\ a we
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PIECES OF STRANGE TO UNLEASH THE MoMENT
ADpITIONAL WririNc By Eric MapTHE ART
OF
ASTONSUMENT
BOOK >our primal state of conciousness is neutral and flowing. Then like jello, it takes on the
Y shape of whatever “idea mold’ it's poured into, That shape gradually congeals into your
world view, your “permanent” reality. Our culture is a competition to see who can make the
most appealing mold..and to promote it as the “real mold” so you'll pour yourself into it. The
moment of astonishment temporarily breaks the mold and sets intelligence free. Astonishment
is the mold of no molds. Although ['m not sure if this still works if you add tiny marshmallows
Howdy, Welcome to Book 3THE ART
OF
ASTONISUMENT
BOOK >
ILLUSTRATIONS BY TONY DUNN:
ADDITIONAL WRITING BY ERIC MEAD
LAY OUT AND BOOK DESIGN BY TONY DUNN
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR DUST JACKET BY ANDRE HAGEN
PRE/ILLUSTRATION PHOTOGRAPHY FOR NEW MATERIAL
BY ANDRE HAGEN
EDITED BY ANDRE HAGENPLooT-IN-MOUTU-NOTE.
lose to fifty effects have been cut from the previously-published material because either more ele
ant versions have evolved or because the original effect was genetically mediocre, How | ever
had the nerve to publish some of that stuff is a source of constant inspiration to me. A select few of
these dubious pieces have been included to promote the art of discernment and because they make
me smile, Introductions and essays have been shortened, altered or deleted at my whim.
The focus has been on clarity and value and creating the illusion that | always know what I'm doing,
This illusion quickly fades when you compare my past and present comments on astonishment vs
entertainment. You can either wrestle with the contradictions, ignore them and hope they go away, or
assume that this time | really know what I'm talking about, which has historically proven to be a bad
bet
vilCONTENTS (BO0K 2)
Credits
PHoot-In-Mouth Note
Dedications
The Astonishing Editor: André Hagen
The Other Side of Astonishment (Abrams)
NE\W STUFF
Shape of Astonishment
Window of Opportunity
Hot Chocolate
The Anything Deck
Peanut Butter and Jellyfish
Rumpled Splitskin
Free Ride
Arrow-SplitArrow
Bat Fishing
Membrane
Membrane: With a Pack of Smokes (PH,/Mead)
The Swing Thing (PH./Mead)
Tictac (PH./Mead)
Leaf (PH./Mead)
CLOSE-UP FANTASIES FINALE (1981)
Bizarre Vanish
Close Quarters (Daryl)
Heartburn
Mickey Mouse Math
Torn and Restored Deck
Shuffle Time
Strange Exchange
Just Call Me Mr. Wonderful
The Bill Collector
Guts
CLOSE-UP KINDA GUY (1983)
Improvised Screwed Deck (revised)
Hi There Babycakes
The Perfectionist
Instant Replay
Simple Switch
Headache
3h
8
3
7
21
23
2
29
31
33
37
41
45
49
81
53
87
63
66
67
n
7
"9
83
87
91
99
105
109
16
19
121Bad Estimate
Roturn of the Bizarte Shrink (revised)
Chocolate Coin (PH./Dick Ryan)
BRAINSTORM IN THE BAHAMAS (1983)
CardCufts
The Bent Copper-Silver Transposition (Ammar/PH./Daryl)
Hefty Penetration (PH./Daryl/Ammar)
Hedonists Makes Up All The Rules (Cummings/Herz)
‘A Card Well Hung (Kaufman/Daryi/PH./Ammar)
Free Lunch
CLOSE-UP SEDUCTIONS (1984)
Diary of a PH. Video (Martinez/PH))
Limo Service
Seductive Switch
Blue Tattoo (revised)
Unhinged
10 (Sankey)
Bushwhacker
Sweet Stuff
Michael's Proposition (Ammar/P.H.)
Bleached Blackjack (revised)
MAGICAL ARTS JOURNAL (1987)
PAUL WARIS “TUE ACT. WITH COMMENTARY BY MiCHACL AMMAR.
Mead on PH
Whack your Pack (aka Reflex)
Juke (Harkey) (1996)
Free Flight
‘The Tap Dancing Aces
P.H. Inwisible Palm aka Open Travelers (Marlo/Jennings/PH.)
Mondo Nifty Invisiole Palm (Everybody) (1996)
Big Time Las Vegas Leaper
Biological Shuffle (revised)
Galaxy (Jones/PH.)
128
129
133,
139
141
143,
147
153,
167
161
163
167
173
Ww
181
185
191
195
197
205
207
an
216
219
227
238
241
249
253
SECRETS OF THE ASTONISHING EXECUTIVE (1991)
PIN COLLABORATION WITH BILL HERZ
The Break-Room Boredom Buster (Curry)
The Client Confidence Sugar Shocker (Carlyle/Hull/Trutzi/PH))
The Instant Incompetency 10 Test (A Revised Classic)
The Burbling of a Pea (Someone's Kid Brother)
Perfect Ten Paper Clip Paradox
259
263
265
269
aThe Late-for-Lunch Miracle Maneuver (Also a Revised Class
Moms Come and Go but a Rolex is Forever (A Revised Milt Kort Classic}
MISc. PIECES OF PAUL
Cube (Eng/PH) [1985]
Bizarre Stretch (1982)
Torn Mentalist (1981)
The PH. Breakthrough (1981) {revised}
ASTONISUING FRIENDS
‘The Shuffling Lesson (Long)
Voodoo Card (Hollingworth)
Dollar Box (Rohm)
Daryl's Hot-Shot Cut (Simplified)
Sankey on PH,
CONVERSATIONS FROM THE EDGE.
Kitchen Magician
The NoWhere Man
Master Index
281
285
291
295
299
303
307
3m
313DEDICATED TO EVERYONE. INCLUDING...
Hicks..the infinity man, An outlaw comic simply telling the truth..and everyone thought you were jok-
ing
Patrick and Bonnie and a friendly couch and songs at midnight and what's her name who used to live
above us and a garage where anything is possible.
Margaret and Devora and their endless blackmail
‘Ammar, Carey, Ackerman, Sheets, Spill, Menna, Daryl, Blencoe, Bob, Happy, Billini and Big Tony
because wherever | go there you are.
Ricardo..who's learning to make the rainbow.
‘Tobias Beckwith and Associates: This is a good start. Now you need some business cards.
Jan J. and the Rose Cafe and the car chase and you were right
Barbara, John and Jeff who taught me the proper way to read a book
Maxwell. Singer of songs, friend of wayward turkeys, big time high roller and tap dancer on the edge
of the infinite, You're quite a guy (give Corene a raise),
Adar, Pattick, Jeff, Thaddeus, Maya Blu, the Redwoods and the Institute for Advanced Astonishment.Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
THE ASTONISHING EDITOR
AND PHOTOGRAPHER
ANDRE HAGEN
tor André on the taht. challenges art Tony Dunn
nother book wth the guys the mile
André is @ member in good standing of the Thoreau Sauntering Society and is most at peace when
sauntering in the uncivilized areas of the painted desert, But before he completely unplugs from the
cultural grid André agreed to the very unsauntering-lke task of editing these 900 or so pages of my
disorganized ramblings. | think he took this job on as the final convincer that he should stop doing
things lke this and stick with sauntering. Whatever his reasons, André turned out to be the ideal edt
tor..which is @ combination English teacher, therapist, priest and parole officer..(l bet he edits out
those last three dots..but that’s why he's here.
André also made sure that | ate plenty of healthy jello had proper winter wear for my stay in
Madison, Wisconsin and told me at least once a day that each book was @ masterpiece even though
I know he secretly likes Eugene Burger's stuff better. Okay, so André isn't perfect. but he’s working on
i
‘André put in an average of six hours a day for over a year (that's after his full time job as a com-
puter wizard) where he catalogued and managed hundreds of files and lists and scraps of paper and
notes scratched onto the edges of playing cards..all of which | would randomly re-shuftle just to see
avePaul Harris The Art of Astonishment
how it would look
‘Andre’ never flinched. and in his nonexistent free time he managed to take the countless pho-
tographs that Tony used for all the new illustrations. Although after a year of work there was one
Sunday when André apologized that he would only be able to devote half a day to the project.because
it was Father's Day. | know. | should have fired the bum on the spot..but | needed his expert photog-
raphy skils for the book's cover shots.s0 | had to be nice to the guy.
In a nutshell, you would never be able to read this book if André hadn't photographed, organized,
and edited it first
We once pondered the possibility that the whole world was simply a single mis-guided thought end-
lessly seducing itself with it's own imaginings. | said “yesh. what a mess..so now what should | do?”
He said “Don’t worry about it. Just finish the books.” And so | did
Although my misguided thought will never be able to properly express what a dear friend Andy's
been throughout this tangled journey.
All that | can do now is wish him well on his desert saunterings and remind his grandkids that you're
never really @ growr-up until you can go beyond everything you think you know...which is the unchart-
ed territory of deep astonishment André is sauntering in right now.THE OTHER SIDE 2
A STONISLIMENT
DAVID ABRAMS
| first met David Abrams about 15 years ago at a N.Y. Magic Symposium, Dave's presentation of his
University-sponsored research into the ecology of magic and perceptions left me speechless - which
is a valuable accomplishment in itselt
In the trucsife adventure that follows, David Abrams tracks the art way beyond the wildest edge of
edges, over the barbed-wire fence of culturally-sanctioned reality, and into the taboo mind-space on
the other side of astonishment.
“Locate the blind spot in the culture..the place where the culture isn’t looking. because it dare
not..because if it were to look there, it's previous values would dissolve.
~ Terrance McKenna
(Previously published as "Making Magic" in the "Utne Reader" Jan,/Feb. 1988)
They told me | had powers. Powers? | had been a magician for seven years, perfoming
steadily back in the states, entertaining in clubs and restaurants throughout the country, yet |
had never heard anyone mention powers. To be sure, once or twice a season | was rebuked
by some spectator fresh out of Bible school for "doing the work of Satan.” but the more cus-
tomary refrain was: "How did you do that?" Every evening in the clubs: "How? How did that
happen? C'mon, tell us ~ how does that work?"
"| don't know,’ | took to saying, mostly out of boredom, yet also because | felt there was a
grain of truth in that statement, because there was some aspect of my sleight-of-hand tricks
that mystified even me. It was not something | could experience when rehearsing alone, at
home, or when practicing my sleights before a mirror. But when | would stand before my audi-
ence, letting my fingers run through one of their routines with some borrowed coins, and I'd
see the spectators’ eves slowly widening with astonishment, well. there was something aston-
ishing about that for me as well, although | was unable to say just what it was.
When | received a fellowship to support a year's research on the intertwining of magic and
medicine in Asia, | thought | might have a chance to explore the secrets that lay hidden with-
in my own magic, or at least to discern what mysteries my magic had in common with the
magic used in traditional cultures not merely for entertainment, but for healing, fortification,
and transformation. | was intending to use my skills as a Western sleighto-hand magician to
gain access to the native practitioners and their rituals - | would approach them not as an
academic researcher, not as an anthropologist or sociologist. but as a magician in my own
right, and in this manner would explore the relation between ritual and transformation from
the insidePaul Haxis The Art of Astanishment
As it turned out. this method worked well ~ at first almost too well, for the potency my
magic tricks took on in a rural Asia brought some alarming difficulties. In the interior of Sri
Lanka, where | began my quest. | was rather too open with my skills; anxious to get a sense
of the local attitude toward magic, | began performing on village street corners much as | had
three years earlier while journeying as a street magician through Europe. But these were dif-
ferent streets, much more worn and dusty than those concrete thoroughfares, reeking with
smelis of incense and elephants, frequented as much by gods and demons as by the human
inhabitants of the island. Less than a week after | began plucking handkerchiefs from the air,
"the young magician from the West" was known throughout the country. Huge crowds fol
lowed me wherever | went, and | was constantly approached by people in the grip of disease,
by the blind and crippled, all asking me to cure them with my powers. What a frightful, sad-
dening position to be in! When, like a fool, | attempted to show that my magic feats were but
illusions accomplished by dexterous manipulations, | only insulted these people - clearly, to
them, | was using clumsy explanations to disguise and hide my real powers. | fled Sri Lanka
after only three weeks. suffering from a severe case of ethical paradox, determined to begin
my work afresh in Indonesia, where | would above all keep my magic more to myself.
It was five months later - after carefully immersing myselt in the Indonesian island universe,
observing and recording the patterns of culture, while slowly, inadvertently, slipping into those
patterns myself ~ that | first allowed myself a chance to explore the more unusual possibilities
of my position. For five months | had been true to my resolve, keeping my magic much more
"up my sleeve" than | had in Sri Lanka - waiting for just the right moment to make something
impossible happen, and performing for only a few people at a time, perhaps in a tea stall or
while sauntering past the rice paddies. In this manner | slowly and much more surely wove
my way into the animist fabric of the society. | had the sense that | was becoming known in
the region, but in a more subtle and curious manner than before ~ here and there | had begun
to hear stories about a Westerner, glimpsed on the far side of the island, who actually had
access to the invisible world, to the spirits.
Gradually | had been contacted by a number of dukuns, or sorcerers, often in some clan-
destine manner, through a child o a friend, and asked to visit them in their homes. The ink
tial meetings had been strained, sometimes frightening. for these practitioners felt their sta
tus threatened by a stranger who could so easily produce shells from the air or make knives
vanish between his hands. And | in return felt threatened by the resultant antagonism - | did
not want these magicians to view me as their competitor for | knew the incredible power of
the imagination and had no wish to be the victim of any dark spells. (When | came down with
a nightmarish case of malaria, | was sure, in my delirium, that | had brought it upon myself
by offending a particular sorcerer.) As the months unfolded, | had leamed not to shy away
from these tensions, but to work with them. | had become adept at transforming the initial
antagonism into some sort of mutual respect. at times into a real sense of camaraderie. | had
lived with a sorcerer-healer in Java and traded magic with a balian tapakan, or spirit medium.
in Bali, both of whom were convinced that my presence in their household enhanced their
‘own access to the gods and accentuated their power as healers. But that is another story.
On a certain early monsoon day | sat in a rice stall in a small fishing village on the coast
of Bali, shielding myself from the afternoon rain. Munching my rice. | stared out at a steamy,
emerald landscape - with the rainy season finally breaking overhead, all the Balinese greens
were beginning to leak into the air. Inside, an old woman was serving rice across the wood-
en slab of a counter to two solemn fishermen: in the corner of the hut three others were laugh-Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
ing and conversing in low Balinese. The downpour outside stopped abruptly: now other
sounds - dogs fighting in the distance. someone singing.
| stood up to pay the woman, counting out the correct number of coins and reaching across
to drop them into her hand. | opened my fingers - the coins were not there! The woman and
looked at each other, astonished. | turned my empty hands over several times, looked on the
dirt floor behind me, then reached under my rice bowl and found the coins. Feigning relief, |
took them up and reached across to hand them to the bewildered woman ~ except that the
coins were missing once again when | opened my fist. By now the men in the corner had
stopped talking and the two at the counter had paused in the middle of their meal, watching
as | became more and more annoyed, searching the floor and the bench without finding my
money. One of the fishermen suggested that | look under my bow! again. | lifted it up, but the
coins were not there. Upset, | stared at the others. One of them backed slowly into the street.
| shrugged my shoulders sadly at the woman, then caught sight of the two haltfiled rice
bowls resting in front of the other men at the counter. | motioned hesitantly for one of the
fishermen to lift up his bowl, He looked around at the others, then gingerly raised one edge
of the bowl - there they were! The coins glittered on the palmwood as the fishermen began
shouting at each other, incredulous. The old woman was doubled over with laughter.
The man who had uncovered the coins stared at me long and hard. As the others drifted
out onto the street, still shouting, this man shoved his rice aside, leaned over to me and asked,
1n Indonesian, if | would be so kind as to accompany him to meet his family. Something urgent
1n his voice intrigued me; | nodded. He paid the old woman, who clapped me on the shoul:
der as we left, and led me down the street toward the beach. He turned off to the right before
reaching the sand, and | followed him through the rice paddies, balancing like a tightrope-
walker on one of the dikes that separate the flooded squares. To our left the village spread
itself out along the shore: a young woman nursed an infant; smoke rose from cooking fires;
three pigs rummaged through a pile of rags and wood. The man turned to the left between
two paddies and led me through a makeshift gate into his family compound. Children were
playing. He motioned me inside one of the two buildings - his brother lives in the other, he
explained - where a young woman sat with a child on her lap. Before | could make a formal
greeting, the fisherman pushed his wife and child out the door, slinging a blanket over the
doorway and another over the window. He sat me down in the dark, offered a Javanese cig
arette, lit one for himself, then sat down crosslegged on the floor next to me. He gripped my
ankle as he began to explain his situation. He spoke quickly, in broken Indonesian, which was
good, since | could never have followed his story had he spoken so quickly in Balinese.
Essentially what he had to say was this: that he was a poor and ignorant fisherman blessed
with a loving wife and many children, and that despite his steady and enthusiastic propiti-
tion of the local gods and ancestors, he had been unable to catch any fish for the last six
months. This was especially upsetting since before that time he had been one of the most
successful fishermen in the village. He said it was evident to everyone in the village that his
present difficulties were the result of some left-handed magic; clearly a demon had been
induced by some sorcery to take up residence in the hull of his fishing boat. and was now
frightening the fish away from his nets. Furthermore, he knew that another fisherman in the
village had secretly obtained a certain talisman from a priest. a magic shell that made this
other man’s boat fil up with fish whenever he took it out on the water. And so perhaps I. who
obviously knew about such things and had some powers of my own, would be willing to workPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
some special magic on his boat so that he could once again catch enough fish to feed his
family,
Now, it was clear that this man was both honest and in earnest (his grip on my poor ankle
had increased considerably), but | had been in this position before, and though less discon-
certed by it than | had been five months earlier, | was still reluctant to play very deeply with-
in the dream-space of a culture that was not my own. And so | explained to Gedé (one of his
many names) that my magic was only good for things like making coins vanish or causing
fruit to appear (| plucked a ripe banana out of the darkness, making him laugh), that my magic
was useless when it came to really practical matters. Besides, | told him, | had never worked
with fish, but was sure (since they could breathe underwater and all) that their own powers
were even more potent than mine; if a demon was frightening them away, he or she was cer-
tainly beyond my influence. Gedé nodded in agreement, released my ankle and changed the
subject. After a few minutes he led me to the doorway and thanked me for coming.
| felt sure | had convinced him with my excuses. But perhaps | had failed to take into
‘account the Balinese habit of self-effacement before accepting praise (Saya bodoh, “I am stu-
pid." any Balinese healer will reply when told that he or she is skillful), including, apparently,
the praise and respect implied in being offered a difficult task. Unaware, | walked along the
beach toward the little bamboo hut | had procured for the night, As the sun sank into the
land, the moon rose from the ocean, pale white, nearly full. In the distance, between the ris-
ing and the lowering, sat the great volcano silently looming on the horizon.
That night | had difficulty falling asleep. A weird symphony of chirping crickets accompa-
nied the chorus of frogs gurgling in unison outside my hut. Sometimes this loud music
stopped all at once - leaving only the faint lapping of waves and the afternoon rain dripping
off the night leaves.
Toward midnight | was awakened by a persistent tapping at the window. | stumbled to my
feet and lifted the thin slab of wood - there was Gedé, grinning nervously. He hissed that we
must attempt the magic now, while the others were asleep. In an instant | understood the sit-
uation - that Gedé was not taking no for an answer, or rather, that he had taken my refusal
as an acceptance - and | found myself, oddly enough. giving in to the challenge this time
without hesitation. Wrapping a sarong around myself, | recalled the dream from which Gedé's
tapping had awakened me: | had been back in the states, performing strange, hypnotic magic
for sea monsters in a nightclub that was actually an aquarium. Just before waking, | had heard
one monster applauding; his clapping had become the tapping at my window. Now, looking
around hastily for something to use, | grabbed an empty Coke bottle | had tossed in the cor-
ner, then, on an inspiration, dug in my backpack for some flashpaper I'd brought from the
states. (Flashpaper, @ common tool of the stage magician, is thin paper that has been soaked
in a magnesium solution. When crumpled and ignited it goes up in a sudden, bright flash,
leaving no ashes behind-wonderful stuff.) | shoved the flashpaper into a fold in my sarong
and, gripping the Coke bottle, hurried outside where Gedé was fidgeting anxiously. When he
saw me, he turned and led the way down to the beach
We walked quickly along the water's edge to where the boats were resting on the sand,
their long, painted hulls gleaming in the moonglow. As we walked, Gedé whispered to me
that the fishermen don’t go out fishing on nights when the moon is full or nearly full, since
the fish can then see the nets. Only on such a night as this could we accomplish the magic
in secret, while the other fishermen slept. He stopped before a sleek blue and white boat,
somewhat longer than most of the others, and motioned for me to help him. We lifted the
8Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
bamboo outriggers and slid the craft into the dark water. | hopped back onto the beach and
scooped my Coke bottle full of the black, volcanic sand, then waded back out and climbed
into the boat with Gedé. Really a long dugout canoe with limbs ~ the two bamboo outriggers
and a short, roughhewn mast near the bow ~ it rested on the swells while Gedé unrolled a
white triangle of sail and hoisted it from a beam on the mast. The breeze rose up and the
boat glided silently into the night. Overhead, the moon drifted behind a cloud and set the
whole cloud glowing. The volcano, luminous, watched and waited
In the Balinese universe, the volcano provides a sort of gateway to and from the upper
world, the world of the ancestors, of the gods. The sea, meanwhile, provides passage to the
lower world of demons; these destructive forces are known to reside in the black depths of
the waters that surround the island. Consequently, those islanders who live near the shore,
and especially the fishermen who make their living on the water, are a highly nervous and
wary bunch, and they partake even more than the average Balinese of the animistic rites and
ceremonies of protection for which the island is famous. At this point in my journey I was only
beginning to sense what | would later see clearly: that while the magicians of all traditional
cultures are working fundamentally toward the same mystery, the magic of each culture takes
its structure from the particular clues of the region, that is, from the particular powers of earth
to be found only there ~ whether volcanoes, or wind, or ocean, or desert ~ for magic evolves
from the land.
The wind shifted, became cooler. | moved close to where Gedé sat in the stern guiding the
rudder, and asked him why it was so necessary for us to work in secret. "So other fishermen
not jealous." he explained softly. He lit himself a cigarette. After some time | turned away from
him and slipped a piece of flashpaper, crumpled, into the mouth of the Coke bottle. The beach
was a thin silver line in the distance. | told Gedé that I thought we were out far enough for
the magic to take effect, and he agreed. As | took down the sail, | wedged the rest of the
flashpaper under a splinter near the top of the mast. Gedé heaved an anchor over the side,
then settled back into the stern, watching me carefully.
How to improvise an exorcism? | leaned with my back against the mast, emptying my mind
of thoughts, feeling the rock and sway of this tiny boat on the night waters. Small waves
slapped against the hull, angrily at first, then softer, more playful, curious. Gradually something
regular established itself - the swaying took on a rhythm, a steady rock and roll that grew in
intensity as my body gave in to the dance. Phosphorescent algae glimmered like stars around
me, The boat became a planet, and | leaned with my back against the axis of the world, a
tree with roots in the ocean and branches in the sky, tilting, turning.
Without losing the rhythm, I began to move toward the rear of the boat, keeping it rocking,
swinging the bottle of black sand around myself in circles, from one hand to the other. When.
I reached Gedé | took the cigarette from his hand, puffed on it deeply once or twice, then
touched the lit end to the mouth of the bottle. A white flash of fire exploded from the bottle
with 2 'Whooshh," propelled by the pressure inside, a wild spirit lunging for air.
Gedé sat bolt upright, with his arms quivering, grasping the sides of the hull. | motioned
for him to cup his hands, he did so, and | tipped the bottle down, pouring a small mound of
spiritsand onto his fingers. There were little platforms affixed symmetrically around the hull
Platforms upon which Gedé, when fishing, would place his lanterns to coax the fish up from
the depths. | moved around to each of them, nine in all, the cardinal points of this drifting
planet, and carefully anointed each one with a mound of sand, | then sat down in the bottom,Paul Harris The Art of Astonishmont
of the carved-out hull and planted my hands against the wood, against the inside of that hol
lowed-out tree, waiting to make contact with whatever malevolent presence slumbered
beneath the chiseled surface. | felt the need for a sound, for some chant to keep the rhythm,
but | could think of nothing appropriate, until a bit of Jewish lituray sprang to my lips from
somewhere, perhaps from my own initiation at age 13. | sang softly. The planet heaved and
creaked, the hollow tree roiled from from side to side, the upright tree with roots in the sea
swung like a pendulum against moon-edged clouds.
At some point the moon itself rolled out from a cloud pocket and the whole mood shifted
= sharp shadows slid back and forth across the wood. Somewhere inside me another planet
turned: | began to feel slightly sick. | stood up and began weaving from one side of the boat
to the other, sweeping the mounds of sand off the platforms. When | came to the fisherman
| reached into the sky above him and produced another cigarette, already lit, from the dark. |
felt a fever flushing my forehead and cheeks. | held the cigarette first to his mouth, then to
my own, and we each took a puff on it. | held my breath, walked back rather dizzily. and blew
a long line of smoke from the bottom to the top of the mast
Then | touched the cigarette to the paper wedged in up among the invisible branches. A
rush of flame shot into the sky. Instantly | felt better the fever was gone, the turning stopped,
the little boat rocked on the waves. | tured to Gedé and nodded. A wide grin broke across
his face and he tossed the sand, still cupped in his hand, over his head into the water. We
drew anchor, hoisted the sail, and tacked back to the village with Gedé singing gaily at the
rudder.
I had to leave the coast the next day to begin work with a healer in the interior, but |
promised Gedé | would return in a month or so to check on the results of my impromptu exor-
cism.
Five weeks later | returned, with mounting trepidation, to the fishing village. | found Gedé
waiting for me with open arms. | was introduced to his family, presented with gifts, and stuffed
with food. The magic had been successful. The fishing business was thriving, as was appar-
ent from the new gate and the new building Gedé had had built to house the family kitchen,
After the meal Gedé took me aside to tell me of his new ideas, projects he could accomplish
if only he had a little magic help. | backed off gracefully, paid my respects, and left the village.
feeling elated and strange
|. am scribbling the last words of this story at a table in the small Vermont nightclub where
I have been performing magic this winter. Tonight | was doing mostly card magic, with some
handkerchiefs and coin stuff thrown in for good measure. Some hours ago a woman grabbed
my arm, "How?" she gasped. "How did you do that?"
“really don't know" | told her.
| think there's something honest in that.
10NEW STUFFPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
2Paul Hats The Art of Astonishment
“Should the shape of astonishment be trimmed to fit the linguistic curtain...and if so
should it be dry cleaned?”
THE SHAPE OF ASTONISUMENT
EFFECT - You cover a borrowed quarter
with a small square of aluminum foil (which
can be initialed). You carefully rub the foil with
your fingertips to create a rubbing which repli-
cates the heads-up quarter..so the engraved
image of George is copied onto the foil. The
detailed heads engraving takes a bit of time
You drop out the real headsup quarter onto
someone's hand. She turns it tails up..and the
fragile foil head imprint suddenly turns tails up
too!
The disembodied shape peers out from the
empty square of foil - preparing to surrender
to the shape of astonishment
SECRET FOIL FACT - Carefully sculpted
coin rubbings will completely re-sculpt into
other shapes with just 2 quick press of your
thumb,
STEP ONE. - Get out a fresh threeinch
square of foil and borrow a quarter. (Any hunk
of fresh foil will work. It doesn’t have to be
square or three inches, This just gives us some-
thing to talk about) If you feel the need you
can have your spectator initial one corner of
the foil with a Sharpie. Openly place the quar-
ter headsside up on your left fingertips and
Cover it with the foil (FIG, 1)
13
Hold the foil steady as you use both thumbs
to make the heads-up imprint as in FIG. 2.Paul Havis The Art of Astonishmant
Take at least twenty seconds to complete
the “not so easy’ sculpting process. (in realty
you could just press down on the coin to
instantly engrave the fol. but to properly posi
tion the spectators mind, it must !ook like
takes some serious effort and time to make the
rubbing.) Ike to let the spectator give the final
image a few rubs herself to give it the personal
touch
STEP TWo - As your thumbs put in the
finishing rubs your right fingers secretly fli the
quarter under the foil so its tails-side up. To flip
the quarter allow its right edge to swing down
a bit. (Your left fingers hold its opposite edge
against the foil)
As the fingers of both hands adjust the foil,
your right fingertips press against the coin's
lower edge to secretly flip it over. The fol gives
you plenty of cover for his nommove, Adjust
the fol to make sure the cubbing lines up with
the top of the coin. Display the heads-up rub-
bing. Point out a few details like the date and
the expression on George's face. You want
everyone to remember that the fil imprint is of
a heads-up quarter.
STEP TUREE - Openly press the right side
of your right thumb firmly against half of the
rubbing as in FIG, 3. (Your right thumb now
covers half of the eagle) If you peeked at the
rubbing now half of it would be transformed to
the taibside image.
14
Hold the foil and its covered coin with your
right fingers as your left hand lets go to reach
out and direct someone to hold aut @ palm-up
hand. As your left hand gently grasps her
hand, your right thumb secretly rolls across the
rest of the rubbing exactly as if you were laying
down an inked thumbprint. This thumb position
obscures the new etched image. This secret
thumb-press happens in a flash.and is com-
pletely covered by the act of reaching out for
the spectator’s hand (FIG. 4)
STEP FOUR. - Direct the spectator to place
her palmvup hand about two inches beneath
the foil as you allow the covered coin to drop
from your right fingertips. where it will do a
halfturn and land heads-up onto her palm. This
invisible turn over will be automatic as long as
the coin was held at its edge before the drop,
To your spectator, you made a heads-up rub-
bing.then dropped the heads-up coin onto her
hand. If by chance the coin lands tails-up its
no big deal. Just turn the coin over as you
reposition it on her hand.Paul Hanis The Art of Ast
STEP FIVE. - Casually move the foil away
from her hand as you tell her to turn over the
heads-up coin to show its tails side. Have her
cover the coin with her other hand and tell her
to concentrate on trying to make a good
impression. Allow your right thumb to move
away from its cover position as you wave the
foil over her hands (and tails-up quarter). Wave
the foil just fast enough to keep the tails-rub
bing @ blur..t's still supposed to be heads-up.
Bring the foil to a gradual stop to transform the
heads-up” rubbing into a tails (FIG. 6)
NOTE. - Instead of using your thumb to hide
the changed imprint you can just clip the edge
of the foil between your thumb and forefinger
and let it hang with its edge toward your aud
ence.
FOL. FACT ~ You will get crisper transfor
mations when you use a new unwrinkled
square of foil.(heavy duty is better).
* Work-Shopped with ANDRE HAGEN, one
of Madison's premier neat guys. Years of expe
rence have taught André that very few things
i lif aro actually worth doing. Camping in the
desert and contemplating the shape of aston-
ishment are among his chosen few.
15
PLooTNoTE. - To make it easier to align
the flippedover coin with the rubbing
5 you start 10 make the rubbing, bend one
side of the foil down right at the coin’s edges
This creates a tactile guide to keep the flipped:
over coin in alignment
UNLMTED SulAPcS
Once you've made a coin rubbing, the
change can be to anything. By gluing bits of
stuff to the other side of a double-headed coin
you can make numbers or initials or evocative
h themselves onto the first normal
heads-up rubbing. Maybe the first image could
weirdly distort and change shape. Instead of @
coin you could work with an etched medallion
oF a piece of jewelry or an engraved piece of
stone or a hunk of fossil or I don’t know what
Just don't limit yourselt..it's not your natural
shape.Paul Harts The Art of Astonishment
16Paul Haris
he Art of Astonishment
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY
ick up @ piece of sealed junk mail, the
kind with a cellophane window. Look it
‘over. Nothing can get in...nothing can get out
unless you rip it open. This is not good or bad.
Its just the nature of sealed junk mail. Now
grab a business card. You're about to alter the
laws of nature... by sneaking through the win-
dow.
EFFECT - The hostess asks if you'd mind
‘doing something?” You send her out to gather
all her unopened mail . She bring letters, bills,
junk mail, postcards etc. and dumps it on the
coffee table.
You select three pieces of sealed junk mail
and pass them to the company for inspection.
The rest is put aside, And then everyone signs
your business card in preparation for a little
game.
You openly slide the signed business card
between the three envelopes then carefully
arrange them on the table so the card stays
hidden, “Which one is the card hiding under?”
Someone notices the edge of the card peeking
slightly out so it's an easy call. The guests are
a little disappointed. They had hoped to see
something astonishing.
You try again..carefully arranging the three
envelopes so the signed card stays concealed,
A quest points to an envelope, picks it up.
‘There's no card. She picks one of the remain-
ing two envelopes, again no card. She picks up
the third envelope and it isn’t there either. The
card's not on the table, not in your hands or
on your lap or on the floar. The signed card
has vanished. Pretty neat. The guests are
happy. They experienced a minor moment of
astonishment.
You then have one of the guests select one
Of the three envelopes. You ask the hostess to
check and see that it's sealed. She knows it is,
but checks anyway. She tears it open and
inside is the signed business card
HOUSE Wor - All you need is twenty
seconds alone with a piece of borrowed mail
that contains a cellophane window.
Take @ knife or sharp-edged business card
and press it carefully up between the edge of
the clear window and the envelope (FIG. 1).
7Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
Use the edge of the card or knife to
unglue/slice the whole top edge of the cello-
phane window..at the point where the cello-
phane sticks to the INSIDE of the envelope.
This leaves you with an EXAMINABLE sealed
envelope that has an invisible trap door at the
top of the “solid” cellophane window. Go back
to your hostess and try to look innocent
WINDOW TEST - Slide your business card
into the slit and into the envelope to make sure
that the portion of the envelope above the slit
is large enough to conceal the card. Remove
the business card and put your window of
opportunity back with the other mail
STEP ONE. - If the situation calls for i
(never force these things) have all the available
‘ail brought to you. If you have to use open
‘mail as well as your prepared envelope, so be
it. But try to get three unopened pieces
STEP TWO - Pull out three envelopes and
pass them around, Make sure your gaff is one
of them, Put the rest of the mail aside. Get out
a business card and have everyone sign it.
STEP THREE - Take the envelopes back in
2 stack and hold them in your right hand, Pick
up the signed card with your left hand and
‘openly slip it between the bottom two
envelopes. Mix them a litle, keeping the card
hidden in the pile. Place the envelopes in @
row on the table, the hidden card going under
any one envelope, but arrange to innocently
have the card sticking out just a hair as in
FIG, 2. They guess. They're right. You're deeply
depressed.
Li
18
STEP FOUR. - Rearrange the envelopes so
the gaffed envelope is on the bottom, with the
window up and the slit to the left
STEP FIVE - Slide the signed card
between the bottom two envelopes and ditect-
ly into the slit. Take your time, and do it right.
You can look right at the window and slide in
the card. To the audience, you're just trying to
make sure the card is welthidden.
STEP Sik - Awkwardly mix the envelopes
around a little, pretending to be extra careful
“not to expose the card” and deal them in a
row. Openly take @ quick peek under two of
the envelopes “just to be sure.” Each time
someone guesses an envelope let her pick it
up. Three misses and the card has cleanly van-
ished. Be still and give the moment its space.
This is a complete effect in itsolt
You're not quite sure what happened to the
card, but you have an idea
STEP SEVEN - Have the mail put back in
a row. You will now use the "Magician's Force’
(equivoque) to force the loaded envelope.
Those of you who are confident with this
skip over to Step Eight.
Magicians FORCE
Ask the spectator to place her left hand on
any envelope. If she puts it on the loaded one
calmly pick up the other two and put them
aside, with the rest of the mail. You're done.
If her hand lands on one of the other
envelopes simply continue your sentence as if
you always meant to say “..and put your right
hand on another.” Her right hand is either on
or not on the loaded envelope, So
Hf her right hand is not on the loaded enve-
lope you again continue your sentence as if
this was always the plan, “and put those two
aside.” Point to the other mail. She is left with
the loaded envelape. You're done.
If her right hand did land on the gaff, say
“Stay right there.” and toss the remaining enve-
lope with the rest of the mail. Look her right in
the eye and say “Pick up those two...” (Wait til
she does) ~..and hand either one to me.”Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
If she hands you the loaded envelope you
say “You could have handed me that one,
couldn't you? But you gave me THIS one.” As
you say this, gesture for her to put down the
one she holds. Just point at it es you say “that
one” and then over to the mail that has been
put aside. Shell put it away without you saying
a word about it. You're done
If she keeps the loaded envelope just take
the one she hands you and toss it with the
cest of the mail saying, “You could have kept
either envelope, but you kept THAT one.” You're
done.
STEP EIGLIT ~ Have your hostess check
out the envelope to make sure i's completely
sealed. (I doesn't occur to people to probe the
window for a trap door) Difect her to open her
sealed piece of personal junk mail, window:
side down. (Window'side down just in case the
business card decides to make a surprise
appearance inside the window. ) She rips it
open and discovers that nestled next to a 20%
off on a lube job coupon is the personally
signed business card, You've unleashed @
moment of deep astonishment. This is a good
thing. If she offers you the coupon then every
cone goes home a winner
19
PUsotNoTe. -
+ To be extra safe, tear open the envelope
yourself. This avoids the small risk of a specta
tor accidently poking out the window.
+ You can simplify the handling by one-third
by just using two envelopes.
+ If you want to use your own empty sealed
window-envelope - After you load the business
ard you can tap the envelope so the card
slides to the other end. When you are ready to
reveal the business card inside the envelope,
you can tap the envelope so the card pops into
view behind the cellophane window. With this
approach you must take care that the business
card is not visible through the walls of the
envelope
+ WorkShopped with ERIC MEAD..who con
tributed the briliant boldness of openly loading
the card during the guessing game.Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
20Poul Harts The Art of Astonishment
HOT CHOCOLATE
his piece was born in an attempt to move
‘The Dehydrated Deck" principle away
from the cards, out from under the table and
directly into your spectator's face.
CFFECT - While standing around just about
anywhere, you pull a folded-up wad of Hershey
barlike paper from your wallet. It's slowly
unfolded and yes..it turns out to be an empty
Hershey wrapper. You give @ quick blow into
the wrapper to inflate it into a genuine choco-
late bar. Suddenly, everyone wants to be your
pal
CLOSET WoRK - You need two bars of
Hershey's Chocolate. (Hershey's works best
because they're flat.) Take the outer brown
‘wrapper off one bar, crush it up, open up the
wrinkled wrapper and slip it back on the bar.
This will later masquerade as the empty wrap-
per.
Slide the outer brown wrapper off of the
other bar. Carefully unfold the innerfoil wrap-
per and remove the chocolate. Eat the choco-
late,
Re-fold the foil as if it contained the choco-
late, Slide it back into the outer wrapper just
like it came, and fold the whole thing into a
small packet, Stick this packet into your wallet,
and slide your wallet into your right rear
pocket
Put the real bar {in wrinkled wrapper) in your
lett rear pocket. Timing counts here. The
chocolate will be OK for a few minutes unless
you have an abnormally high buttock tempera-
ure
STEP ONC - During a moment of low
attention, put both hands behind your back
Pull the chocolate bar from your left pocket.
and your wallet from your right. Stil behind
your back, open your wallet, and rest it over
‘the chocolate bar on your left hand. It must be
completely hidden
STEP TWWd - Bring the open wallet out
with your left hand. If you tip it down slightly
the hidden candy bar won't be seen (FIG. 1)
Your right hand reaches in, and removes
the folded wrapper. Now is the time to gently
guide their attention to what you are doing,
atPaul Haris The Are of Astonishment
STEP THREE - Slowly unfold the wrapper
on top of your open wallet. Pick up the flat-
tened out wrapper with your right hand, and
hold it so it’s oriented the same as the hidden
bar under the wallet (FIG 2). The letters on the
wrapper must face the same direction for the
switch to be deceptive.
STEP FOUR. - Look directly at someone
and ask “Do you like chocolate?” At this
moment of misdirection your right fingers put
the empty wrapper under your wallet as they
take the wallet from the left hand. In a continu-
ing action, your left hand brings the real candy
bar out from under the wallet to the left
(FIG, 3). Done correctly this is a very casual
and deceptive switch. (Note ~ it feels just like
the packet switch from “A Subtle Poker Move.")
22
STEP FIVE - Without breaking eye contact,
put your wallet with its hidden wrapper behind
your back...where you close your wallet, and
stuff it into your pocket
STEP 5K - Bring the wrinkled bar up near
your mouth, and pretend to inflate it. Don't get
cartied away here, just @ couple of short pul.
STEP SEVEN - Slide the foitwrapped bar
from the brown wrapper, unwrap the chocolate
50 everyone can smelt. Make them beg and
grovel for a chanice to examine it with their
face
ALMOST-AS-CFFECTIVE OPTION
Delete the wallet and switch sequence.
Produce the chocolate directly from your back
pocket and hand it out for a taste test.
PLo Note. - Producing the full-size
Hershey bar creates a maximumioad spectacle
but takes @ bit of finesse because of its size
and tendency to break or melt while waiting in
your pocket. | happen to be a sucker for
Hershey bars so my extra efforts are always
rewarded. For an easier but not quite as emo-
tionally satisfying handling, you can do this
with a smaller, denser slab of delight lke a Kit
Kat bar or a chocolatecoated toffee or a
Nougats‘rus. If you have a really big wallet you
could try for @ poptart but then you'd have to
produce a toaster and it starts to lose that
impromptu feel.Paul Haris The Art of Asi
THE ANYTHING
DECK
[FFE.CT - For reasons unknown you
remove a secret packet of cards from your wal
let and secure them under the card case. You
then get a seeker to dig deep into her soul and
come up with @ personal, meaningful magic
word. Let's say her magic word is “ROSE.” You
use “ROSE” to help you locate a selected card,
then reveal that the name of the card is also
written on the card case. You're a mighty fine
card guesser. But what about the secret pack-
et? You SLOWLY, CLEANLY AND OPENLY
spread the packet to display large bold letters
inked onto the back of the cards..spelling out a
single word: ROSE.
So now what? What do you say? Into what
context can you put this moment of astonish
ment that would make this a meaningful pos!
tive experience. Hrmmmm. Depends upon her
personal associations with her power word, her
perception of your intent, where you've posi
tioned her mind and how deep you want to
take her.
23
THE ANYTHING THEORY - The deck is a
disguised collection of "moveable type" which
you can arrange into just about ANY word
under cover of a simple card location. Then it's
just a matter of traffic contol to get the word
cards under the case.
ARTS AND CRAFTS PORTION - Ir take
about 20 minutes to make up your “Anything
Deck” You'll need a deck of cards containing
all 54 cards, a fresh magic marker and four
extra cards from a matching deck.
Open up your 84-card deck and shuffle it
Put three cards aside for now, The rest of the
cards go face down in front of you. Carefully
write the letter A about an inch tall and half of
fan inch wide on the LEFT side of the top face-
down card. The exact size and position is
shown in FIG. 1. (For the best contrast use a
red deck and a thick black marker, or use one
of the fancy two-tone markers that outline in
silver or gold.)Paul Haris The Are of Astonishment
Create another A in the same position on
the back of the next card - and then two
B's on the next two cards after that. Continue
drawing a double alphabet on the 51 cards so
that when you're done you have TWO of every
letter - EXCEPT for Q, X and U. You only have
CONE of those. That's so you can have THREE
E's and THREE A’s. ( Which ate extra letters
you'll use a whole lot more than a Q. X or U.)
The deck is now arranged in alphabetical order
starting with the two A’s on top.
Diop the three unmarked cards face down
on top of the face-down spread. One of these
will be your force card, so it goes on the top of
the deck. (We're using the Two of Hearts.) Use
the heavy marker to draw a large Two of
Hearts on the back of the case so the image is
instantly identifiable,
Put the four extra cards ([rom the other
deck) somewhere handy. The Anything Deck
goes into its box. You're now ready to unleash
a major MO.A,
STEP ONG. - Bring out the case, writing
side down, and remove the deck. Close the
flap and put the case aside to your right so it’s
angled. (This position is for later so your left
hand can easily grasp the case by its sides
without re-adjusting.)
STEP TWO - Hold the pack in left-hand
dealer grip. Casually riffle a couple of cards
near the middle with your left thumb to check
where the letters are. Be sure no one else can
see inside in case you'te looking at the marked
side. If by chance the letters are not on the left
side of the deck, turn the deck so they are.
(You could mark one side of the deck with a
pencil dot, but then you'd always be fighting
the urge to erase it.)
STEP THREE - Table the deck and spread
from right to left, The deck should appear com-
pletely normal and unmarked. (Ifthe letters are
showing say something like “ah yes. the alphe-
bet ~ how nice.” Then quietly put the cards
‘away, walk out of the room and never come
back.)
24
STEP FOUR, - Bring out the extra four-card
packet and openly slide it face down under the
case. (| like to take the packet out from my wak
let so the cards seem to have been set aside
for a “special purpose.”) The packet should be
held so no one except you knows exactly how
many cards it contains. Say something like,
“Here's a few secret cards for later.
STEP FIVE. - Spend some quality time
with your seeker and have her dig deep for a
powerful magic word (see “Magic Word" for
details), Well assume the magic word is
ROSE,
STEP Sik - Gather up the cards, keeping
them face down with the letters on the left
side. Hold the facedown deck in left-hand
dealing position, Slip-cut the top card into the
center by using your right fingers to pull the
top half to the right. retaining the force card
with your left thumb (FIG. 2). As you replace
the upper half, catch a break between the
halves with your left little finger. (You now have
a break above the force card)
STEP SEVEN - Lightly riffle your left
thumb down through the deck’s upper left
‘corner and ask your magic buddy to call out
her magic word. Stop riffling at that point and
instantly lift off all of the cards above the break
with your right hand, creating the misguided
impression that you cut to the spot you were
stopped at. (Yes indeed, it’s a riffle force.)
STEP EIGHT - Turn the left section down
fas you thumb off the top card onto the table
face up. (The wrist turn hides the marked back
of the next card as the top card is dealt.) Put
the left-hand cards face down carefully under
the righthand one:STEP NINE. - Hold the deck so its face is
toward the audience, and the secret letters on
the back are toward you. (The letters are on
the left)
STEP TEN - Begin spreading through the
cards “to feel the faces of the cards for clues
about the spectator's card.” (You're actually
looking at the backs of the cards so you can
see the letters.) First pull out the top unmarked
card. Let its normal back be seen then drop it
face up onto the table.
Now as you spread through the cards, pull
out the ones with the letters that spell the
magic word. You'll be going back and forth
through the deck as you search through the
alphabet to find the right letters, Try to make
the cards you toss out seem randomly inspired.
In this case the next card is the “R” of her
magic word “ROSE.” Place it face up onto the
tabled card so its secret letter is to the left,
(Remove the card from the spread by its upper
end and place it dawn so the lower end points
away from you.) Then the “O" card goes face
up on top of the “A”, Be careful not to flash
the letters. Continue until “ROSE” is secretly
spelled (on the back of the tabled stack from.
the bottom up)
As you toss out the “random’ clue cards, say
things like "This is a black card, so the one you
picked can't be black, This next one tells me it
can't be a face card. These two tell me it’s not
an ace and it’s lower than an eight.” Make up
anything you want, and then announce the
name of the card you forced
STEP ELEVEN - Table the deck face
down, with its marks to the left, and spread it
(Tight to left) across the table to display normal
cards
STEP TWELVE - Reveal your lucky guess
by turning the force card face up, then use it
to scoop up the face-up word packet so the
force card ends up at the back. Take this pack-
et with your right hand, and pick up the deck
with your left. Drop the word packet face down.
onto the deck (so the stacked letters are on the
right side) and hold a break between the deck
and the packet with your left pinky
25
Slip-cut the top card into the deck, retaining
your break beneath the word packet. (The slip-
cut leaves the hazy impression that the entire
packet was cut into the center of the deck. The
exact nature of this cut is of no great interest
to your audience.)
STEP TUIRTEEN - Comment that you had
a backup plan in case you guessed wrong
Your left hand is holding the deck with a break
below the word packet (one cover card and
then the word). Turn your left deck-hand palm
down to pick up the box by its sides (which
you've previously positioned for an easy grab)
‘The packet above the break goes squarely onto
the box (FIG. 3) as you pick up the box and
turn your left hand palm up to reveal the writ.
ten case prediction.
‘Your right fingers immediately grasp the box
by its ends... picking up the box along with the
PACKET above the break (FIG. 4)..and sets the
box back down onto the tabled packet, This
secretly loads the word packet onto the other
four cards that are tabled under the box
(FIG. 5).Poul Harris The Art of Astonishment
This all happens in two seconds. The audi:
ence sees you pick up the box and tum it over
to reveal its written prediction. This is perfect
misdirection for stealing the packet off the
deck. (All eyes will be on the case prediction
during the brief moment that the tabled four-
card packet is exposed).
“Predicting your card was only a 52 to one
shot.” Spread the deck face down (right to left
again) to show normal cards. Just a mild
warm-up for something that will make her
whole body smile and turn her into walking
happy face. Scoop up the facedown deck into
your left hand,
STEP FOURTEEN - Your empty right fin-
gers lift the box off the tabled packet. Box the
deck and put it away.
Slide off the bottom two normal cards from
the face-down packet. Display them as you say
Do you notice anything unusual about these
secret cards...” Then place the two cards on
top of the packet (centering the word between
three normal cards on top and two on the bot-
tom), "How about now?
STEP FIFTEEN - Turn the packet so your
spectator will be able to read the writing, then
slowly spread the cards to reveal her personal
magic word
Deep astonishment. Let it breathe.
TO RESET - Put the magic word cards
back into the deck in their correct alphabetical
spots and the three norvalphabet cards back
on top of the deck. Box the deck and put the
extra four cards back into your pocket or wallet
and once again you're ready for anything
26
TUE Magic Warp -
Direct her toward a word that has no more
than six or seven letters. Less is better. Do a
uick mental spell to be sure that all the letters
you need are in “The Anything Deck’. On the
rare occasion you can’t use a word just direct,
her toward a “more potent” word,
When you ask for a powerful magic word,
most people will say something uninspired like
presto or chango. Tell your wordsmith it's too
common, that she should try for a special
word, @ word that’s personally magical. A word
‘or name that when she hears it something
lights up inside and says “howdy” (try to avoid
the word “howdy"). This usually leads in a bet-
ter direction, The more powerful the imagery
the word evokes in your spectator the more
powerful the final moment of astonishment
PUootNote -
You can pump up the power of the imagery
by doing this with Tarot cards where you do a
reading with the random cards. Don't mess
with this until you understand the nature of the
game or you could find yourself pissing in
someone's church, When authentically pre
sented (with Tarot imagery) this can take peo-
ple over the line and zero them out. You've got
to be there with a gentle nurturing non-ego
presence or it's just another irresponsible use
of deep astonishment
* Workshopped with my good buddy
PATRICK SNOWDEN who also convinced his
wife Bonnie into thinking that Fm somewhat
normal. (This didn’t hold up for long but it was
a noble effort).Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLYFISH
EFFECT - A peanut butter and jelly sand-
wich is on @ napkin; resting on the palm of
your hand. Suddenly, the top slice starts to
move, floats eerily above the rest of the sand:
wich, and sort of dances around in the ait. The
PBB settles back to where it started. You
eat it
DIRTY WoRK - The paper napkin on your
hand (it should be large enough to completely
cover your hand) has a hole in it that your mid-
dle finger can be pressed straight up through
thus effectively insulting the top slice of bread
When you make the sandwich, spread the
peanut butter and jelly both on one piece of
bread. Make @ hole in the center of this bread
and then rest the clean slice on top of it. The
napkin goes on your hand, and the sandwich
goes on the napkin. The hole in the napkin
should line up with the hole in the botton of
your sandwich (FIG. 1)
Both holes go right aver the base of your
middle finger (FIG. 2)
27
Or simply poke @ finger through the napkin
and lower slice to create your giramick on the
run,
STEP ONC. - Arrange your life so that your
audionce views this from above. tt helps to
lower your hand with the sandwich to your
waist level
STEP TWO - Your other fingers keep the
lower slice anchored 2s you slowly press your
middle finger up through the holes causing the
upper slice to rise up off the sandwich as in
FIG, 3 (make sure you've got the balence
right.) Now wiggle the finger back and forth to
make the top slice dance.Paul Haris The Art of Astonishmene
STEP THREE - Allow the bread to settle
back down onto the sandwich. Pull your finger
out of the hole back under the napkin. Pick up
the sandwich and take a bite, while your other
hand crushes the napkin to hide the hole,
Casually wipe your finger with the crushed
napkin, and don't allow anyone to see the
underside of your lunch ‘till you've eaten the
evidence.
FAST-FOOD FLOAT - You can do the same
effect with a burger or a flying fish fillet
VERSION #2 - This is done as a quickie
gross-out to enhance the digestion process.
The setup is pretty much the same, except
when you press your finger up into the sand-
wich, get it all covered with a big glob of
peanut butter and jelly so it can’t be recog-
nized as a finger. This disguised finger pokes
through just enough to pass as an alien peanut
butter creature.
STEP ONE - Comment that this was sup-
posed to be a peanut butter and banana sand-
wich.
28
STEP TWO - Use your free hand to openly
litt off the upper piece of bread. The hole and
your finger should be completely covered by
the glob. Wiggle your finger around, and calm
ly comment, “Is a banana slug! (It should
really look ike a living something is squirming
under the peanut butter)
STEP TUREE - Quickly press the upper
slice back in place and pick up the sandwich.
(Pull out your finger and crush the napkin just
ike in the first version.) Take a big bite to make
Mr. Slug go to sleep,
STEP FOUR - Chew slowly.
PuotNote -
* Combine the two versions by commenting
that there seems to be something in your sand-
wich. Animate the upper slice so it jiggles
around, then reveal the surprise inside. This
performance art sandwich is an Academy
‘Award winner for junior astonishees. Or you
an do it to entertain yourself when no one’s
looking.
* In the nottoo-didtant past, Elmsley,
Andrus, Dingle and Fearson have used this
same principle to float a small packet of cards
off of a deckPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
RUMPLED SPLITSKIN
CFFECT - You give a special someone two
folded, signed, business cards to hold in her
hand. She utters the magic name “Rumpled
Splitskin” and the two signed cards merge into
a single seamless unit..leaving one card per
manently bonded INSIDE the layers of the
other card. This is something your client will
cherish forever and ever until something better
comes along
PREP ~ You need a stack of your business
cards and a glue stick. Take one of your cards
and carefully peel back one layer of the paper
3/4 of the way across (FIG. 1). (Depending on
the card stock, you may have to go through a
few cards to get a clean split).
Lay another card crosswise between the lay
ers of paper, and glue the split card back
together as in FIG. 2. Fold the ends of the
inner card down and around to the backside
(FIG. 3), Put this gaff second from the top of
your stack of business cards and snap a rubber
band around them to hold things in place
STEP ONE. - Bring out the cards and
remove the rubber band, Develop some rap-
port with your client. If the rapport part isn’t
happening, give her the rubber band and call it
a day.
29Paul Harts The Art of Astonishment
STEP TWO - Lift off the top single card
and place it down crossed-over the gaff as in
FIG. 4. Fold the two protruding ends of this
card onto the back of the second gaffed card.
s0 it matches the look of the glued cards (FIG.
5). (You'l have to lift the gaffed card up a bit
to tuck in the folded ends.) Have someone
initial the exposed flat end of the gaffed card
that's under the top folded card,
STEP THREE. - Tip the stack toward your
self slightly, and slide the glued cards out from
under the single folded card (Slide it toward
youself from the packet's top end.) Your left
hand turns down to hide the single folded card
as this is done (FIG. 6),
STEP FOUR - Your right hand tables the
gaff face down, without letting go of it. Have
someone initial the folded ends. As they are
writing on the folded card, pocket the stack
along with the hidden card.
STEP FIVE. - Pick up the glued cards and
fold the ends of the outer card down and
around the other side as in FIG. 7. All four
ends of the two cards are folded against each
other. Press this packet between someone's
palms. After suitable build-up, allow her to
open up the cards and discover the double
cross.
EVEN BETTER - Secretly get hold of
someone's business card and create the gaff
by combining their card with your card. (The
spectator’s card is the one that gets folded
under) Put the gaff on top of your packet of
normal cards and your set. Borrow the match-
ing business card, openly cross it over the gaff
and continue as described
‘+ Workshopped with ERIC MEAD..who
directed the traffic-control for the switch, and
came up with the poetic title
30Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
ree Ride” is a convenient, no-palm way to
scretly add cards to the deck any time
during your performance. Although it can be
used for a very direct force or open prediction
offect, its real value is in adding extra or gatfed
cards at a moment's notice.
PRE-RIDE - Tear off the useless little case
tabs and put them out of their misery. Put the
card or cards you want to add into the case.
Close the flap so the end of the card(s) are
trapped outside the case flap, showing through
the half moon (FIG. 1).
If you want your card to end up on the bot:
tom of the deck. place it face down in the
case. To add a card to the top of the deck, put
the card in face up. We'll assume the card is
going to the bottom for what follows.
at
FREE RIDE
STEP ONE. - The case (hal: moon side up)
should be to your right with the flap end point-
ing away from you. The point is to have the
case positioned so your right hand can easily
and naturally set the deck onto the box
When you're ready to add the card, casually
set the deck on top of the case. (You would
have set the deck on the table, but the case
was right there so what the hey) The face-
down deck goes right on top of the card inside
the case... but the deck is slightly beveled over
the end of the case away from the opening
(FIG, 2). Just plop the deck onto the case in
the general area, The pack does not have to be
square or precisely positioned. Pause a
moment to chat. Crack your knuckles, pet the
cat, do any normal thing that would naturally
take you away from the deck for a moment.SaN NNN N Nn Un nnn TTT TTT TTT TTT EEE
Poul Harris The Art of Astonishment
STEP TWO - Your right fingers grab the STEP FIVE - Openly pinch the deck with
‘case and deck from above as one unit, then your left fingers and thumb.along with the hid-
turn the front flap end of the box so its open den card through the half moon cutout, Your
ing points toward your left fingerstips, which right hand pulls the box away to the right as in
dare palm up about a foot away from the box in FIG. 4 (left hand is stil motionless) and puts
“receiving” position. The following action will the box aside. The hidden card will come right
put the deck back into your left hand along ut of the case and biend with the pack, You
with the secret card, have successfully loaded a card (or packet)
‘STEP THREE. - Your right fingers give the onto the bottom of the facedown deck. The
deck a tide by sliding the box along the table too! kit is complete. Your mind is unclouded.
toward your lett fingertips. Your left hand You're ready to unleash the moment of aston-
doesn't move. The right hand brings everything _Ishment.
to the left hand.
STEP FOUR - When the box reaches your
left fingertips, press the closed flap end against
your fingertips (FIG, 3). The flap will automati-
cally push into the box enough for your finger-
tips to get under the hidden card, (which is
also the perfect logical position for the left fin-
gers to grab the deck).
32.Paul Harris The Art of
ARROW-SPLIT-ARROW
ou give a rare demonstration of Zen and
“Y. tte iv of Cord Tosang a mdtatv sll
perfected after years of one-pointed practice
with a common pack of cards,
This is an enhancement of the classic
Boomerang Card, pre-cursed by Stephen
Minctis Robinhood Card
EFFECT - You focus on your breath, exhale
into a state of perfect repose, then extend your
arm and allow a single selected card to release
itself from your fingers. The tossed card effort-
lessty dances through space in somewhat the
same fashion as a cat mistaken for a Frisbee.
Having achieved its apex of flight, the card
reverses its trajectory, heads back toward the
deck, then slices into the pack. For a moment,
the world stops. This will happen when one
forgets to inhale. You do so, then reveal that
the razor-sharp edge of the boomerang card
has actually RIPPED into the card beneath it
The split card is turned up and seen to be the
mate of the card that split it! Someone gasps,
“How is that possible?” You silently hold up one
finger. A student clips your nail. (This is an
inside Zen joke. Don't worry about it)
SECRETLY - Take out any face-down card
and tear it about an inch down the middle by
pulling the right side up and the left side down
(FIG. 1), Note that the left part of the torn card
pulls down away from the rest of the card. If
you feel like having the deck shuffled by a
spectator, slide the torn card into the case so
it's set up for “Free Ride” (see previous effect)
and can be stolen onto the bottom of the deck
at any time,
STEP ONE - Go through the deck and
remove the mate to the torn card. Have the
deck shuttled, (if you don’t want to do “Case
Load” just get the torn card secretly on the
bottom and remove the mate.)
33Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
STEP TWO - Place the deck on the box in
“Case Load” position. Stop a second, take a
deep breath, and boomerang the single card as
impressively as skill permits. Do it a few times.
This is @ fine ooh-ahh moment for the folks at
home, plus it alerts you to any drafts or obste-
cles that might interfere with your toss when it,
really counts. (See PHootNotes for toss and
catch handling.)
STEP THREE - Pick up the deck, stealing
the torn card onto the bottom, Hold it in your
left hand in position to do the Charlier cut. The
tear is on the left side.
STEP FOUR - Toss the card boomerang
style face up. As it returns, do the Charlier cut
and catch the card face up in the face-down
deck
STEP FIVE. - Openly adjust the position of
the face-up card so it's pinched in the deck by
its lower-eft corner as in FIG, 2. This position is
critical
STEP 51K - Press up against the face-up
card slightly, and slide it counter-clockwise into
the deck. This will slip the face-up card into the
slit (FIG. 3 shows card positioned in slit with.
upper half of deck removed.) Make no attempt
to hide this action. Just slide the card out a bit
to highlight its precise location in the deck,
then press it back in.
This is actually three effects. Make sure you
give each moment the space it deserves
Effect 1 - you catch the card. Effect 2 - the
caught card has split a second card. Effect 3 -
the caught card and the split card are @ per-
fect match
STEP SEVEN - Spread the cards carefully
between your hands, being extra careful to
keep the face-up card wedged into the split
‘When you artive at the face-up card, play it like
a reablife card-split has never happened before,
‘wall maybe once, centuries ago in a Tibetan
monastery, and even that was just a legend.
Gently lift the face-up card out of the pack 50
its split mate remains wedged and suspended
from the face-up card. Slowly tilt them up. Be
siill and listen for the sound of more than one
hand clapping
BOOMERANG NOTE - As mentioned earlier
the basic technique is a meditative skill perfect-
ed after years of one-pointed practice. Although
you can become functionally proficient after a
mere couple of hundred hours.
FIGS. 1 through 3 show the one hand
Charlier cut. You should get so good at this
that you can get to FIG. 3 in what feels like
ONE smooth non-stop action. The deck should
just “open up.” the previous actions blending
into one fluid moment,Paul Harris The Art af Astonishment
The toss looks like FIGS. 4 and 5. The
sharper the backspin the less angle required
for the toss. Given an open space and a pow-
erful backspin the card can achieve an almost
flat trajectory. You can get the same eff
without the backspin but then the card won't
come back
Relax and exhale as you toss the card. You
need to be in a very still yet focused state to
consistently achieve a good toss and catch.
CATCLING THE CARD - Execute the one
hand cut just as the card is tossed (all ey
should be on the card), the deck stays open
FIG. 6. As the spinning card boomerangs back.
adjust the deck’s angle so the break is on the
ame plane as the spinning card. Your deck
hand “tracks the card” by moving down or
back, allowing the card to catch up with the
deck. Do not thrust the deck out to mest the
card. You may still catch it but you'll miss more
often
When you miss: Drop your break and cut
the slashed card back to the bottom. Pick up.
the tossed card and try again.
Other than that the effect is basically sett
working,
PUlbotNoTes -
+ Instead of finding the tossed card's mate,
you could toss an indifferent card and use it 10
split @ previous selection. Force the split card
in a way that keeps the split concealed. The
good news about this is that when you miss
the catch you don't have to chase down the
card. You can just take another random card
off the deck and try again
* Force a normal card that’s a duplicate of
the split card that’s on the bottom, Really lose
the force card in the deck’s center. Then use
any other card as the boomerang
35Paul Haris
vve been chasing this piece of st
years.
It started with the classic any-cardatany-
number problem. | was looking for a purist no-
touchies shuffled-deck solution that I'd want to
do on purpose. Having repeatedly hit the stu
pid wall on this to the point of numbness my
only option was to uplevel the game by mak:
ing the problem even more impossible... in
hopes that the shifting conditions would crack
the construct enough to let in some light.
So | unplugged from all my stale thoughts
about what might be real or good or practical
and allowed the “any card” to become any
eight cards and the “any number” to become
the any eight serial numbers on a borrowed
bill
in this game the spectator brings out any
dollar, then shuffles the deck and freely selects
any eight cards. The numbers on the eight
cards exactly match the eight serial numbers
on her dollar. A golden paradigm-popper, but
where's the light?
Inge for
BAT FISUING
A SCRUFFY ISLAND KID/P.L1
37
if you explore this piece for any length of
time you can't help but to notice that the only
elegant approach is to switch both the bor
rowed bill and her eight freely selected cards
for a matching set, and to minimize your expo
sure and handling you'll want to switch them
{as one unit at the same time. Seems simple
enough until | rummage around in my tool kit
and discover that | have no practical eight
card/dollar switches that can take the heat. If
there's the slightest hint of a switch the mys-
tery will collapse into solution, which is not
what we'te here for. So it's back to the stupid
wall where | sat on a pillow and felt stupid for
a long, long time.
And since | didn’t have the slightest idea
about what thought to think next my mind
shifted gears to memories about an island in
the South Pacific where wild bats were sold
like chickens. Catching the bats was the major
source of income for the scruffy island kids.
Their simple solution to the batcatching prob-
lem was to go sky fishing for the tasty critters
by flying @ kite with baited hooks tied to the.
kite string. Of course, how else would you do
ipPaul Horns The Are
Unfortunately none of this could practically
be applied to switching a packet of eight cards
and a dollar, But since | still didn’t have the
slightest idea about what thought to think |
gave the problem to one of the island kids.
Maybe a scruffy kid with a simpler perspective
would have a more direct approach, maybe
something that my conditioned adult mind was
too smart to consider.
The kid didn’t think twice. He walked right
though the stupid wall and yanked out the pil:
low | was sitting on. “What..use the pillow as
‘cover for the switch? Of course, how else
would you do it?
PRE-BAT - Finish off your barbequed bat-
burger, then look around your performing envi
ronment. You want @ naturally occuring situa
tion where you can sit directly across from your
spectator..where there just happens to be a pi.
lowsike object to your right.
1. If you‘ee sitting on the floor, @ small pillow
oor magazine is great. If you'e sitting at @ table
‘you can use @ magazine, a menu, folded news
‘paper oF a legal pad or any similarsize object.
‘The whole point being that this thing is @ net
tral, naturally occuring part of the landscape
{hat just happens to be there. You don't want
10 be seen adjusting anything. The only skill
required for the effect is to naturally find you
and your spectator in this situation
2. Now get hold of an averagetooking dollar
that has serial numbers that correspond to the
numbers on cards..which means avoiding ser
al numbers that have ones or zeros. Remove
the matching spot cards from a deck (any
suits) and arrange them in in a packet from the
top down in the same order as the serial num:
ber.
38
——
of Astonishment
3, Im a floor guy so welll assume a floor
and a pillow (On the offchance that you're not
a floor guy, simply translate what follows to
work with a table and magazine/newspaper/
menu etc) Put the bill on the floor so its serial
number side is down, then place the face-
down card stack on top of the bill (FIG. 1), Note
that the stack is in @ loose not-completely
savared condition. Cover the dollar stack with
a pillow so that the concealed stack is as close
as you can get to the left side of the pillow
(FIG. 2), Again, once you start, you do not
want to be seen adusting the pillow or paying
the slightest attention to it. This thing is just
part of the floor and has nothing to do with
your performance
PERFORMANCE -
| always do this with the now lessthan-fulh
deck, If it makes you feel better you can use a
full deck but since my deck is often missing
cards anyway its never been an issue.
STEP ONC - You and your friend have natu-
rally found yourself sitting on the floor (across
‘rom each other..the pilow just to your right.
Before this maybe you were on the sofa, or in
another room, but now the floor seems like @
cozy place to be.
STEP TWWd - Drop the deck on the floor
between you and your friend and have her
bring out a dollar. If she doesn’t have a dollar
handy she can select one of yours..but i's bet-
ter if she uses her own dollar.Paul Harris The Art of Aston
Direct her to place the dollar flat on the
floor so George is facing down. Use one finger
to adjust the dollar so it's about an inch to the
left side of the pillow. oriented like the con-
cealed bill
STEP TUREE - Drop the case to your left
as you have her shuffle the deck so it's shut
fled beyond a doubt, then have her “put it over
there” (indicate the pillow). This spot could just,
as easily have been the floor but there's a
thing already there so what the heck.
STEP FOUR - Direct her to remove one
card off the top of the shuffled deck and to
place it face down on top of the bill, Adjust the
card with one finger so it's on the bill in about
the same position as the setup. Have her con-
tinue to remove face-down cards off the deck
and place them onto the bill until there's @
loose stack of eight cards (FIG. 3),
STEP FIVE - Say, “You shuffled and dealt
the cards. | don’t want to touch anything,” and
with one finger nudge the case toward her.
“Pick up the box" and with the same fair
hands-off attitude gently pick up the pillow so
it's just off the floor as in FIG 4, and say “Pick
up the deck.” I's natural for you to move the
pillow slightly to the left toward your spectator,
making it easier for her to take the deck. At
this moment both sets of bills will be momen-
tarily blocked from view by the offered pillow,
39
‘As the deck is taken set the pillow back
down on the floor so it now covers the specta-
tor's stack..leaving your pre-set stack now vis
ble on the right side of the pillow. Stil flowing.
direct your spectator to place the deck inside
its box and to put the box aside.
The deed is done. Anyone paying close
attention would simply see the pillow naturally
being moved from one side of the bil to the
other..as you naturally offered the deck to your
spectator. The moment when the bil is
blocked from view (where all attention will be
con the deck) is enough to neutralize anyone's,
specific memory of where the bill was sup:
posed to be.
Now it's time to sell the details. She shuffled
the deck, she dealt the random cards onto her
random dollar, which just happens to be the
home of eight random serial numbers. Let her
slowly deal through the cards one at a time as
she matches them up for eight moments of
astonishment
PUsotNotes -
+ What about the stuff under the pillow?
The stuff will be quite content to sit there until
whenever you feel like retrieving it. Remember,
the pillow is just a neutral part of the land-
scape. But if this makes you twitch: Before the
big reveal, direct your spectator to carefully
take her dollar stack into another room so that
there is no way you could be influencing what
she’s about to witness. Then while she aston-
ishes herself in the bathroom you can
rearrange the furniture.Paul Haris The Art of Ast
+ When doing this for the more skeptical
souls its fun to build a garden path of no
return. Have them shuffle the deck @ certain
‘way, but only twice..then cut the deck into
eight packets, then have her shuffle each pack-
et before dealing out a card..and on down the
scenic route and over the edge to ground zero.
+ After the spectator has placed the deck
into the box (and the switch is done) you can
have her remove one last card from the box
and place it on top of the stack..where she
then immediately picks up the stacked bill
Create a little mental space by selling the
details, then direct attention to the first symbol
of the serial number; oops. it's a letter, so the
top card's @ zonk...but all the rest are golden.Paul Hanis The Art of Astoni
here is but the flimsiest of transparent
membranes between what our imperfect
perceptions experience as real..and the actual
state of affairs. The following visual metaphor
lies in wait as sucker bait for unexamined
beliefs.
[FFECT ~ A joyous spectator discovers that
her freely selected card is the only card in the
deck with a secret mark on its back. But you
can't walk around with an illegally-marked card
in your deck so you slide the mark off the card
and onto the cellophaned case. But you don't
really like having card-mark-graffiti all over your
‘almost new case so you slide the mark off
onto a card you don't use very much and give
it to the spactator to dispose of as she wishes,
TEST INELING - Stand by with your basic
write-aletter type of pon (not a sharpie) then
draw a question mark on the cellophane of
your card case. (You may have to tilt the pen at
a creative angle to make the ink happen.) Lot
the ink dry for ten seconds or so..then slide
your thumb across the mark, The ink should
effortlessly wipe away leaving just the clear
unmarked cellophane. If the mark is stil there
you need to find a different style pen. This
should be a carefree sort of search that you
can indulge in at your leisure.
a
PRE-MEM - Draw a small question mark on
the back of a card (FIG.1) and put it on the
face of your Bicycle deck
You must now pre-mark the cellophane on
the white space to the left of the big Spade
(FIG. 2). Handle the case with care because
any contact with the mark will cause it to no
longer be, Set the empty case aside, marked-
side down, flap end toward you. The slight
bend of the open flap should prevent the
erasable mark from touching the table.
TUG ACTUAL MEM
STEP ONE - Spread the faceup deck
between your hands es you ask someone to
point out any card that suits her fancy. Remove
the face-up selection and place it onto the face
of the deck. then give the deck a complete cut
and turn it face down
STEP TWO - As you spread through the
face-down cards comment that you had prev
‘ously put a secret mark on one card. You didn’t
mark the rest of the cards because you didn't
want to ruin a perfectly good deckPoul Harris The Art of Astonishment
‘As you near the center of the pack, cleaniy
separate each card as it slides by to make sure
that you don’t accidentally pass the small mark.
When your spectator discovers the “secret”
mark, leave it on top of the leftthand cards,
while your right hand tables it's half face up to
your left (FIG. 3).
STEP THREE - Obtain a leftpinky break
beneath the second card as you square your
left-hand spread. Double lift by grasping the
two cards above the break with your right fin-
gers from above by the ends. Turn your hand
palm up to display the face of the marked
selection (FIG. 4). (Bow the double outward for
‘a more singular look).
Turn your hand palm down to turn the dou-
ble face down, then slide the double onto the
face of the cards as you turn them face up
‘onto your left hand..where your left thumb
slides the spectator’s single face-up card off
the face and into your right fingers. Your left
hand then tables its cards face up square onto
the other half
STEP FOUR - Your left hand then retrieves
the case and holds it as in FIG. 6. so your left
thumb conceals the mark (without touching it)
‘As you move to slide the spectator's
‘marked card under the “unmarked” cello-
phane, tilt up the end of the case to hide its.
mark, as your right fingers turn it's card face
down (outer end also tilted up to momentarily
conceal it's unmarked back) as in FIG. 6.
Slide the face down card under the cello-
phane so the mark is positioned above the end
of the card so it appears to be the original
marked card (FIG. 7), Vibrate the card then
hold the case by its sides as you allow your
spectator to slowly slide out her card...where
its mark slides off onto the membrane. So
you've sanitized the spectator’s card by mess-
ing up your squeaky-clean case, Now what?
42Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
STEP FIVE. - Your right fingers pick up the
face-up deck and transfer it to the tips of your
left thumb and fingers, which hold it clear of
the marked case (FIG. 8). Your right fingers
double lift to show a clean back (FIG. 8)
Replace the double, and as your right fingers
slide off the face-up (marked) single, your left
hand turns down to table the deck face down,
STEP 51x ~ Tilt the card so only you can
see it’s back and adjust your grip so your right
thumb conceals the secret question mark.
Casually allow the back of the card to be seen
as your left fingers pick up the box. The box
should be markedside up, flap end pointing
toward you (FIG. 10).
43
{As you move to slide the card under the cel
lophane, tit the audience end of the box and
the card up slightly to momentarily conceal the
marked surface of the case and the card
where your left thumb secretly erases the mark
on the case. At the same fime your right
thumb slides up to the unmarked end of its
card, where your right fingers swivel the card
around 80 i's marked end can be slipped
under the cellophane
STEP SEVEN - Slide the card under the
cellophane so the card's mark is in about the
samo position as was the erased cellophane’s
‘mark as you untit the case where everything
appears to be transparently true. The audience
has just seen you slide an unmarked card
under the marked cellophane membrane. The
actual reality is exactly the opposite.
Allow someone to hold the case as your fin-
gers vibrate the card a bit..causing the ques-
tion mark to penetrate the clear membrane
and reattatch itself to the back of the card
Slowiy slide out the card to reveal the now per
manent nonsliding question mark
PUbotNoTes -
* Yes, you can use any small mark: a happy
a spectators initials etc, (etc. is not one
of the suggested marks but it could be used.)
+ There's an excellent chance that your left
thumb will now have a smudge of ink on it
This is something you'll have to deal with.
+ You can use the final marked card to slide
directly into “Sliding Ink" (see Index).
* One of my more extravagant indulgences
for this used a cutout cardease back (half-
moon side) that was wrapped in cellophane
just like the real thing (The gaff was trimmed
slightly shorter for easier concealment in a
deck although a perfect fit was impossible
which is something that's almost beyond my
comprehension.)
fac
| used @ Sharpie to draw a question mark on
a face-up card and slid it into the cellophane
gaff, then drew a matching question mark on
the inner surface of the cellophane wrapped
around the real box, then slid @ duplicate
unmarked card face-up under that cellophane.Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
So then in performance while the audience
examined the marked box and the unmarked
card (which I would have forced if | had an
ounce of integrity but when you have a gaff
that doesn't fit your deck you start to let things
slide.)
Next Id hire a small child to load the gaff
from my pocket onto the bottom of the deck
then bestow upon someone the honor of
replacing the unmarked face-up card into the
marked cellophane..and as my right hand
(which held the face-up deck with the never-to-
be squared gaff at the back) closed the case
flap, I'd actually load the cellaphane gaff direct
ly onto the flap..so the flap looked closed and
if you lived right most of the gaffed edges
would line up (but sometimes didn’t which was
not fun but still didn’t bother me half as much
as the gaff NEVER being able to perfectly
square with the deck.)
So in a utopian angle-proof-world of improb-
ably innocent onlookers everything looked
exactly the same as before..and now when the
card was slid out. the mark had transmor
agraflamed itself from the cellophane onto the
face of the card, which is something you don't
see everyday.
44
The marked card was then replaced face up
back under the cellophane..and as my deck
hand opened the flap (for no good reason
except as maybe @ ritual action to reverse the
magic... but that was the least of my problems)
Id steal the gaff back onto the bottom of the
deck WHICH WOULD NEVER EVER REALLY FIT
then drop the deck in a pocket as the specte-
tor slid the now unmarked card out from the
marked cellophane...sort of ending clean if you
don't count the deck in my pocket and too
many of these things (..) all over the page and
the DEMENTED NEVER-T0-BE-SQUARED
DEMON-SPAWN GAFF OF DISCIPLINE,
And then | stopped and looked around and
realized that none of this fit into a peaceful
lifestyle of intentional simplicity so | tore the
gaff up into a thousand pieces and burt the
pieces and flushed them down the toilet, then
blew up the toilet, then wrote this insane
PHootNote, the cutsie spelling of which is not
one of my finer moments,
Olay..| think we should move on now.Paul Hacris The Art of Astonishment
MEMBRANE.
WITH A PACK OF SMOKES
P.U/MEAD
his is the original version of membrane
which | cooked up with Eric for use at the
‘Tower Bar. In the right situation, this can be a
more organic moment.
EFFECT ~ A strangers initials scrawled on.
a tor matchcover are slid under the cello-
phane of a pack of smokes. Someone blows
out a match..and as the smoke drifts over the
pack, the strangers initials creep off the match
cover and reattach themselves to the under-
side of the transparent cellophane membrane.
No one knows why it happened or what it
means. The stranger and the someone
exchange initials. You're not sure which one is
you. Maybe something can be done. Maybe it's,
all just smoke.
45
MEMMING THC ®2ANC. - Secretly write
someone's initials on the outside of the cello-
phane on a pack of cigarettes. Print them neat
ly near the opening as in FIG. 1. A magic mark-
er works best but a pen will do if you're care-
ful. Now slide a blank torn-off matchbook cover,
under the cellophane as in FIG. 2. This creates
the illusion that the writing is on the paper
under the cellophane wrap. Flip the pack
writing;side down on the table
STEP ONE - Openly tear off the cover of a
matchbook. Write the spectators initials on the
cover exactly like the ones on the cellophane
then table the pen to your right. Pick up the
pack of smokes and hold it in “dealing posi-
tion” in your right hand so the open edge of
the cellophane is toward you (the extra match
cover is concealed on the bottom against your
palm)Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
Your right fingers slowly slide the marked
cover under the top layer of cellophane so the
cover is positioned like the one on the under
side (FIG. 3). Notice that a tiny edge of the ini-
tialed cover is left sticking out from the cello-
phane. This allows for its easy removal later.
STEP TWO - Ina moment, you are going
to secretly reverse the pack undercover of plac
ing it on the table under the pen. Let's do it
once without the reverse so you can see how
it feels: The pen should be at least a foot to
the right of the pack. Pick up the pen with STEP THREE - Grab the remains of the
your aft fingers as your right hand moves the __to™M matchcover, the part with the matches
pack to the right and puts it on the table on stil attached, and light a match. Have some-
the same spot where the pen was. As soon as one blow out the flame and let the smoke drift
the pack hits the table slap the pen down on. around the box. Your right hand picks up the
top of the pack. Wipe your hands against your ox and rests it flat against your lft fingers
shirt or do some other natural gesture to show ‘Make sure your fingertips are in contact with
your hands empty. Ths is your “reason” for the edge of the marked cover undemeath,
putting the pack on the table..to free your Slowly begin to slide the wrapper down and
hands for a moment. Now reset the scenery off the pack of cigarettes. Your left thumb
and we'll do it with the reverse: keeps the blank cover on the box (FIG, 6). the
other cover is kept in place by pressure from
underneath (FIG. 7). Take your time as you visi-
bly slide the inked initials off the paper and
onto the clear cellophane.
The pack is on your left, the pen is tabled
about a foot to the right. While your left hand
moves toward the pen, get your right thumb.
under the pack. As your right hand moves the
pack toward the pen, your thumb flips the pack
over to the right..s0 the fake blank cover is
now visible on top. (Don't do the flip all at
once. Do the reverse gradually as the box cov-
ers the distance to the pen as in FIG. 4). Your
left arm covers the reverse. so relax) Table the
pack where the pen was as you slap the pen
onto the box (FIG. 5). That's it. A completely
natural action to show your hands emply.
Everything appears normal.
46Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
STEP FOUR. - Once the clear wrapper is
Off, toss it to the table. Then allow the blank
cover to slide off the box and land next to the
marked cellophane.
47
STEP FIVE. - As your right hand takes the
box and tables it to the right, allow your left
fingers to curl naturally around the hidden
match cover, Table the box to the right. Pick up
the pen with your left hand and pocket it
along with the marked evidePaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
48Paul Harris The Art of Aston
THE SWING THING
P.U/MEAD
vailable for about a dollar at most Swing
Thing outlets or $ 14.95 at your local
magic dealer.
This revolutionary “Change Bag in a bill” is
designed to invisibly exchange small objects
with a single swing of the flap. There are prob-
ably thousands of incredible effects that this.
versatile utility device could be used for.
Unfortunately, | can’t think of one worth doing,
So that’s it, Oh well. Sorry,
Eric - “What about an easy version of
Siydini's shredded cigarette using a sugar pack
ot?
PH, - “You're a good buddy.
Eric: ~ “1 know."
CFFECT - You tear open a blue packet of
Equal sugar substitute and pour its granules
‘onto a folded bill. You slowly rub the empty
packet on the pile of swaetener..which is sud
denly absorbed back into the packet..which
seals itself good as new! Dieters around the
world will rejoice. Slydini’s probably not too
thiilled
BEFORE YOU PERFORM - This can be
done with any sugar packet (read the notes at
the end of this description) but a packet of
Equal makes it fun. Go to a restaurant or coffee
shop, Order something healthy..and when no
‘one’s looking
Hold a dollar face down and fold it to look
like FIG. 1
Put an Equal packet onto the outer end and
fold the center flap to cover it (FIG. 2). You
now have a bill that seems to be simply folded
in half, but actually hides the Equal. Slide the
sweetened Swing Thing under a glass or salt
shaker, disguised as a tip.
»
49ne
Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
STEP ONE - Pick up a matching Equal
packet and tear it open. Leave the torn piece
attached. Begin to pour some of the fake sugar
out on your hand, then realize a mess is on the
way. Look around then pick up the “tip”
STEP TWO - Pour about half of the con-
tents out onto the bill. Place the opened packet
right onto the bill, directly above the hidden
packet (FIG. 3). Equal purists will want to orient
the visible packet exactly like the hidden packet
50 the printing will be exactly equal during the
switch,
STEP THREE - You will now seem to turn
the packet over onto the loose granules but
you'll actually use the folded bill to switch the
packets as follows: Reach with your right fin-
gers to the front of the gimmick and pinch the
outer long edge of both packets together with
the center flap on the bill. Turn all of it over
towards yourself, (Both sugars remain flush
with the front edge of the flap until after the
turr-over) (FIG. 4). This invisibly folds the tom
packet and loose sweetener into side “B” and
opens side “A” with the restored packet on top,
The turned-over Equal will seem to have been
in full view the entire time.
A SS
50
STEP FOUR - As the switch is completed,
your right fingers slide the visible packet for-
ward on the bill and rub it around for a
moment “to absorb the loose granules” then
hand the sealed sweetener to your astonished
table mate.
CLEAN UP #1 - If seated: Tip your left
hand back and let the white stuf fall out of
the bill into your lap as the restored packet is
handed out. Then snap the bill open and toss
it on the table, Stand over a cup of coffee
before you leave.
CLEAN UP #2 - If standing: Hand out the
restored packet and put the bill with its whole
mess directly into your left pants pocket..then
hose yourself off in the bathroom.
TUE .NO CLEAN-UP CLEAN-UP #3 ~ You
can side-step the mess by altering the effect.
Draw a tangled line onto the sugar packet then
use the ‘magnetic strip in the bill" to rearrange
the ink into your friend's name.
NOTE ON OTHER, PACLETS - Other
sugar packets won't quite fit the gimmick. So
you have to fold down the edge of the secret
sugar packet so it's fully hidden. The visible
torn packet must be folded similarly before the
switch. Equal is easier
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATION ~ “Want
to see something really neat? Watch this.Paul Haris The Art of Astor
le Ae
P.LU/MEAD
EFFECT - A dime is placed on top of a
clear plastic box of Tic Tac breath mints. You
press down on the coin causing it to visibly
drop through the plastic and into the box with
the mints, Tic Tacs are then handed out to any-
‘one who needs one.
TICKLING THE TAC - You need a standard
box of Tic Tac mints. Take 7 or 8 mints out of
the box. Eat them, (This loosens the remaining
Ties)
Drop a dime inside the box then hold the
box flat so you can see it’s Tic Tac covered
underside (FIG. 1). Shake the box until the
dime lies flat against the underside. (If the Tics
aren't cooperating dump them all out, slide the
dime into position, then pour the mints back
into the box. If you must resort to this you have
my permission to feel embarrassed.) Carefully
stand the box upright and tap it down a cou
ple of times to lock everything in place. As
ong as you leave it upright the dime will stay
in position.
51
@
STEP ONE - Bring out the Tic Tacs with
the concealed dime toward you. Carefully
shake out a mint and pop it in your mouth and
offer one to your magic buddy,
STEP TWO - Lay the box down on your
left fingers with the dime facing up. Keep this
hidden with your thumb for now. The top of
the box is away from you. You want to be care-
ful that you don’t jar the Tic Tacs and move
the dime out of postion
STEP TREE - Reach into your pocket
with your right hand and remove some
change. Show the change in your hand as you
openly separate a dime from the rest with your
thumb and fingers
STEP FOUR - Pretend to pick up the dime
with your right thumb and forefinger by gliding
your thumb over the top of the dime, secretly
leaving the dime behind with the rest of the
change which stays in your curled right fingers.Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
Pretend to press the dime down onto the
box (FIG. 2) where your left thumb moves away
to expose the boxed dime . When you do this
non-move in a casual manner your aboutto-be
astonished friend will have no choice but to
assume that the dime is resting on the outside
of the box. Put the change back into your
pocket
STEP FIVE - Openly press the tip of your
right index finger onto the boxed dime, but
leave a good chunk of the dime exposed. Rock
the box back and forth with your right index
finger while keeping your left hand still, Two or
three rocking motions will cause the Tic Tacs
to shift a little and spread out, taking pressure
off the dime pressed up against the
plastic..where the dime will seem to visibly
melt through the plastic and drop onto the
mints inside (FIG. 3A, 3B), Freeze your pose.
This is the moment
82
STEP SKK - Quietly swallow your Tic Tac if
you haven't done so already.
PUooTNoTe. - We used to do this with a
paddle move to show both sides of the “dime-
less" box, and some under-the-box coin moves
and turn-overs to switch the loose dime for the
boxed dime, We gradually simplified the han-
dling to the point where all you really have to
do is suck on a Tic Tac. The setup is so inno-
cent that people accept everything as is.
+ The real star of this show is Eric's idea of
the shifting mints which create the visible drop
of the dimePaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
EFFECT - The Astonishment Guide plucks
a single leaf from a living plant, The leaf is
marked on one side with the initials of a wit
ness. This marked leat is slowly and doliberate-
ly restored onto the plant—where it remains as
a living tribute to sustained astonishment
WHEN No ONE'S LOOKING - Find a suit
able leafy plant. Choose prominent leaf that’s
nearer the end of a branch and of a size that
could be easily palmed. (Despite its misleading
name, a palm tree will not work) Mark a spec-
{ators initials on the underside. Remember
what the initials look like so you can duplicate
them later. Its also critical that you know
which leaf you marked without checking
STEP ONE. - When the time is right, ask
your hastess’ permission to pluck one leaf from
her plant in order to show something wonder-
ful Pull off a leaf that closely resembles the
one you marked. Don't pull the marked one
STEP TWO - Take out the marker and
write the identical initials on the underside of
the plucked leaf. Don't make a thing out of it
just say to the spectator “Let's mark my ini
tials..better yet, let's put your initials on the
leaf.” Just do it. then hand her the leaf to look
at. I's important she handles the leaf while it's
separate.
53
LEAF
PL/MEAD
STEP THREE - As the astonishee is briefly
occupied with the loose leaf, secretly clip the
attached marked leaf between your left index
and middle finger as in FIG. 1. Now bend the
whole branch up and back gently, so the
Underside of the leaves are in view (FIG. 2}
The marked leaf is completely hidden behind
‘your left fingers. This “leaf clip” is easily done
Under cover of grabbing the branchPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
STEP FOUR. - Take the loose leaf back with
your right hand, and place it onto the left fin-
gers (FIGS. 3,4). Notice that if you completely
released the hidden leaf it would come to rest
in the same position as the visible leaf. There
car't be a visible change in position when you
do the switch,
STEP FIVE - Gently stroke the visible leat
with your right fingers (FIG. 5)
When the leaf is completely hidden from
view. clip it with your right thumb and steal it
away (FIG. 6) as you allow the hidden leaf to
spring out from between your left fingers. The
stroking action should never pause, and there
is no visible change of any kind. From the aud
ence’s point of view, you are simply stroking
the marked leaf. (What we are trying to say, is
that with a little practice and experimentation.
this is a perfect siow-motion switch.)
STEP 51K - Rub the leaf gentiy with your
left thumb, Then tug on it a litle, At first, peo-
ple will think you are faking this somehow, and
that’s good. Let them. Rub a bit more. tug
again, then hesitartly release the leaf, (Don't let
the branch go yet.)
STEP SEVEN - Have someone else gently
touch the healed leaf. “Be careful. Il be fragile
for a few minutes... Then let go of the branch
allowing it to waft back into it's natural posi
tion. Pick up the marker with your right hand
‘and pocket it along with the extra vegetation.
STEP LIGHT - Be silent. Give your aston
ishee space to experience the moment
PUootNoTe -
You can mark the leaf with a prediction as
in “Tom Mentalist” (see Index) ~ or go for a
more organic mark by previously creating a
small “natural” hole in both teaves. Point out
the “completely solid leat” ~ and hope your
spectator notices the hole. If not, casually
notice it yourseltCLOSE-UP FANTASIES FINALE (1981)
Originally published by Chuck MartinezPaul Havris The Art of Astonishment
56Paul Harris The Art of
THE BIZARRE VANISH
PLooTNoTe. - when | first published this
| become so engrossed in writing a bizarre
lead-in that | forgot to point out the absolute
whitelight astonishment of this effect. A spec
tator holds a card firmly in her fingers..then
sees and feels it vanish! Its a silver bullet that |
hold in reserve for those lost souls who have
trouble accessing the moment
| created the effect that follows based on
something | published awhile back known as
‘The Bizarre Twist.” Cannibalizing one’s own
material may seem a bit bizarre in itself, But
this year’s annual "Win a Date with PH. Buttalo
Bake-off" to see who could cook up the most,
outrageous closeup fantasy was won hands
down by semiprofessional bizarre person Mel
Stover.
Mel's award-winning performance of close-
up tackiness took place at a small country-
western bar in Calgary. Mel bet that he could
open a bottle of beer with his teeth. Mel pro
ceeded to win the wager by suavely removing
his teeth and uncapping the beer with a bottle
opener which he had previously imbedded in
his upper plate.
Mel promises that for next year’s entry he
plans to stuff his entire face inside the beer
bottle, Progressive Publisher and Part-Time
Buffalo Baker Chuck Martinez has already pur
chased exclusive rights to manufacture the offi-
cial “Mel Stover Folding Face Gimmick
EFFECT ~ A playing card visibly disappears
while held in a spectator's hand.
STEP ONE - Arrange the deck so that
three cards of some significance are on top.
Let's say that you have an Ace sandwiched
between two Jacks . Openly turn these three
cards face up on top of the pack. Hold the
pack from above by its ends with your right fin
gers and allow the lower half of the deck to
drop to the table. The unspoken logic for dre
ping the lower half is that you need only the
top three cards - so you've made a halfhearted
attempt to separate them from the deck
87Paul Havre The Art of Ast
You're now set to Biddle-steal the Ace as
you count the three cards off the packet and
into your left hand: Press your left thumb onto
the face of the top card and slide it diagonally
off the packet across the upper left comer and
onto the left palm (FIG. 1).
Repeat the same action with the Ace, but
obtain a left littlefinger break below the Ace as
it's slid onto the face of the leftthand pack. As
the third card (the second Jack) is slid onto the
lefthand cards, the Ace above the break is
stolen at the bottom of the right-hand packet
with your right fingers (FIG. 2)
The righthand packet should be positioned
near the tabled packet (FIG. 3) so the right
hand can place its packet onto the tabled one
as a natural follow-through of the steal
The audience should now believe you to
have three face-up cards in your left hand
STEP TWO - Adjust the two-card packet
so that it's held face down from below by its
ends between your left thumb and fingers. Lit
the top card up slightly at its inner side with
your right fingers (FIG. 4)Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
Reach into the gap with your right thumb
and forefinger and pretend to remove the cen-
ter Ace. Since there is no center Ace, remove
the bottom card instead (FIG. 5).
‘The inserted card is held in position by the
tip of the left forefinger.
STEP FOUR - Hold the phony sandwich
with both hands. Direct a spectator to hold the
“center Ace” between her thumb and forefinger
(FIG, 9), then make the following statement
STEP THREE - Turn the end of the right: “I'm going to take the top card away with my
hand card toward the inner side of the left- right hand and the bottom card away with my
hand card. Allow the tip of your left forefinger You get to keep the Ace.
to lightly press up against the face of the left
hand card (FIG. 6)
Pretend to place the right-hand card cross
wise between the “two cards” in the left hand
ala “Bizarre Twist” (Figs 7. 8)
59Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
{As you finish your statement, sharply turn Your right hand takes the top card, your left
both hands palm down (Figs. 10.11) hand takes the bottom, The turnover should
leave the two cards in line with one another.
The sharply-down sideways turn of the left-
hand card cleanly snaps it out of the specta-
tor's grasp — causing the Ace to instantly van-
ish out of the spectator’s hand. Drop your two
face-up Jacks onto her hand and allow your
bewildered spectator a moment of silence.
Gently draw your spectator out of her shocked
condition and slowly spread the deck to reveal
the vanished Ace.
PUlo Notes -
| often end with the vanish without repro
ducing the Ace. The vanish leaves them out
there in a timoless never-never land. The reveal
brings them back to earth, It ali depends upon
what kind of experience you want to orches-
trate.
* | usually do “Bizarre Twist” (see Index) and
“Bizarre Vanish’ together. Here's how to get
into it, along with another way to unload the
card for the vanish:
De the face-up twist just once then go right
into the color change. Toss the odd card aside
{as your right fingers hold the remaining two
face-down cards from above by their ends.
with a thumb break at the back to keep the
‘two cards separated. Your left hand picks up
the facedown deck in dealing position and
thumbs its top card to the right. Use the left
‘edge of your two right-hand cards to lever the
top card of the deck face up onto the deck
‘We'll use the Three of Hearts for a change of
pace.” As you use the two cards to flip the
face-up card face down onto the deck, your
righthand cards follow the levered-over card
down onto the deck... and secretly release the
card below the break so it's on top of the
deck. (I's important to follow the turned card
down and not just let the right-hand card drop
through the air)
60Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
You're right thumb slides the facedown * For the aggressively unconvincab
Three of Hearts,” between your right first and p Two you can add the audible “Snap
second fingers. Table the deck then insert the Count” convincer from “Illusion” (see Index).
single between the “pair” to get into "Bizarre
Vanish’ position,
61Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
62Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
CLOSE @CUARTERS
once asked Daryl the secret of his phenome-
nal success. The master closeup artist crypti-
cally replied: “Time fies lke an arrow, but fruit
flies ke @ banana.” With this basic philosophy
of life as a guide, Daryl has managed to fly
around the world with nothing more than a
pack of cards and a change of underwear. This
rational pilgrimage recently won Daryl the
Magic Castle's Close-up Magician of the Year
Award and a pair of gold-plated briefs from
Fruit of the Loom.
Dary's “Close Quarters” effect is one of
those embarrassingly direct “why didn’t I think
of that?" presentations that will be hungrly
devoured by professional table workers and dis
cerning Fruit Flies everywhere
CFFE.CT - Two quarters held in the per
former's hand are transformed into a single
halfdollar. Daryl makes this a big effect by sell
ing the details, if you want your audience to
know that you're doing something wonderful
you've got to tell then about it first!
PREPARATION - Place one quarter and
one half-dollar in a convenient right-hand
pocket
DARYL
STEP ONE. - In your very best Puerto Rican
gambler style, sashay over to a “magician-by-
request-only” table while suavely causing the
two coins to tinkle in your pocket. Perhaps one
time in ten an astute spectator will remark, “My
goodness, it sounds to me as though you have
two quarters tinkling in your pocket.” This, of
course, is the perfect introduction to the rou-
tine. Most times, however, you'll just have to
make this observation about the quarters your-
self
STEP TWO - Remove the “frst” quarter
from your pocket with your right fingers and
flip it into the air and pretend to place it into
your left hand. An added convincer here is to
say, “I will place this first quarter into my left
hand.
STEP THREE - As you reach into your
pocket for the “second” quarter, drop the
palmed quarter, palm the halfdollar and pick
up the first quarter that was originally palmed.
This is especially nice when set to music.
63Paul Haris The Art
STEP FOUR - Display the second quarter
‘on your right fingertips, flip it into the air, and
pretend to place it into your left hand with the
first quarter, while actually allowing the con
cealed half to drop from the palm. clink off of
the finger-palmed coin and into the left hand,
The clink pass sequence is overillustrated in
FIG. 1
STEP FIVE. - At this point your audience
should believe that you have two quarters in
your closed left hand. If you hear someone say
that you have a halt-dollar in your closed left
hand and the quarter finger-palmed in your
right hand, then i's time to move on to a less
critical audience,
64
Dump the palmed quarter into your pocket
as you remove either a pinch of fairy dust or
an invisible hair ball, Sprinkle your dust,
bounce the ball, then open your hand. The two
quarters have transformed into a single
halt-dollar!
TUE PLL PRESENTATION - Hire your
mom to weld two quarters together for you.
Use this molten mess in place of the half-do
lar. When you go to your pocket to dump the
second quarter, come out with a cigarette
lighter. Direct a spectator to hold your wrist.
and wave the flaming lighter near your closed
hand. Announce that you are magically weld-
ing the two quarters into a half-dollar.
Comment that the hot flame from the lighter
combined with the burning passion of the
spectator may be too much heat for the litle
quarters to bear. Open your hand and reveal
the magical meltdown,Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
HEARTBURN
his was inspired by a Ripley's “Believe-t-or-
Not” story about a man in prison who was
forced to take up bar magic as a hobby. After
2 few years of this meaningless existence, the
prisoner decided to commit suicide in a practi
calyet-entertaining fashion. His background in
chemistry had taught him that the red ink on
playing cards contained phosphorus and other
explosive elements. The ingenious prisoner
used this little known fact to construct a home-
made bomb out of scraped-off card ink, cotton
mattress padding, and a piece of pipe. Then
somehow, believe it or not, he managed to
blow his brains out
The performer illustrates this tall tale by tak
ing a real playing card, rubbing its index corner
to warm up the ink, then strikes it on a match-
book. The friction combined with the heated
ink causes the red pips to ignite ~ and the card
to burst into flame. Believe it or not
STEP ONE. - While skillfully misdirecting
your audience's attention elsewhere. secretly
snsert a paper match under the non-sandpaper
flap of a closed matchbook (FIG. 1)
(Note that the non-business end of the
match is under the flap.) Put the prepared
matchbook sandpaperside up and toward the
in an outof-theway place on the
STEP TWO - Go through your explosive
build-up as described in the first paragraph.
When you've got your audience sufficiently
primed, pick the card up in your right hand
and the matchbook in your left
The book is held between your thumb on
top and second finger below. Press your sec-
ond finger onto the concealed match head and
pull it back slightly, disengaging the match
from the flap (FIG. 2)
65Paul Haris
STEP THREE - As you strike the card
across the sandpaper in an attempt to ignite
the card, steal the match with your right sex
ond finger and slide it beneath the card
(FIG. 3)
Immediately follow up with a second dud
strike,
STEP FOUR - Table the matchbook and
then use your left second finger to adjust the
concealed match so that its head is flush with
the card's upper left corner (FIG. 4)
This adjustment is done undercover of
removing moisture” from the card by snapping
its comer with your left thumb.
Art of Astonishment
STEP FIVE. - Pick the matchbook up with
your left hand and light the card (FIG. 5),
A second after the match flames, slide the
match back away from the comer (FIG. 6)
‘The corer will remain lit for a few seconds
even though the match has gone out
STEP SIX - Wet your left second finger and
pinch the burnt corner, at the same time cool-
ing off the hot match head. Dump the match
to the floor as you toss the burnt card out for
examination,
PUootNoTe.
Eric uses the flaming card to casually light,
someone's cigarette. This is a fine idea,Paul Haris The Art of A
MICKEY MOUSE MATH
CFFECT - The performer proposes to locate
a selected card using a goofy new principle
known as "Mickey Mouse Math.” A Nine at the
pack's face is “mathemagically” split down into
a Two and a Seven. The Two is subtracted
from the Seven, leaving a Five spot on the
deck. The Five is divided into a one (Ace) and
a Four. The One is then visibly subtracted leav-
ing just a single Three spot -the original select-
ed card!
STEP ONE. - With the face of the deck
towards you, upog the following cards under
cover of programming the deck for a computer
card trick. The cards may be of mixed suits.
From face to back: 3, 9. 7-2 (or 2-7), 5, 4-4
{or A-4), (Note that the order of the 2-7 and 4-
‘A may be reversed. This gives you a better
chance of getting the entire setup in one run
through) Once in a while you'll un out of
cards before your setup is complete. When this
happens strip out the cards you've already up-
jogged and place them, still upogged. onto
the pack’s face. From this position spread
through the pack and upjog the cards you
missed the first time. In either case, stip out
ail of the upjogged cards and place them
square onto the pack's face. A Three should
now be showing in front
STEP TWO - Hold the facedown pack
from above by its ends with your right fingers
Use your right forefinger to swivel the top halt
cof the pack into your left hand (FIG. 1).
67Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
Place your righthand cards onto the left-
hand cards, maintaining a left lttleinger break
between the two halves. Riffle down the deck’s
upper left comer with your left thumb until a
concerned spectator tells you to stop. If you
really know your stuff you'll have timed the rif.
fle to stop at the break. Most of the time, how-
ever, you'll miss. All you have to do now is cut
to the break as your right fingers lift off the
upper half. Execute this with proper panache
and your audience will politely swear that you
did indeed cut to where they stopped. (After
doing this for a couple of years you'll find that
no one really cares where you cut the cards
But it's nice to know you're doing the right
thing.)
Press your left fingertips against the face
card (a Three) of the right-hand packet. Slide
this card onto the right side of the left-hand
packet (FIG. 2) and tilt your left hand up to dis-
play the forced Three.
Pull the card square onto its packet with
your left thumb, then replace the righthand
packet onto the left-hand packet. retaining a
break between them with your left litte finger.
Say ‘three times three” as you triple-undercut
to the break (cut three separate bunches of
cards from the bottom ~ cutting to the break
for the third batch). This controls the Three to
the top. Table the deck face up in a horizontal
position to reveal 3X3=9.
STEP THREE - A Nine should be visible
at the deck’s face. Grasp the ends of the d
with the fingers of both hands in preparation
for a slip-cut (FIG. 3), Note that the right fore-
finger is pressed against the Nine,
‘To convert the Nine into a Seven and a Two,
the right fingers remain stationary as the left
fingers cut the upper-half of the deck (beneath
the Nine} toward yourself (FIG. 4},
The leftthand half is placed square onto the
tabled half to reveal 2 Seven at the pack’s face.
Slip-cut the deck again - but this time leave
the two halves separate to show a Seven and a
Two (FIG. 5). Retain your grip on the cards.
68Paul Harris The Art of Astonist
STEP FOUR - Place the left-hand cards
square onto the right-hand cards and magically
subtract the Two from the Seven by performing
another complete slip-cut, placing the cutoff
left-hand packet onto the tabled cards revealing
a Five, Transform the Five into an Ace and a
Four by performing another complete slip-cut
(lefthand packet onto tabled cards), and then a
final slip-cut leaving half of the deck in each
hand’
STEP FIVE - Use both forefingers to slide
the Ace and Four onto the table (FIG. 6).
Pull the two packets taward yourself to dis-
engage them from the pushed-off cards, then
place the right-hand packet beneath the left
hand packet. As your left fingers square the
face-up deck (naw held from above by its
sides), obtain a left litefinger break above the
back card of the deck (a Three}
STEP SK - Using the thumb and forefin-
gers of both hands, pick up the tabled cards.
from their sides (FIG. 7)
69
The left-hand card is pulled square onto the
deck ~ leaving you with two cards above the
break, As the Ace is placed onto the Four, your
right fingers go into the break and hold the
three cards as two (FIG. 8)
To subtract the Ace from the Four, keep your
right hand stil as the right fingers flip the deck
face up onto the "two" face-up cards. As soon
as the deck lands, flip all of the cards over
back into the left hand — leaving the single
selected Three face up on top of the face-
down deck (Fig. 9)
Finish by dealing the Three off onto the
table
PLoTNoTE. - Once each slip-cut
sequence is started, the cuts should be execut-
ed fairly quickly. Pause for a moment atter the
completion of each subtraction phase. A brisk
pace is very important to the routine’s overall
impactPaul Hanis The Art of Ast
TORN AND 2.
CFFECT - (See title.
PREPARATION - Cut an empty card case
in half (FIG. 1).
Glue the case flap so it is permanently
sealed. Obtain four Jokers and cut two of them
in half, Also cut one indifferent card in hall
You'll now have four pieces of Joker, two
pieces of an indifferent card, and two complete
Jokers. Glue one indifferent card piece face up
onto the back end of each of the two Jokers.
Glue two Joker pieces face up overlapping the
indifferent piece on each of the complete
Jokers (FIG. 2).
ESTORED DEcK
When the prepared Jokers are turned face
up, the glued pieces should be out of sight
SETUP - Place the entire deck face up into
the lower half of the case. Position one of the
prepared Jokers (so the gaffed side is up) onto
the face of the cased deck. Note that the
rough edge of the end piece is inside of the
case (FIG. 3).
Place the other gaffed Joker (pieces-side up)
into the deck’s center with the rough end-
piece outside of the case (Fig 4},
nPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
Position the other half of the case on top of ‘The cut Jokers should be at the face of
above it (FIG. 5). are pulled away from each other to a shoul-
“|
The encased deck will stay secure in your
pocket or case until you're ready to present the
effect. When practicing this routine strive for a
casual, nonchalant handling of the “torn” deck
STEP ONC. - Bring out the deck with your
right hand, holding it from above by the sides
The torn deck and torn case are displayed.
Grasp the flap side of the case with your left
fingers and separate the two sections (FIG. 6).
Slide the cards out into two halt-spreads
using your forefingers (FIG. 8)
(tt will take a little practice to smoothly cre-
ate that torn-deck look ~ but if it was easy then
everyone would be doing it.) The hal-spreads,
should be angled toward the audience. This
makes the spread look thinner from the audi-
ence'’s side. Insert one half of the case into the
other half, at right angles, making a neat par-
cel. Then put it away in a pock
72Paul Haris The Are of Astonishment
STEP TWO - Use both hands to loosely From this position use both hands to snap
mush the two spreads together (FIG. 9) the two Joker cards over (FIG. 12)
Pry up the right Joker with your right thumb
so it overlaps the other Joker (FIG. 10).
This snap-over change restores the “four
pieces” of Joker into two complete cards — as
the rest of the torn deck restores itself!
Spread out the restored deck with your right
hand as your left hand pockets the two Jokers
(FIG. 13},
This enables the cards to be pushed togeth:
er — while keeping the Jokers on top. Note
that the hands cover both ends of the deck
The righthand Joker is tilted up to enhance
the torn-deck illusion (FIG. 11).
PLZoTNOTE - The method was inspired
by Brother John Hamman’s outstanding growe
ing deck effect, “MicroMacto.
73Paul Haris The Art of Astonishme
74Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
he close-up fantasy-maker boasts that he
has trained an ardinary deck of cards to
koop perfect time, Three face-up cards are pro:
duced from the shuffled deck: a Six, a Four,
and a Three. “At the sound of my voice.” the
performer announces, “the correct time will be
6:43." A nofun spectator insists that the cor
rect time is actually 2:58. The chastised clock
watcher keeps his cool, “6:43 is the correct.
time... in Venezuela. For local time | have to
cross the time line. The performer waves his
hands over the Six, Four and Three. The three
cards visibly change into a Two, a Five and an
Eight ~ instantly arriving at the perfect “shuttle
time” of 2:58
\WARNING - For maximum impact this rou
tine should not be performed on the hour or
between the hours of eleven, twelve or one, as
itis very difficult to find the corresponding
time cards in an average deck
STEP ONE - Sneak a peck at your watch
(better yet. don’t wear a watch and peek at
someone else's), add one minute and quietly
cull the corresponding cards to the top of the
deck. If the time is 5:42, for example, then you
would need a Five, a Four, and a Three of any
suit. The final time change is a little more
showy when the three cards match in suit
75
SUUFFLE TIME.
ur
ML
Wil
The order of the three cards from the top
down should be Five, Three, Four (the order of
the second and third time cards is always
transposed). The fourth card from the top
should be spot card of contrasting value to
the other three, Serious card guys will shun
this initial setup as inelegant and will instead
glimpse the top three cards of the shuffled
deck - then stall until the appropriate time.
STEP TWO - Give the deck a few shuffles
and cuts without disturbing your top stack,
then hold the deck face down in your left
hand. Obtain a left littlefinger break beneath
the fourth card as the deck is squared. Grasp
the deck from above with your right fingers,
transfering the break to your right thumb. Cut
off the lower two-thirds of the pack onto your
left-hand, then your left thumb slides the top
two cards of the deck (one at a time) onto the
left-hand packet. Place the two sections of the
deck together and retain a left little finger
break between them
As the packets are placed together, your
right fingers turn the two cards above the
thumb-break face up onto the deck as one.
Remove the packet above the finger-break and
place it on the table with the face-up double
(on top. As this packet is tabled, obtain a left lit-
tlesinger break below the top card of the left:
nd packetPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
Grasp the left-hand packet from above with ‘The left hand passes over the right. As the
‘your right fingers, transfering the break to your two packets cross, curl your forefingers under
right thumb. Revolve the lawer half of the their packets and lever the packet over. The
packet with your left fingers face up onto the Tight packet is turned toward the left. the left
one-card break, Cut to the break with your right packet toward the right (FIGS. 2, 3, 4),
fingers. As you table this packet to the right of
the first packet, obtain a left lttlefinger break
below the top card of the packet in your left
hand. Execute a Braue Reversal with these
cards by grasping them from above with your
right fingers, transferring the break to your right
thumb. Revolve the lower half of the packet
face up onto the top card. Cut off the rest of
the cards from below the break with your left
hand and place them face up onto the right-
hand packet. Table these cards to the left of
the other two packets.
At this point your audience won't know or
care whether the three face-up cards are on
top of the face-up or face-down packets. This
touch of mystery sets you up for the big
change at the end
STEP THREE - The current condition of
the tabled packets should be as follows: Right
packet face up with reversed Three at back.
center packet face down with face-up double
on top (the top card conceals the Four), left
packet is face up with a reversed Five con-
cealed at its back, If either of the two end
packets show a face card, openly remove it
and toss it aside. Read off the time showing
on the cards from right to left, then comment
that your digital deck is never wrong. When a
spectator points out that the time illustrated by
the cards is incorrect, apologize and explain
that the deck is set for Venezuelan time. Ask
for the correct time, then comment that its a
simple matter to reset the time
Pick up the center packet and place it onto
your left hand. Turn the double card on top
face down as one, then deal the top card face
down onto the table between the other two
packets. Table the face-down lefthand packet
behind the card just dealt. Pick up one of the
end packets in each hand (FIG. 1) in prepara:
tion for an open exchange of the position of
the two packets by crossing your hands.
76Paul Harris The Art of As
The packets will end up clipped between
your first and second fingers. As the hands
cross, the packets are secretly flipped over and
then tabled ~ all in one fluid action, The larger
movement of the hands crossing covers the
smaller action of the packets being turned,
resulting in an instant change of the two cards
‘on top of the packets. Release the packets,
uncross your hands, and turn the face-down
card in the center face up. This crossing and
7
onishment
Uncrossing sequence takes but a second to
perform and results in what appears to be a
visible change of the three “wrong” cards into
the correct time “6:43” from the spectator's
side of the table.
Pick the two top cards off of the end pack
ets and scoop up the center card between
them. Place the three cards face dawn onto
the inside packet and assemble the deck.Poul Haris The Art of Astonishiment
78Strange Exchange
STRANGE
EXCHANGE
Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
[FFECT - A card and a coin change places
in a most startling fashion.
STEP ONE. - Start off with an extra half-dot
lar finger-palmed in your hand. You can easily
get into this position by first performing your
favorite four-coin routing. At the conclusion of
the routine, openly leave one coin an the table.
As the remaining three coins are put away, fin-
gerpalm the extra coin in your right hand.
With the deck held face down in your left
hand, thumb the top card off onto your left fin-
gers, covering the coin (FIG. 1).
‘Scoop the tabled coin onto the back of the
card (FIG, 2),
79
As you turn the card face up, retain this c
with your thumb while the previously con-
cealed coin at the face is allowed to drop onto
the table (FIG. 3), Place the face-up card
square onto the facedown deck. As the card is,
positioned, press down with your right forefin-
ger and pull away your right thumb (FIG. 4),
The left thumb is pressed onto the card directly
over the coin.Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
STEP TWO - Remove the deck from your
left hand by grasping it from above by its ends
with your right fingers (FIG. 5). Your right fin-
gers should be positioned to do a one-handed
top palm, Note that the right little finger is
pressed onto the upper right comer of the
pack. Pick up the tabled coin with your left
hand, position it at the base of your second
and third fingers, then close your fingers over
the coin, The left fist should be fingertips up.
thumb side toward the audience (FIG. 6).
In a continuing action, tilt the deck, causing
the coin to fall to the table.
STEP FOUR - Load the palmed card into
your left fist, then immediately remove that
same card from the fist, and place it over the
coin onto the left palm by following (Figs. 10
through 18), These actions are performed in.
‘one smooth sequence at the moment the coin
from the deck hits the table.
STEP THREE - Direct attention to the
face-up card on the deck, then perform a one-
hand top palm. It will appear as if the card
instantly transformed itself into a coin (Figs. 7,
8, 9)
80Paul Harris The
To clean up at this point, simply place the
card onto the deck and retain the concealed
coin in a left finger palm. Pick up the tabled
coin and place both into your pocket
MACLIO-MAN ONE. COIN VERSION -
Pretend to place the coin into your left hand.
retaining it in the right. Load the palmed coin
under the top card of the deck as the card is
turned face up. Proceed as in the original. The
tricky part about this version is positioning the
top card over the coin - then getting into a
one-handed top palm - without the aid of your
left hand. But if you've got more hair on your
chest than you know what to do with, give it a
shot
v
CURAP-SUOT INVISIBLE VERSION - Get
the halt-dollar loaded under the face-up top
card and hold the deck in top palm position.
Reach into your pocket with your left hand and
bring out a handful of nothing. Display the
invisible half, then hold it in your left fist, The
coin becomes visible as it chang
the card, The effectiveness of this version is
totally dependent upon the twinkle in your eyes
and the depth of your dimples.
PulootNote.
This is an astonishing thing to see in action,
but you need a dead-on, ballsto-the-wall one-
handed top palm, This palm is a valuable tool
and is worth whatever effort it takes to acquire
it. Experiment with tiny changes of fingering
and hand position. ifthe levered-up card con-
sistently extends past your hand try changing
your hand position so its in the spot where the
card wants to go. If you have trouble getting
the card t0 lever up. try leaning all of your right
fingers forward as you do the action to give
you more leverage
81Paul Hairs The Art of AstonishmentPaul Harris The Art of Astonishment
JUST CALL ME MR. WONDERFUL
\W hen | first showed this flourish to Daniel
Cros, resident magician and one-man
escort service at the Las Vegas Desert Inn, he
suggested that we celebrate the occasion by
finding a couple of women and having a
party.” (Daniel also celebrates the mowing of
his front lawn and a successful trip to the 7-11
by “finding @ couple of women and having @
party.)
Daniel decided that we should hang around
the casino and just wait for something to hap
pen. Daniel stood at the bar poised in his
imported French “JustCallMe-Mr-Wonderful
look, while | leaned my elbow into the olive
tray — trying to look cool as | sipped my root
beer on the rocks.
After we had displayed our charms for a few
moments, two shapely women with cameras
approached the bar and stared up at Daniel
The first woman, wearing @ revealing T-shirt
which read “Magicians do it in a thumb tip,
whispered to her friend, “My god, he’s so
handsome!” Both ladies then quickly snapped
Daniel's picture and walked off. It goes without
saying that Daniel was upset. “How dare those
women take my picture — and then have the
nerve to walk away without paying me!
But the evening wasn't a total loss. A visit:
ing nun finally paid Daniel for a picture, a bar-
tender paid me to take my elbow out of the
olives, and a woman who wasn't a nun asked
me for Daniel's phone number. | asked her if
this was just a clever ploy to talk to me. She
was speechless. | threw an olive into her
mouth. It was the start of something wonder
ful
CFFECT - A super cool flourish which
enables the close-up entertainer to open a card
case, remove the deck, and then fan the cards
out for an opening selection — with just one
hand!
STEP ONC - Hold the closed case, half-
moon cutout towards yourself, by its sides
between your right fingers and thumb (FIG. 1)
83Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
The facedown deck should now be pinched
between your right thumb. first and second fin-
gers (FIG. 6).
Note that your right second fingertip rests
on the case’s upper right corner. Press your
fight forefinger through the hattmoon cutout
and disengage the flap from the box (FIG. 2)
STEP TWO - Slowly extend your right sec
‘ond finger to push the case away (FIG. 7)
while at the same time pulling the deck toward
your right hand with your right thumb and fore-
finger (FIG. 8).
Place your right first and second fingertip
against the inside of the open flap (FIG. 3).
Clip the right side of the flap between your
second and third fingers (FIG. 4). then slide
your right thumb over so that it presses against
the deck through the halfmoon cutout (FIG. 5).
If all goes well the deck should uncase itself,
Jeaving the empty hanging card case clipped
between your right second and third fingers
(FIG. 9).Paul Harris The Are of Astonishment
STEP THREE - Position your left hand Tuck the flap into the case with your right
about eight inches behind the deck (FIG. 10, third and fourth fingers (FIG. 12)
Then smoothly set the closed case onto the
table. Have a card selected from the waiting
fan and proceed to prove that you're not called
Mr, Wonderful” for nothing
Fan the cards with your right hand by pusk
ing down with your thumb and pulling back
with your fingers. The fan action will revolve
the case directly into your waiting left hand
(FIG. 11)
85Poul Haris
86Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
THE BILL COLLECTOR
CFFECT - This is a little too weird to Cut off all of the cards above the bill by
describe in detail, but basically a selected card ——_grasping the packet from above by its ends
simultaneously penetrates a Hundred-dollar bill with your right fingers. Your left thumb keeps
as it sort of rises out of the pack the bill in position on top of the left-hand pack
Allan DeGeddes of Las Vegas will receive a et (FIG. 2)
complimentary set of matching Tupperware
card cases for being this routine’s inspirational
source.
PREPARATION - Erase the zeroes off your
Hundred-dollar bill to discourage theft
STEP ONG. - Hold the deck face down in
lefthand dealing position. Direct a spectator to
insert a bill into the deck as your left thumb rit
fles down the corner. Use your right fingers to
adjust the inserted bill so that itis centered in
the deck (FIG. 1), Display the card at the face of the right
hand packet. then return the packet to a face-
down poston.
STEP TWO - Secretly swivel the face card
of the righthand packet to the right with your
right second finger so the inner left comer of
the selected card rests against the joint of the
thumb (FIG. 3),
87Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
Apparently remove the selected card from
the right-hand packet's face between the first
and second fingers of your left hand while
actually taking the exposed card above it (FIG.
4)
Ina continuing action the left-hand packet is
placed directly under the righthand packet
(FIG. 8).
Drop the card face down onto the table.
STEP THREE - Place the bill onto the
front end of the righthand packet (FIG. 5),
From this position the swiveled card at the
face of the righthand packet and the folded
bill are retained on top of the left-hand packet
with the left fingers and thumb as the right
hand packet is moved away to the right (FIG.
The curled right forefinger keeps the bill in
place, As your left hand moves under the right-
hand packet, the left side of the bill brushes
against the back of the left fingertips (FIG. 6),
causing the bill to fold around the face of the
right-hand packet (FIG. 7)
88Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
Sandwich the folded bill between the deck Keep your right fingers on this card as you
by placing the right-hand packet square onto direct a spectator to grasp one end of the bill
the left-hand packet (FIG. 10) in each hand. Slowly push the card into the
or pulls the bill apart (FIG.
To the audience it should look as though
you simply placed the folded bill into the deck
= while in fact the folded bill now contains the
selected card.
STEP FOUR, - Adjust the bill so its two pro-
truding ends are equal. Hold the deck by its
ends between your left fingers and thumb, The d card will appear to mysterious-
back of the deck is toward the audience. The ly penetrate the bill as it slowly rises from the
loose ends of the bill are sticking out from the deck
top. Insert the face-down tabled card halfway
into the lower side of the deck (FIG. 11)
89Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
90he test conditions of this signed card:to-
wallet effect should be impossible to meet
but that’s why we're here, There’s no palming,
lapping. duplicates, stooges or gafts. A face-up
signed card is pushed through the deck and
openly transforms into another card. The wallet
is immediately removed from your back pocket
by a spectator. Your empty hands open the
wallet to reveal the original signed card!
PREPARATION - Place one card face down
into your wallet ~ outside of the bill section
(FIG. 1). Keep the wallet in your back pants
pocket until you're ready for “Guts.”
GUTS
STEP ONE - Direct a spectator to sign her
name across the face of a selected card. The
signature must extend from one end of the
card to the other. You can usually accomplish
this by saying, “Sign your name really big so
‘we can all see it.” If one end of the card still
remains unsigned, tell her to sign the card a
few more times to insure that her signature’s
not a forgery, Have the signed card returned to
the pack and control it to the top.
Hold the facedown deck firmly in your left
hand. Place both hands behind your back and
‘announce that you'll locate the selected card
by sense of touch
STEP TWO - As soon as the deck is out of
sight, push off the top card and tear it approx
mately in half (FIG. 2).
1Paul Harris The Art of Astonishment
The tear can be made with a minimum of
noise by keeping the thumb and forefinger of
both hands pressed together as the card is
tom. Tear the card a little bit at a time. After
each tear slide your thumb and forefinger
down the card to muffle the sound of the next
tear, Insert the righthand piece face down all
of the way into the bill compartment of your
pocketed wallet (FIG. 3)
Note that this piece is positioned so that the
rough edge goes into the wallet first. As your
right fingers have been busy with the wallet,
your left thumb has positioned the other face-
down torn piece so that it extends beyond the
front end of the deck (FIG. 4),
Your right fingers now remove the exposed
card from below the piece and place it square
on top of the outjogged pie
‘As you perform these necessary actions pat-
ter about the tremendous sensitivity required to
“feel” a signature.
STEP THREE - Bring out the deck in your
left hand with its upjogged one-and-a-half card
and tilt your left palm toward yourself to dis
play the signed card as in FIG. 5. Tilt the deck
back down and use your right fingers to cut off
the lower half of the deck (trom the inner end).
Place these cards on the top of the deck, leav-
ing the cardand-ahalf outjogged in the center
(FIG. 6).
Grasp the end of the extended double
between your right thumb, first and second fin
gers. This grip insures that the cards remain
squared. Swivel the double to the right so
that it extends from the right side of the deck
(FIG. 7)
Grasp the lower corner of the deck between
your right thumb, first and second fingers to
allow your left fingers to re-grip the deck from.
above by its ends (FIG. 8)
92Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
Note that the left forefinger is curled down
against the top of the pack. Turn your left hand
palm up so the signed card is once again visi-
ble, Hold the double by its ends between your
right thumb and second finger (FIG. 9),
STEP FOUR - Slowly push the signed card
through the deck ~ causing it to cleanly trans:
form itself into an indifferent card (Figs. 10.11)
93
Remove the indifferent card by grasping its
end between your right thumb and forefinger
= and pulling up on the card as itis removed
(FIG. 12),
This upward pull insures that the half piece
stays concealed inside the deck. Place this
card on the face of the pack. Pick up the deck
from above by its sides with your right fingers
and make a wideend spread of the deck onto
the table (FIG. 13),
The half-card will remain out of sight. Sell
the signed card vanish by poking through all
the cards (FIG. 14), proving that the signed
card is really gone
STEP FIVE ~ Scoop up the spread and
table the deck face down. The concealed half
card should be at the inner end of the deck.
Make a big display out of showing your hands
empty, then bring out the wallet with your right
hand or allow an accomodating spectator to
pick your pocket and hand you the wallet.
Open the wallet to reveal the complete face-
down card.Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
Grip the outer end of this card, and the con-
cealed half card, between your right thumb
and fingers (FIG. 1)
As the wallet is closed with your left hand,
your right fingers pull the half-card part of the
way out of the wallet (FIG. 16).
Suddenly remember that you forgot to show
the face of the signed card and tilt the wallet
up for the big bluff display (FIG. 17)
94
Push the signed card back into the wallet,
pocket the deck and leave the building,
PUootNote -
This was inspired from seeing Frank Garcia
do the signedcardtowallet at a trade show.
He always revealed the card by pulling it half
Way out of the wallet. just enough to show
part of the signature. He never showed the rest
of the card, The audience always gasped and
applauded and seemed quite content. So | felt
ur species should be rewarded for taking such
a creative perceptual shortcut
* Or then again - you could just palm the
signed card off the deck and load it into your
wallet - but where's the sport in that?
* For another impossible signed-card-to
pocket that requires almost no guts try
Backlash.” (See Index)Paul Hanis The Art of Astonishment
CLOSE-UP KINDA GUY (1983)
Originally published by Tannen’s Magic ManuscriptPaul Haris The Art of Astonishment
96Paul Haris The Art of Astonishment
WHAT THE HECK ISA
CLOSE-UP KINDA GUY
ANY VAY 5S?
O° the one hand you've got your basic skilled Close-up Artist, well-versed in bold bluffs,
cheap-shots, and other pseudo strategies of deception.
While on the other hand (the clean one) you've got your basic fun kinda guy, genetically
compelled to provoke verbal warmies. mental feelies, and other impromptu acts of social inti-
macy.
It's a tough job bringing these two hands together, but when carefully combined you just
might end up with the ten tap-dancing fingers and thumbs of a Close-up kinda guy. That's
right; a special kinda guy who creates awesome entertainment whenever he stands up, sits
down, or leaves the room,
The unique nature of Close-up creates an instant bond of intimacy between the performer
and his audience. It's up to the individual whether this bond of intimacy is used for the forces
of darkness and evil: mentally beating up spectators with “Ha, | fooled you type presentations,
or whether this special bond of intimacy is recruited for the forces of goodness and wonder-
fulness: a magical tool to secretly stuff a little sunshine into the unlighted corners of your spec-
tator’s soul-provoking verbal warmies, mental feelies, and generally making people happy and
glad for the chance to bask in the shadow of @ genuine Close-up kinda guy.
BIO OF A Pi BALANCED KINDA GUY
Paul's favorite color is Bicycle-deck blue, His favorite drink is rootbeer (AGW in a frosted
mug) his favorite women are those who can pronounce the word “jello
He does not like: Cutting to a natural break, balloon doggies, and women who cannot pro-
nounce the word “jello.”
Paul currently lives in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York, can do almost two hundred
sit-ups in a row, is working on a variety of questionable theatrical ventures, and has no idea
how to explain to his grandmom what he does for a living.
7Paul Harts The Art of Astonish
98Paul Harris The Art of Ai
IMPR.OVISED SCREWED DECK
(REVISED)
“| fe shakes hands with the men, exchanges
keys with the women, and bounces
small children upon his knee in an amusing
thee bell juggling pattern, The Close-Up Kinda
Guy then picks up his deck, holds it between
both hands, then in the same fashion that a
pool shark unserews his custom-made cue, he
slowly unscrews his deck. He eases the two
sections into their velvetined case, quietly clos-
€s the lid and then, almost without moving his
feet, he smoothly glides out of the room in
search of his next close-up encounter.”
IMPROVISED SCREWED DECK
+ Revised version from Stan Allen's “Magic
magazine as described by Richard Kaufman.
Paul Harris displays a face-down deck of
cards and spreads it around to “soften the
deck.” Then, he grasps both ends very tightly
and gives them a sharp twist—the deck
‘appears to have been “screwed”: Half of EACH
CARD is face up while the other halt is face
down! Sort of like “Card Warp” with 62 cards
and no covering card. The deck is now spread
to display all the cards in this screwed-up con-
dition, The sharp twist is repeated to restore
the deck to its original unscrewed position
99
Paul Harris recently gave a very successful
lecture in New York City, and privately demon-
strated the following routine to a few friends
who suggested that he print it quickly before
someone else did, And so we benefit from this
unfortunate state of affairs. This is extremely
deceptive and, as are all of Paul's best tricks
way out there. His original “Screwed Deck’,
that switched in a mechanical deck that
screwed together like a pool cue, appeared in
Close-Up Kinda Guy (Harris, 1983). He later
marketed a mechanical version that got rid of
the deck switch. This handling is unique
because it does not require any gaffed deck or
cards, and can be improvised within a few sec
onds for an impromptu performance with &
borrowed deck.
Two cards will be sacrificed to make a one-
time “appliance” which allows you to accom-
plish this trick. This is an improvised, rather
than impromptu, miracle (though once you
make this thing, which takes five seconds, you
can use it over and over),
Take advantage of a lull in your performan
and turn your back for a few seconds.
(Alternatively, place both hands, holding the
deck, under the table for 2 moment.) While the
deck is held face down, reverse the lower third
of the deck, turning it face up. Next. spread off
the top two face-down cards. It is vital that the
double card be perfectly aligned during the fol
lowing