Mental Epic

Hen Fetsch's classic mentalism effect -- a classic for a reason... it's very good!

Effect: Mentalist shows a large (about 16 x 11 inches) blackboard that is divided into six sections. The top three sections have cardboard covers that can be clipped in place -- three different colors, or you could always number them as 1, 2, and 3 if you want. The other three sections are directly below these sections. (see picture). The mentalist writes a prediction in the 1st section and covers it. The spectator then names a color. (Let's say purple). The mentalist writes "purple" in the section directly below his prediction #1. He then askes the spectator to think of a number between 1 and 1000. He reads the spectator's mind and writes his impression in section #2 and covers it. The spectator names his number -- say it is 436. This is written directly below prediction #2. Finally, the mentalist writes a prediction in #3 and covers it. Then he asks the spectator to cut a deck of cards -- the card cut is the Five of Hearts. This value is written in the section directly below prediction #3.

The stage is set for the big finish. The genius of Mental Epic lies in both the very visual display of the final outcome on the six-sectioned board, but also in the anticipation is builds in the audience. They KNOW that the predictions will be correct before they shown -- the format of the board and the slow, deliberate handling of the predictions and selections make this "obvious". And so when the three covers are lifted and the predictions are seen to be 100% correct, the spectators are both satisfied and AMAZED.

Many magicians complain that the third prediction (of a card) is the weakest, and it is the one that must be limited by the method. But if you stop thinking like a magician and watch the lay person's reaction to this trick, you will stop worrying about it. This effect kills! And because it is a three-phase prediction, you can present it as a demonstration of the Big 3 of ESP -- premonition, clairvoyance and telepathy.

Because this Epic Board has a very innocent look, it reminds me of a chalkboard from an elementary school, and so I often use this effect for kids -- not as ESP/Prediction, but as a guessing game. First I try to guess someone's favorite animal, write it down, and cover it. Then the child tells me her favorite animal. Then I try to guess the name of a child's brother or sister. Finally, I try to guess how old a child is (and of course, I choose the BIRTHDAY child, so I already know.) Even though the last one seems obvious, it eliminates any need to force anything, brings the focus back to the Birthday kid in the end, and still fools a lot of the kids especially in light of how impossible the other two guesses were!

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While it's true that I have constructed many of the effects displayed on this site, it's also true that I am not the creator/originator of how they function. As such, I have researched, to the best of my ability, to give credit where it's due. On some, I am at a total loss as to who the creator is, so I simply left that portion of the description, blank.

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Creator: Hen Fetsch
Distributor: Magic Gadget Site
Approximate Price: $40.00
Duplicate: No