No t earing or dif ficult moves .Just sheer Me nt a l Ma g i c.

Tel.304-9-U·7730P.O. BOl 155Greet Cecepon. WV 25422

something new underTHE SQUI FFER BILLET!

There i ssun. It isthe

Would you be lieve a billet thato pe ns o u t fully to revea l the hiddenmessage and then closes up a~ain

into a small wad AT YOUR COMMAND .

1lte '?~U1

(j'(Jt6ch

~U c i deu t

PLUS : A BASKET OF BOOKS . F r om a l arge basket o f many book sthe aud ience c hooses one . Th e tit le of this book is f ound ce i ledi n a n e nvelope a nd tac ke d t o the ceil i ng !

TIlE AME

MAJOR ARCANA

SrnlES

xx [•

,Al MANN ?3xc/eauVeJ

Tel. 304-947-7730P.O. Box 155Great CaClipon, WV 25422

THE FOUR O'CLOCK IN CIDENT

Copyr i g h t by Al Man n Ex cl usives (1 9 9 4)

Th e AME Maj or Arc ana Se ri es XXI

A fine lady fr om the mountains brings almsI n the form of a beautiful plant.

Not knowing much abou t plants, the plant 'sbehavior seemed str ange.

In the morning its branches, and flowersd roop e d with a s emb l a nce of d eath.

By f our in the afternoon th e p la n t perked upa n d its beautiful fl owers bloomed most prettily.

The lady explained, "That is the f our o 'c lockp l a n t . It comes t o life a t f our P.M."

Praise be Th e Myserie s

I t i s a moment of s h e e r e cstasy when o n e iss hown the mys t e r i e s . Some mysteries a r e g ive n t oc hose n ones t o know and enjoy while o t h e r mysterie sca n n e v e r be known.

I f the r ead e r is a l over o f the many mysteri e sof t h e Henta l i s t 1s billet, h e will s ure ly enj oyl e ar n i ng the sec r e t s of the Fo ur O ' c loc k Incide n t.Th i s is a bille t that , like th e f our o 'c loc k plant ,b looms out by itself to r eveal th e secret th o ug h t.Yet, this b i l l e t is e nve lope d deeper in t h emy ster i e s. It will se c retly ope n a n d c l o se a t yo u rcommand . It i s a billet that will t a l k to you,esp ecially i f y o u are a ventri loquist. I t i s ab i l le t that act s l ike an a c c ordi on , s o l et us c a l l

i t -

1

THE SQUIF FER BI LLET

We wil l t a ke a dva n tage of t he f a c t t h a t your a udience d o e snltgive o ne hoot as t o h ow y ou f old th e billet. Fo r a l l th ey wan t i syour wisdom in th e f orm o f an swer s to t he i r q ues t ions. So we willfold the bi l let t o o u r li king.

The Squ i f fe rme mor y in th e f ormcontrolled .

billet i s e mb ue d wi t h mag i c. Ito f 'Th e Cl ashi n g Fo rce . I It ca n

d i spl a y s abe e xpe rt l y

PREFOLDING THE BILLET:most importan t . Th e work ingco r rect f old ing o f it. Th eshould be memo r i zed .

Th e pr e f o ld ing o f t he b i l let iso f t he Squ i ffer bi l let depe nds o n t heca r d i s f o l d ed f o u r times . Th e f ol d s

The co r rec t f olds mus t b e as f oll ows: Thr e eof the folds , the h orizon tal, t he v e r tical a ndo ne diagona l a re all made o n th e same s i de o f t hecard where the VIP will la t er wri t e. Th e f our thfold, a diagona l , is mad e on t h e o t h e r s i d e o ft h e card . 50 -

Fig . 1 r e p re sen t sindex card stoc k , b u twi s h. The b l ac k line s

a 2-1 /2 i nch s q ua reit ca n be s ma lle r ifi nd i c at e t he f olds.

ofyou

Fig . 1

OPEN1 .OUT

Fold the c a r dTHE BI LLET.

exa ctl y in hal f fr om t op t o b ottom. THEN

2 .r ight to

Makeleft ,

th eAND

secondOFEN OUT

f old byTHE CARD

f oldingAGAIN .

the ca r d in half f r om

theOPEN

3 . Ne xt tak e one di ag onalcard in hal f di ag onallyOUT THE CARD AGAIN.

co r n e r at the uppe rfrom u pper righ t to

righ t and f oldl ower l eft a nd

The audie nce does n o t see t h is . If you n owpush in at poi nts A and B towa r d s each o the r , l ine sC and 0 will fo l d into the b i l le t and yo u wi ll b el e f t holding an innoc ent l ooki ng squa re b i l le t ,F i g. 3, that l o o ks like any other f olde d squa rebi llet , but a p p e a rs t o b e f olde d many t i mes!

4. NEXT TURN THE CARD OVER ANDFOLD TBE OTHER DIAGONAL. And t he n turnthe card ove r ag a i n . Th e f ace o f t hebil let is now t he same as it wa s whenthe folding sta r t e d . Th e f old line s o nthe billet shou l d l ook like i n Fig. 1,but due to the resilienc e o f t he c a rdwi t h its ensu i ng c la s h i ng f or c e, thebi llet will look like in Fi g. 2 .

2

8

Fig. 2,

,

Fig. 3

A

,Befor e th e s how the billet shou l d be o pe ne d ou t and c losed

seve ral time s. That way the bille t d e velopes a memory a nd t he nf ollows th e line o f l eas t resist an ce and f olds into plac e e as i lye ve ry time i t is picked up.

Yo ur Sq ui f f e r Billet is n ow s how- re a dy . Fort he test , take o u t y our Sq u iffer billet and drawa b l ack l ine, almos t diag onal, on th e fa ce o f th eb i l let , Fi g.4, a nd have th e VI P write a name o rd e sign and i nst r uc t him or her n o t t o l et any onesee what he o r s he writes a nd to p lea se t u r n th ecard f a c e down and plac e it und er an ash tray o r Fig. 4wha t e ver, wh e n finished.

You then p ic k up the c a rd with o u tl ook i ng a t it AND fold i t. The best wa yto do the f olding without l ooking a t y ourh ands is to plac e both hands wit h t heb il l e t ove r yo ur head a nd f old itcorrectly by f e eling it. Now, if youwere to th row it into a ba sket o f b i l l e tsthe Squiffe r billet would look l ike inFig. 5 . The billet has opene d up f or agood peek . I f the billet i s n ot ope nede nough you c a n open it o u t a nd r e a dit while tak i ng a no t he r b i l let t o do th e Fig. 5one ahead p resen t a t i o n .

One dyn amic way o f p icki ng u p th e fa ce d own c a r d withoute xposing the s ecret mess age o r peeking a t it, i s t o place yourh and over t he face d own c a r d to cove r i t t otally . Then simplyc lose your hand ar ound t he billet a nd th e bill e t will f oldcorrectly into a squar e b i l l e t as i n F i g.3. Thi s ama zing move ismad e easy by t he Squiffer billet.

If you wis h you c a n s i mp l y h old t he billet in you r h and andtake a peek whe n op po r t un i ty kn ocks. You c a n d o t ha t by placingthe billet at the VIp· s t empl e and r eleasing p ressure o n th eb i l let .

THE ONE AHEAD, Say tha t you ar e t otally unsc r u p ulou s a ndt hat you prepa red three Squiffer billets instead o f j us t o ne . Soafte r the spec t a to r s writ e t he i r messag e s a nd turn the billetsover , you pick u p the b i l le ts and f old them a nd thr ow t he m intothe basket or con t a i ne r . Yo u s houl d b e a b le t o g l i mpse a t l ea s to ne of the mess ages if n ot a l l thr ee. Yo u ar e n ow well a h ead.

Never e xpose the open bille t to t he publi c . Th e strength oft he e f fect res ts o n its s e cr e t. Your l ay aud ience kn ows n othingabout t he strange c la s h i ng f or c e o f th e materi al yo u are using.

3

\

ON COMMAND,

We want the pquif fe r Billet to open andclose up o n comma nd . So we will use someHandi -Tak glue . Th i s is the glue that lookslike a stick o f g um a nd is reusable . Itsel ls at the s tat ionery counters . Yo u wil lon ly need a ti ny b it . So place a do t of th isglue on the ve r y seco nd joint o f t he thumb a ndanother d ot o n the t h ird joint of t he fi rstfimger as sh own in Fig. 6.

F 19 . 6 •

After the billet is turned ove r you pick it up with your l ef thand (a s s um i n g you are right handed ) and f old it into thes qua re and transfer it to your right hand pinching it betwee n yourright t hum b and fi rst finger a ttaching i t t o the glue d ots . Notethat the thumb and first finger f o rm a c ros s . Th is is showni n Fi g . 7 . A little practi c e will show you just h ow t o hold thebi llet so that it ope ns o u t c o r rec t l y f or the peek . A pencil dotc a n be placed on the outside o f the f olded billet to know h ow tohold it for best r e s ul t s.

F i g . 7 Fig . 8

Now you can o p e n your hand and theaccor d ion . You ca n ope n i t a nd c l o s e it asThe o p e n billet i s s hown in F ig . 8 .

THE TAL KI NG BILLET

bil let acts like anma ny times as n e e d e d.

Th is is n ot to be used wi th lay audiences . It is i nte ndedo nly as a joke to be shown at magic c o nventions and c l u bs .

After divining the hidden written thought, yo u tell youraudienc e you r secret . -I kn ow what is wri tten in this billetbe ca use the bil let ta lks t o me! ! - " P l e a s e note, what is thes e cret wor d that wa s wr i t t e n? " You a sk the billet . The bil leto pe ns and whispers , t he wo r d is "JOE," o r wh a t e v e r. You useventriloq u ism so that the audie nce can hear . You then wa l k arou ndsaying "Listen . " And h e re you ope n ly o pe n and c l os e t he b i lle texposing the sec re t . Th er e should b e s ome laughing .

4

\

THE UMBRELLA MOVE

Doing the umbrella move with the Squiffec billet is most easysince the billet does resembles an umbrella. The move of openingout the billet is silent , while with the original umbrella movethere is a 'snap ' noise .

So you hold the bil let between your f irst a nd secondfingertips and as you patter , inse rt your thumb into the b illet .As you place the billet to the temple of the sitter you open outthe billet, read the message and close the billet again .

If you arethe billet inside

collecting billets you do the same and open outthe container while y our hand is out of sight.

If you are doing the Bert Reese routine, you steal one billetand then turn your back on the sitter while he writes on otherbillets, you do the umbrella move , cop the message and refoldthe billet in readiness for switching .

Do not undersell the value ofgem to be prized and held secret.well to remove the Squiffer Billetcondition. You may want to keep theThe clip is removed for the test .the audience that the billet is inof card. Therein lies its value.

the Squiffer Billet. It is aIn your presentation , it is

from your pocket in the foldedfolded billet in a paper clip.

Nothing should indicate toany way different from a piece

Have fun

5

Tel. 304-947-7730P.O. BOl 155Great Cacapon. WV 254~2

Yo u have been c ha l l e nged by mem ber s o f you r a udie nce , yousay . Yo u show basket s f ull o f books that suppose d l y have beend ona t e d by t he audi en ce t o d o t he b ook test .

Pr om t he basket y o u t ak e several books which are al ldiffere n t with differ ent t i t les , a nd throw th em with aba ndo n, onthe t a bl e top o r o n th e fl oor. A pe rso n is asked to choose anyo ne book . A book t e st i s d one wher e the p e r son op e ns the book toany p age a nd ch oos e s any word. The wo r d is di vined or predictedand a l so t he t i t le o f t he book i s pr edi c t ed.

The above effect i s mind s hatte r i ng t o s ay the l east.

METHODAs in th e above pictur e o f th e b o ok basket, it appears

tha t the boo k s have be en thr own into the bas ket haphazardly butac t ua l ly the books are ' sta cked. ' Ever y o t he r bo ok in a stack o fbo oks o r in a gr oup o f book s is a f or ce book. There are f ourf or c e b o o k s with differ en t ti tl es.

Th e book s a ref or c es one o f f our

s t ac ke d a s pe rdifferen t c a r ds

the Svengali Mir acl eo r simply fo ur c a r ds .

d e ck that

THE PRESENTATION: You t al k abou t book s that y ou have nevers een a nd pick a s t ac k o f eight book s , o r two stack s o f f our bookse ach . Yo u a ppe a r t o throw th e book s on the fl oor or table t op atr and om but ac tua l ly yo u t h row. th e book s ar ound in a kn own order.

Fig. 9

l. The first book you s howa nd c all out its titl e and t hent hr ow it in a position o f uppe rl ef t ( to f orm two r ows o f f ourbook s e a c h ) as see n if Fig. 9.

~~

2. Th e ne xtbook s o you th r owo f l ower r i g ht.

book isit to a

a f or c epo sit i on

6

3 . The next bo o k goes to t he t op r ow in pos it io n o f up p err i g h t.

4 . The n ex t book (a f or ce book) yo u t h row o n t he l ower r owin position lowe r l ef t . ETC. un til y ou h a ve o n t he fl oor o r t abl etwo rows of fo u r books in each row, as in Fig. 9. THE BOTTOM ROWCONTAINS ALL THE FORCE BOOK S!

You force t he bottom r ow by s ay i ng , "We h a ve t wo rows o fbooks. Wh ich r ow s ha l l we take? " No ma t t er wh at i s sa i d yo uremove the top r ow of bo ok s and throw them i n to t he bas ke t . Nowt he VIP has a fr e e cho ice of a nyo ne o f fou r books . Wh a t coul d bemore fairis h .

You the n p roce e d t o d o a book test g ivi ng t he VI P a fr eec hoice of p age and word. You of course u s e you r sec re t s wamigimmcik to d iv ine the wo rd. (see The In v i sibl e Bo ok in SottoVoce. )

Theme t ho ds,

t itle o ft o wi t:

t he b ook i s pr e di cte d by anyo ne o f d ozens o f

1 . Any f o ur wa y f o r cing t ool.wallet with t wo d ouble envelop e s.have you .

A f our wa y e nve lope . Himber 'sTh e Dipl omen t al Pouc h o r wha t

2 . One o f th e f or c e book s has a messag e wri t t en in thei nside front cove r in j et b l ack ink marker l etter s s ay i ng , "Thi si s the book yo u will c hoose . " None o f t he o t he r f orce books h a s amessage in it. The re i s a mess ag e under t he baske t thatp redicts the seco nd f or c e book and reads, "You will c hoose th ebook with t he tit le _ "

An e nve lope g lued to th e ce i li ng p red icts t he thi rd b ook.(t ry to f o r c e t he t h i r d book b y t he p s ychol ogi cl fo rce , then youcan really d o t he d rama ti c s o f g e t t ing th e e nve lope o f f t heceiling and c rea te muc h ta l k .) A p encil gi ven t o t he VI P t owr i t e the title o f t he f our th f or c e bo ok c hose n , i s s tamped wi thth e title of t he book! If you are ri ch yo u let t he VI P keep t hepencil .

f o ur3 . Haveforcing

fo u r pe nc i l sbook s •

im p r in t ed wi th th e f ou r t itles o f t he

4. Put an adwill be "cor rect newspape r !a nyo ne who reads it

in the f o ur n ewspaper s t hat r e a ds . "Th e t itleAf t er t he book i s c hose n you b r i ng o u t the

NOTE: The new spaper a d will be me aningl e s s toe xc ept you r a ud ie nce. /'

have funff;q~~

7