this be
a plastic toy car? No. Wait. Has this been in contact recently with some
metalic object. Think hard. Maybe before you left home you touched this
with some metallic object like a knife or scissors. Yes! I can state this:
before you left home this evening you or somebody, maybe your wife, took a
pair of scissors and cut this plastic thing. Let me ask you something. Are you
having stomach problems? Yes! But I can tell you that tonight you are
feeling very well. And why not? You have had a great dinner in this
restaurant and so you haven't had to take one of those big pills you carry
around with you!"
Similar to this was the man who showed me a leather case for two cigars.
This was also at a dinner. The case was closed but I guessed he must have
smoked one of them after the dinner while taking coffee as is the custom
here. The case was closed and I didn't know if he had given the second cigar
to some friend at his so I did it like this:
"Hmm, this is something made of leather. Leather is somewhat easy for me.
It must be very dark, dark brown or even black. It's not a wallet or anything
of that sort. It's some kind of box or case. Do not open it. There is
something inside, isn't there? Yes. I'll try to get what it is. I feel that before
you came here tonight, when you were still at home, you opened this....
container.... and put something inside. This was just before coming here
tonight. Maybe you put in one thing, maybe you put in two things. Right now
there is only one, isn't there? Yes! A while ago you opened this and took
something out. I get the feeling that you destroyed it. Wait. I get it now.
Inside this there is one cigar. Open it and show it! You just smoked the other
one!"
Sometimes at banquets people take things from the table to show you.
Things like forks, salt shakers, napkins, and flowers. Sometimes they have
given out some kind of awards or plaques and which they'll show you. These
objects could be very boring so you pass over them rapidly trying to make
them interesting like this:
"This is something that the person who is showing it to me didn't have when
he or she came here tonight. Isn't this true? This object doesn't belong to
you.... it's something you just took from the table to test me. I feel it's a
piece of cutlery. Show it to everybody."
In these cases do not be too specific as to what the object is. The feeling you
want to transmit is that you'll not waste your time anymore with this.
However if it is a plaque you can read the persons name and without telling
it completely you can just give out the last name. Here's a tip for you. If you
know or find out that they will be giving away awards or plaques, befriend
the man in charge before the show and while talking with him take a good
look at the plaque or award. Then you can describe it from memory with
your head looking to the other side should somebody show you one.
You'll also get credit cards, membership cards and lottery tickets. With the
help of a good mnemonic system you can memorize credit card numbers.
The name is easier but never say it completely. You could also use the
expiration date.
"This is made of plastic. There is something electronic in it.... no, it's
magnetic. I guess it's a credit card. You want the bank? Who do you think I
am? Okay, I'll try. It's a big bank. Could it be Citybank. It is? Well, there you
have it, Mr. Jones. Show it to everybody! Oh, by the way would you like the
number? Oh, yeah, I would, he says! So would I! Okay, I'll try. 4540 3367
6700 8231! Oh, by the way, your card expires next month!"
Sometimes your recent experience can give an unexpected break. Some
time ago I went to a big department store in Barcelona (where I live) and
while paying with their house credit card the woman told me they now had a
new model credit card and that in five minutes they could change my old one
for the new one. I said OK and just to talk I asked her how long they have
had this new card. She told me less than a month. A few weekends later a
man takes out one of these and he shows it to me. This is more or less how I
went about it:
"This is something made of plastic. It has a lot of letters and numbers. I feel
the color white, I feel the color green. There is also another color. It's black
or very dark brown. No? Isn't there something of this color on the object.
Oh, I didn't tell you: It's not visible now because it is on the other side. Turn
it around and you'll see it. See? I told you! I'm blind and I tell you something
about your object that even you didn't know! Okay, this is a credit card. I
can feel something about this. I think you have had this for a very short
time. I can tell you that last month you didn't have this. Isn't it so? Yes! You
want me to tell you what kind of credit card it is? Why, it's from El Corte
Ingls, Mr. Rovira!"
After the show the man told me that he had lost his wallet with all his credit
cards about a month ago and he had them all made again. He was shocked
about how I could have known this! I didn't. I just knew his card couldn't be
more that a few weeks old, but in his mind he tied both things together.
When you get a very strange object that you don't know what it is you can
just describe it and pass rapidly to the next one. However you should try to
guess what the object is before giving up. I've had great moments with
strange objects. Once an old lady took out a small odd shaped cup made of a
strange kind of plastic. It was somewhat scratched and looked old. I didn't
have any idea of what it could be but it suddenly came to me from an old
science book from my school days: it was an eye cup used for washing one's
eyes. I already had begun to describe what it looked like when it came to
me. So I asked the lady to show the object to the person who was seated in
front of her and I asked this person (a man) is he knew what the object was.
By having her show this to a person in front of her I could be sure he wasn't
with her and didn't know what the object was which could happen if she had
shown it to somebody at her side (this was a theatre). When this man said
he didn't have an idea of what the object was, I told him:
"You don't know? You can see and you don't know? I cannot see and you
want me to tell you what this strange object is? Okay. The owner of this
object has used it today, haven't you? Oh, you're a lady. I had the
impression you were a man, excuse me. So you have used this today? With
some liquid, didn't you? Yes! You know what this is, sir? You don't? It's a
little cup she uses to wash her eyes! Isn't it true, madam? It is! Show it to
everybody!"
Now, once in a while you'll get a challenge. Somebody might say loudly that
you can see. Whenever this happens, stop and say something like:
"I heard somebody saying that in spite of all the bandages I have over my
eyes I can still see. Who said that? Would you like to make sure that all the
adhesive tapes are still stuck firmly to my face and that there is no opening
whatsoever through which I could see?"
Saying the above you pull the bandage down so it rests around your neck
and so doing manage to press the tapes to the sides of your nose so they
stick there. When doing this it's important you shut your eyes tightly. Thus
you can show that your eyes are securely sealed. After this have somebody
place the blindfold over your eyes again as in the beginning and you again
get your peek hole.
This situation is great for you as by the time you have described two or three
objects the audience will begin to try to explain in their heads just how you
can accomplish this and the only answer they can get is that you somehow
can see.
Not long ago I was performing this and approached a table where a couple
was sitting. The man was holding a medal and when I approached him his
woman companion said in loud voice that I had already seen the article. I
went on describing it and when I finished she said: "Of course you can say
all this, you saw the medal when you approached". Here I went into the
patter I have written above and pulled down the blindfold inviting her to
check the tapes. She began to pull at the tapes at the sides of my nose to
check if they were stuck. They were but I said to her: "Well, if you pull on
the tapes you'll unstick them and then you will say I can see through there.
Please just check and see that they are firmly in place". She finally was
satisfied and I had the blindfold put on again and then she said: "Well, now
let me see you tell me what I'm holding". I knew that could be coming next
so I had already taken a peek and had seen her taking something from
under her napkin on the table. I immediately recognized it as a religious
stamp or card as are common with Catholics. These have on one side the
drawing of some saint or virgin and on the other side there is a prayer. She
had the prayer side up and I could recognize it by the Spanish word
"oracin" (prayer) on top. So I immediately knew what it was even before
she asked me so I already had my head turned away.
I asked her to put the object under my fingers without me touching it and
said something like:
"I feel this is a flat object. It might be plastic or it might be paper or
cardboard like a post card. There is a picture. I think it's a woman. Please
tell me: Is there a picture of a woman on it? (She answered "Yes). It is in
color but.... It is not on the side you are showing me, isn't it? I tell you that
this picture is on the other side, the side that you have against your hand.
The side that you are showing me is full of letters!"
This was really sensational and got me gasps from the people on the nearby
tables that could clearly see the object plus a big hand from the audience
with her embarrassed companion clapping the loudest. I tell you about it so
you can see the many wonderful things that can happen during the
performance of this trick. I have no way of knowing what you'll encounter (I
can't even know what I'll get when I do this!) but after a while situations
begin to follow some kind of pattern and you can be ready for almost
everything.
It's time to get on with the presentation. When you have described about
three objects, go to the next one and this one you fail to get. You say
something like: "I can't get this one. It's too difficult. Please take me
somewhere else". However, what you just did is take a good look at the
object and at the person holding it. As I told you before you don't try to
remember the details, you just do a "mental photograph" of both the object
and of the person. If the person is sitting you can even see their face and
note the style of hair, eyeglasses and jewels if any, color of shirt or blouse,
type of dress, any corsage or pin, skirt or trousers, etc. Then the lady
volunteer takes you to another object and this one you describe successfully
even telling what it is at the end and then you ask your lady volunteer to
take you back to the stage.
Going back to the stage you ask for the pad with the signature and the felt
marker and when you are at the middle of the stairs (if any) or just about to
get on the stage area, you stop with your back to the audience and say:
"There is one object I didn't get and I want to apologize to this person.
However I think I can try it now. Will the person whose object I couldn't
describe stand up.... with the object in hand. Yes. A lady. Blond. Short hair.
Eyeglasses. She's wearing a blue dress with small white flowers and has very
beautiful legs! She's holding a key chain with the keys to her car I see you
are a Hyundai owner!"
The above is a sensational climax. Half way through you'll be interrupted by
gasps, exclamations of surprise and laughter. By the way, it's easy to get the
car if you familiarize ourself with different car keys. Some of them have the
brand name engraved and some are so characteristic you just can't miss.
You can get great effect out of this as people very often show you their car
keys. I also look out for remote controls which some people keep on the
same key chain as their car keys.
Of late I have been having such a great success with this last part that I'm
seriously thinking of finishing my presentation here. However I stil do a
finale I began doing from the first time I performed this. It is an idea of Dr.
Jaks I read in a Milbourne Christopher book. (By the way, the fine idea of
failing to get one object and then getting it at the end and also describing
the owner is due to my good friend, the Argentinian magician Oscar Keller).
When the lady volunteer has taken you back on stage ask her to place you
facing the audience and behind the microphone stand. Close your eyes and
grope for it, finally placing the mike back on the stand. Ask the lady for the
pad and the felt marker, thank her for her help and ask the audience for a
big hand for her. Here is another nice touch. By thanking her first, she
begins to leave the stage so that when you ask for a hand for her she
already is on the way to her seat but you point to the side where she was on
stage (as if ou thought that she was still there) and say "Thank you, Helen".
People don't fail to notice this and it reinforces the idea that you really can't
see a thing.
Now I say:
"Here I have a signature; a signature which is unknown to me. I know it's up
here in the pad because if I put the wire spiral to my right, the signature
would be in the higher position. To finish my performance I'll try to imitate
this unknown signature as close as I can. However, for you I'll do it the hard
way --upside down!-- I just ask you for a little silence."
What you do here is turn
the pad upside down so
that the signature is in the
lower position and hold it in
front of your body just like
shown in the drawing. Open
the felt marker and place
the cap between your
teeth. Hold the marker in
your non-writing hand with
which you should be
holding the pad. Pass your writing hand several times over the signature and
over the blank space above and begin doing an imitation of what you're
seeing upside down. The above is really easy because being upside down,
you don't do a signature, you just imitate some scrawlings and your idea of
letters doesn't interfere and your own handwriting stays out of this. In this
way you can do a passable facsimile of the signature. You'll hear them gasp.
At the end turn the pad rightside up so they can see the signature and your
imitation of it and there will be applause for you.
Here's something very important. During this part of the trick your head
should remain completely motionless. Everybody is looking at you now and
you don't have the advantage of moving among the audience so DON'T
MOVE YOUR HEAD! Before beginning to imitate the signature, place your
head so that you can see it well and then lock it in this position. If the
signature is too long and there is some part of it you can't see, then move
the pad instead of moving your head.
Once the have seen both signatures and they have applauded you, drop the
pad on the floor, take the cap from between your teeth and recap the
marker. Put it in your pocket. Now we come to a very delicate part. The trick
is already over but you're still on stage with a blindfold over your eyes. You
have to take this off in front of the audience but this isn't entertainment and
can be anti-climatic. I have a way of doing this I feel keeps the interest of
the audience. I say the following:
"Now I need only show you that everything is in its place. The blindfold is in
its place (take off blindfold), the tapes are in their place, the coins, you can
see their shape through the tapes, are in their place. Now I'll take the tapes
off.... very carefully.... There you are! I hope you have enjoyed this
demonstration and I hope you continue enjoying this nice dinner. Thank you
and good night."
Finishing the above I bow to the audience and take my applause which most
of the time will not be bigger than the one before (at the end of the
signature bit) but this is because people will be still a little confused and
baffled with what they have just seen, so don't worry about it.
Going a little back, when you take off the blindfold you shut your eyes tightly
so as to close the openings on the sides of your nose and put the blindfold in
your pocket. Then, when mentioning the coins, place both your forefingers
over the tapes where the coins are and trace their shape. This action also
sticks back the tapes on the sides of your nose. Now, the way in which you
take off the tapes is very important. You must always begin taking it off by
lifting the extreme end of the wide tape and never, never by sticking your
thumb under the somewhat looser tape at either side of your nose so as not
to give away our little secret to the smarter members of your audience.
Well, this is the Blindfold Trick as I perform it. When I perform it I don't say
it is X-Ray Vision or Seeing with the Fingertips, as it has also been called. I
just don't say anything about the supposed cause of the phenomenon, I just
do it. My recommendation is that you do the same.
Also there is the idea that when you do this kind of trick you have to tell the
audience first that what you are about to do is completely natural and not
due to supernatural causes, etc. In my opinion this is silly because this kind
of useless patter really slows down your act. It also shows lack of modesty
on your part because you tell people you fear they might believe you are
gifted with supernatural powers. The most intelligent members of your
audience will instinctively know that if you had some kind of power you
wouldn't be performing these things to pay your rent. In regards to the least
intelligent, you can just forget about them because if they want to believe
you are a gifted mortal, nothing you can say will make them think otherwise.
One last warning I almost forgot: You should never touch the tapes when
they are stuck over your eyes. The only exception is the emergency case
when you can't see and in this case, this action is covert and so, the
audience isn't supposed to see it. I repeat, never touch the tapes over your
eyes.
There have been some writings on this trick where the authors have
described many demonstrations with other objects such as identifying
colored ribbons or balls, filling glasses of water and such. My
recommendation is: don't bother with any of this. You don't need to carry
any more props and set up a table just to hold them.
Also, some authors and some other artists who perform this do not leave the
stage area but instead collect (or have someone collect) several objects on a
tray or such and then they are brought on stage where the performer
describes them. Sometimes I have had to do this because it was impossible
to go into the audience (too high a stage without stairs in front). I can tell
you this is much, much weaker this way. You can try it yourself and you'll be
convinced with my way, which is going into the audience. When you describe
the first one or two objects, many people take out harder or stranger objects
just to test you and this is what makes this trick sensational. When you
collect several objects at the beginning, that's it. You are stuck with what
you got and you'll get very common objects, I assure you. Just perform my
routine as I have taught you in these pages and you'll have a great trick in
your repertoire.
Before I did this trick I just had a "nice" act. Since I began doing it as a
finale, I have something they talk about and remember me by. I have
noticed a great increase in contracts and personal fame in my area of work
and with agents since I began doing this so please give it a try as it's not
difficult. You'll never regret it.
Magically yours,
Marko
Note: I write the following a couple of months after finishing the manuscript.
After putting it on paper I began using regularly the idea explained here
which I only used when I heard somebody say that I could see. I reasoned
that most of the time nobody said this but a lot of people would surely be
thinking it! How else could I do what I was doing? So now, after the third
object I stop and say:
"At this moment in the demonstration, many people think that somehow I
can see. I'll take off the blindfold and I'll ask the person nearest to me to
examine my face and see the condition of the tapes and coins. There! Please
check them! See? They are stuck firmly to my face! Press them with your
fingers. See that there is no way I could possibly see with all this in front of
my eyes. I'll ask any skeptic to come and check. Are you satisfied? OK
Please put the blindfold over my eyes again."
By doing this, you jump ahead of them and destroy the only theory they
might have in regards to the working of the effect. Since I began using this
on a regular basis, I've noticed a greater reaction with the next objects until
the finale of the routine.
I told you before I don't believe in psychic powers and such. I would like to
add that I also respect the right of others to believe and since I'm no
crusader either, almost never will I express my views in this matter in front
of spectators during or after a show. I don't like to knock psychic
phenomena, fortune telling, etc. There is nothing to gain by doing it.
In the above paragraph I said that I almost never will express my views on
this in front of spectators. I have done it a couple of times. Both have been
TV shows to which I have been called as "expert" in trickery and as an
skeptic. I saw a good reason to appear in those programs and argue against
other panel members. This reason was the amount of personal publicity I got
from these programs since I was asked to do some demonstrations. This is a
valid and honest reason since I just expressed my true beliefs and didn't lie
or misrepresent anything.
I must say that both shows have been beneficial to me, specially the first
one which gave me a great break for other TV shows here in Spain. I should
warn you, however, that its not easy to appear in one of these debates and
make good since so many people believe in psychic phenomena and they will
naturally oppose you. In fact, I've seen magicians (and skeptic scientists)
give a very sad image in this type of TV debate. In my case I knew this from
observation and had the time to prepare for it with a great dose of charm,
frankness, innocence, and some very effective mental tricks. Also, I was
lucky enough to be attacked verbally on camera by one of the psychics so
everything that I did later was just in self defense (I crushed him!). From
that moment on the show was mine.
I just wanted to tell you this so you know how I behave in front of people in
this matter in case you gain fame using the blindfold trick and find yourself
in this type of situation.
I'm not bragging when I say this routine of mine is sensational. Just to show
you, a couple of weeks ago I performed in a magic gala show with 8 other
magic acts. The clipping above is from that show. I get 6 lines at the end of
the article, 5 lines at the beginning (not shown) and the two small columns
you see in the clipping. The title says more or less: "Marko, the Main Course
of the Evening". All of this I got because of the Eyeless Vision Routine you
have just read. In the article, the journalist reviews at length the Eyeless
Vision Routine which shows he remembered clearly all details. You'll agree
this rarely occurs. I'll translate a few lines for you from the Catalan
language:
"The..... magician offered an act in which he combined humor and comedy
with serious magic which left everybody dumbfounded. The instant
disappearance of a cage with a bird inside or the rope that was cut in three
and put together again were just the preamble to the real performance of
the magician.
"Two audience members covered Marko's eyes with coins held with adhesive
tape. On top, a blindfold examined beforehand by several spectators,
eliminated any possibility of vision.... the magician was taken to various
spectators whom showed him the most original objects from a make-up case
to a bottle opener. Marko, without touching any of them, told the audience
the material they were made of, what shape and color they had, what they
were used for and finally he identified the object.
"Only during one moment it seemed that the magician was giving up without
being able to say anything about an object. But Marko didn't disappoint the
audience. A moment later he not only revealed that the object was a
telephone but he also described the man holding it.
"And the grand finale came when, without uncovering his eyes, he perfectly
duplicated the signature of an spectator chosen by chance."
So, you see, the journalist who wrote this remembered everything and the
Eyeless Vision clearly impressed him. Also, the combination of "normal"
magic tricks with this one didn't seem to bother him much. All the time he
refers to me as "the magician", which is exactly what I want (not "the
mentalist" or "the mindreader" or anything of that sort). I reproduce this not
as an ego trip but to show you what can be gained by performing this trick.
The End

Marko - The Great Eyeless Vision Act

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Marko - The Great Eyeless Vision Act

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