Bob Cassidy - Mind Explosions.pdf - Bob Cassidy - mcgregor2001

Bob Cassidy Exclusives Presents:

A Limited Edition E-Book

The high resolotuion jpeg image included with this e book is also copyrighted. It may

only be copied for the performers own use.

BOB CASSIDY

Introduction

This e-book is about closers, the routines which will leave your audience [choose

one] laughing, crying, awestruck, applauding, or sleeping. The two routines, “The

Number of the Beast”, and “Checkmate” begin as traditional, albeit very impressive,

demonstrations of lightning calculation and memory. Both end with an unexpected,

seemingly synchronistic, twist.

Over the years, my primary closing effects have been “Russian Roulette”, “The

Memorization of a Pack of Cards”, “The Memory Magic Square”, and “The Knight’s Tour”.

The last two routines, as those of you who have performed them well know, are based

completely on mnemonics and rapid calculation, two areas of mentalism that are

generally avoided by casual performers. When you are performing three or four nights a

week, this type of effect is really not very difficult to do because the mental work has

become second nature – as it must be if you plan on entertaining your audience with

what are otherwise “show-off” routines. (A “show-off” routine is one that is based on the

“everything I do can be accomplished by anyone with sufficient training and practice”

type of presentation.) When, on the other hand, you perform such effects infrequently,

your mental work is likely to get in the way of your presentation -that, or your

presentation will cause you to screw up the mental work.

Apart from these considerations, audiences generally consider “super-mind” effects

to be legitimate demonstrations of mental agility and, as such, they provide a seeming

validation to the mentalist’s otherwise inexplicable effects. (When I perform the card

memorization, for example, the audience is convinced that the memory is legitimate,

thereby giving added credibility to my other routines.) On the down-side they magnify a

flaw that is often present in mentalism programs - - THERE IS NO ELEMENT OF

SURPRISE. The entertainment value is completely dependent upon the personality of the

performer, who will either “wow” them with his mental “mastery” or bore them with a

series of egocentric demonstrations whose successful outcomes are foregone conclusions.

“Checkmate” and “The Number of the Beast” can both provide “contagious

credibility” to a performance. But their startling conclusions also provide the element of

surprise. In “Checkmate” the ending also serves to unify the entire performance, as you

will see in the pages that follow.

There is an added bonus, as well. The effects are relatively easy to do. Unlike the

original “Memory Magic Square” and “The Knight’s Tour”, only a minimal amount of

memory and calculation is required. The ease of working and the surprise endings are

made possible by something I call “The Invisible Book Test”.

MIND EXPLOSIONS

The Invisible Book Test

The “Invisible Book” is the gimmick you will need to accomplish the routines

which follow. Included with this e-book, as a separate file, is a very large JPEG image. It

is a 220 dpi ready-to-print book cover, designed for standard size (app. 6.88” X 4.13”)

paperback books. The black border design is wide enough to allow for slight adjustment

in size if necessary.

In the photos which follow, showing how the book is covered, the book cover

you see was printed on a Canon 4200 BubbleJet Printer with a photo ink cartridge on 8 ½

x 11 glossy photo paper.

The above photo shows the book cover printed on glossy photo stock.To the right

is a paperback book from which the cover has been removed. In fact, it is a book from

Larry Becker’s excellent booktest “Flashback.” -the second version. The books are a

slightly different size from the first version, but, as I said, the black border which

surrounds the cover allows for variation in book size. (While I use a “Flashback” book, it

is by no means essential. “The Invisible Book Test” can be accomplished with any

paperback of the appropriate size. Note that you can add a black border to the image or

simply use a black magic marker to widen the border if you are using a slightly oversized

book.)

BOB CASSIDY

Attaching the cover is relatively easy, but before you do so you may wish to treat

it with acrylic spray fixative available in art stores, or cover it with laminate. These will

help to protect the cover, but the inkjet photo itself is surprisingly durable and the paper

is very close to the thickness and feel of a regular paper book cover. (Those of you who

don’t have printers can simply copy the image file to a 3.5 floppy disk and take it to your

local print shop. Copies will cost you not more than about a dollar apiece. Six or eight of

them should last you a lifetime.)

As you will discover when you print the cover as described, it is virtually

indistinguishable from a regular paperback. (The blurb on the back is rather strange, but

I’ve seen far stranger in the bookstores.) I’m rather proud of it, I might add – the version

you received with this e-book was the final version of six preliminary designs, each of

which I rejected for one reason or another.

These photos show how to attach the cover. Do NOT cut it out with a scissor. Use

a papercutter or an eXacto knife.

Other than the straight edge,

cutting surface and black magic

marker (optional – see above) you

will also need some good quality

rubber cement. There are many other

glues that will work as well, but they

may create problems when and if it

becomes necessary to recover the

book.

“What,” you may ask, “ is so special about the book cover?”

You’ll see a detailed view in just a moment, and all will be revealed. But

first, finish preparing the book. You really won’t appreciate just how good this

thing is until you are holding it in your hands.

MIND EXPLOSIONS

In this photo the book has

been carefully trimmed to match

the size of the paperback.;

Here I am lining up the spine of the cover

with the spine of the book. Attaching the cover is by

no means difficult but you will want to do as neat a

job as possible. So take your time and proceed

carefully.

Here I am marking the exact area of the

spine with a pencil. This is to insure a neat

glueing job.

When you crease along these lines, use

a cloth or another piece of paper to protect the

ink from your pressing and rubbing. (If the

photo is not completely dry, it WILL take

permanent finger prints. Let the cover dry for

several hours prior to attaching it to the book.)

Bob Cassidy - Mind Explosions.pdf

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