This collection of effects and ideas showcases some of my audience's favorite creations, several of which would not have seen the light of day without collaboration and encouragement from friends like Sean Waters and Patrick O'Gorman (henceforth known as the ever-elusive Underground Kid) . Two or three get a better return on their investment, hence, the name \ "Better Returns \". As in other arenas of life when it comes to mentalism two heads are better than one (unless they're attached to the same neck , which makes audiences uncertain which one to look at).

 

In these pages you'll find parlor and stage routines like \ "Einstein In My Pocket \", \ "Apophenial Square \", \ "Between Strangers \" and \ "Six Degrees \". There are also playful close-up effects with fortune cookies, playing cards, a simple peek for use with an ungaffed hip pocket wallet, plus presentational ideas to feed your imagination as you build your own routines. You'll also find tips to make some of your favorite effects such as Osterlind's \ "ODDS \" and Steve Thompson's \ "Glance \" play even stronger (you'll need to own those items to get the most out of my writing).

 

Here's a description of the contents:

Effect:

While dining casually with friends or prospective clients at a Chinese restaurant, the performer holds his hand above an ordinary, unprepared fortune cookie still wrapped in its plastic. Looking at the participant, the performer states, for example, \ "I see thrills in your future \ "The participant unwraps the fortune cookie and breaks it open to find the following fortune: \". A thrilling time is in your immediate future \ ".

Effect: Someone writes on your business card and, holding it writing-side down, you replace it into your wallet By the time you've replaced your wallet into your inner breast pocket you know what they've written and can use the information. however you like. The wallet is legitimate and ungaffed.

Effect:

The right audience experiences a fun, lively (if not slightly inappropriate) performance of Al Koran's \ "The Trick That Fooled Einstein \" which concludes with a twist of telepathy. If you find it too bold to perform you'll still enjoy reading about it.

 

Thoughts on using the \ "invisible compromise \" of \ "DR \" to make Osterlind's drawing duplication effect seem even more unlikely. (Osterlind's secrets will not be divulged so you'll need to own ODDS to benefit the most from this item) . My thanks go to Mr. O.

Effect:

\ "Between Strangers \" is a dual drawing-duplication between two audience members who read one another's minds This is my handling of a ploy that dates back to vaudeville yet has seen sparse publication, especially considering its strengths :. Strong mentalism without expensive electronics , pre -show arrangements, secret reflections or impressions.

Effect: A performance of UF Grant's classic, impromptu \ "Nu Way Out of This Word \" that incorporates a color sensing routine in which the performer intuits the colors of face down, unmarked, shuffled cards After his demonstration, the performer shows the participants that. he too has a latent ability to sense colors unseen. This hybrid hits hard and can be done anytime and anywhere with a borrowed, shuffled deck. (You'll need to know an impromptu, half-deck handling of OOTW already. Eugene Burger's handling of Grant's \ "Nu Way \" can be found in several places. You can also buy the Grant's original \ "Nu Way \" instructions as a pdf for $ 3 from an ebook seller).

Effect: You know.

ACAAN has been beaten to death but if you're still interested, learn two methods I've performed on special occasions over the last decade. I fooled a room full of magicians with the first one. One of these methods can also be used for an Open Prediction style presentation as shown later in \ "Easy Peasy Prediction \".

Effect: This is a stage sized version of a \ "subliminal square \", owing to Doug Dyment's close-up presentations but with a method more suited for stand-up shows An entranced volunteer somehow intuits a magic square's sum total as if by subliminal influence..

A Presentational Idea for a Blindfold Routine. The offbeat thinking here is characteristic of its creator, Patrick O'Gorman. I can see someone using this for a short spot on TV or in a comedy club.

Wishing Well(A presentational idea to combine with your own Q \ & A methods. It could work especially well with propless ones. This is simply a presentational idea, not a fleshed-out routine).

Six Degrees of You-Know-Who(This one could be an ebook all on its own.)

Effect:

The performer has everyone in the audience think of an actor or actress. He invites three people onstage and gives them a chance to win money if the performer fails. The first person tells the performer who they're thinking of before the performer links the name of that celebrity to Kevin Bacon, playing the game \ "The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. \" The second participant announces the name of her actor / actress and the performer again links the actor's name with Kevin Bacon. Finally, the last participant thinks of the name of his celebrity and the performer works backwards, starting with Kevin Bacon, and arriving at the name of the thought-of celebrity to the conclude the game. This one's full of fun if you're a film buff. It requires no pre-. show work Several methods are discussed so you can perform the effect under various conditions NOTE :. the best way to play is to practice the game.

. Since the soft release of \ "Better Returns \" in 2012 I've added three new ideas Two are mental card effects and the last one uses magazines Here's a description of the newly added items .:

Impromptu Pocket Prediction -The performer shows one card has been placed in his empty pocket. The participant freely names or touches any card from an ungaffed pack of cards. It matches the card in the performer's pocket. This is a new mental presentation for a classic magic effect I just could not let go of.

Easy Peasy Prediction -The performer writes the name of the desired card, the Queen of Spades, on a piece of paper left in plain view. The spec takes the face down cards and deals them one at a time into a pile, stopping at any point to set one face down card aside. The card is turned over and is the Queen of Spades. The rest of the shuffled deck is spread face up and can be left with the audience. This effect requires an inexpensive gaff deck. It also requires a gimmick that you may already own which can also be used in my Berglasian Bombshell ACAAN.

Glance A *** -A presentation that works with ordinary magazines, but when applied to Steve Thompson's excellent magazine test it takes \ "Glance \" from being simply a word test to one in which you can describe sights, smells, sounds, etc., as imagined by the spectator. Just like a real telepathist would.

The material in this ebook amounts to over 50 pages of effects and presentational ideas to feed your creativity and augment your repertoire.