Mick Ayres - RhymeTime.pdf

8/10/2019 Mick Ayres - RhymeTime.pdf

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M I C K A Y R E S '

RhymeTime!You hand a business card to a guest and ask her to put it in her pocket. Next, you display a

long list of words and ask her to think of one. Next, to make things more impossible, she is asked todream up a word that rhymes with her chosen word. She is the only one who knows what she isthinkingor is she? After naming the word she created, she remoes your business card from her

pocketand discoers the ery same word written across the back. A perfect prediction.

In 2002, !hyme"imewon a Linking Ring Award for Mentalism from the Internationalrotherhood of Magi!ians" #he effe!t $la%s well on stage, in $arlor shows or !lose &$" Afterall, %o& are tr&l% dis!erning a word that a g&est has made &$ in her mind" Yo&'ll need amarking $en and ten $ie!es of lank $a$er(altho&ght inde) !ards, lank &siness !ards, lank$la%ing !ards or e*en +ostIt -otes.will do as well" /rite one of the following words onea!h of ten !ards

Torture Victim

Harsh Soldier

Fortress South

Gauntlet Assassin

Weapon Culprit


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1n an e)tra $ie!e of $a$er that will ser*e as %o&r $redi!tion, write the word Marsh3"4old this $a$er and hand it to %o&r g&est, re5&esting that she $&t it in her $o!ket for the timeeing"

asi!all%, the whole effe!t is 6&st one ig, &ni5&e for!e" In a n&tshell, the se!ret to thistri!k is sim$le none of the words on the list rh%me with an%thing at all, with the e)!e$tion of

two(Southand Harsh" Allow me to e)$lain

It is a $o$&lar elief that the words orange, siler, purpleand monthare the onl% fo&rwords in the English lang&age that rh%me with nothing(&t it7s not tr&e" In fa!t, the wordnothing itself rh%mes with nothing at all" Indeed, there are h&ndreds of words that do notrh%me and h&ndreds more that rh%me with onlyone or two words" It is the latter !ategor%that allow this e)$eriment to s&!!eed" In !hyme"ime, So&th 8whi!h onl% rh%mes with Mo&th9and :arsh 8whi!h onl% rh%mes with Marsh9 e!ome the for!e !ards"

Arrange the !ards so that when held fa!e &$, the two for!e !ards are on to$ with the

:arsh !ard on the fa!e of the $a!ket" +&t the $a!ket into an en*elo$e and %o& are read% toegin"

Sa%, Can %o& make a rh%me e*er% time; Are %o& a $oet(&t don7t know it;Shakes$eare is widel% !onsidered to e the greatest $oet and stor%teller of all time" :is workis so $o$&lar that the :oll%wood film ind&str% has !reated at least fo&r *ersions of #amletinthe $ast de!ade alone" In fa!t, the last time I wat!hed the $la%, I wrote down a list of se*eralwords that Shakes$eare &sed fre5&entl% in his !lassi! tale"3

Remo*e the $a!ket of !ards from the en*elo$e and dis$la% them freel%" +lease read

ea!h word alo&d"3


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for a moment" Come &$ with a word, an% word, that rh%mes with an% one of the words onthose !ards" /hen %o& ha*e a word in mind, fo!&s on that new word alone and forget ao&tthe words on those !ards" Signal when %o& are read% % $&tting %o&r !ards on the tale so Ine*er see the words at all"3

#he a*erage s$e!tator will look the list o*er !as&all% and will !hoose the $ath of least

resistan!e" Sin!e no rh%ming words !ome to mind 5&i!kl% for an% of the other fo&r wordsand sin!e rh%ming :arsh with Marsh isn7t a ig lea$ for an%one, that will e the rh%ming wordthe% de!ide &$on"

1n!e she $&ts her !ards on the tale, sa%, In a !lear *oi!e, $lease tell me the word%o& 6&st dreamed &$ in %o&r mind"3 She will sa%, Marsh3" Remind her that she has a $ie!e offolded $a$er in her $o!ket" I $refer to ha*e her hand it to me and I slowl% &nfold it whilewat!hing her fa!e" #he dramati! rea!tion is alwa%s worthwhile"

If re5&ested to re$eat this demonstration, ask for another *ol&nteer and dis!reetl%

$re$are a se!ond $redi!tion $a$er with the word 'Mo&th'" 4old it twi!e and hand it to thisnew $erson for safekee$ing" Contin&e the e)$eriment % &sing the remaining $a!ket" Yo&'llaffle e*er%one % finishing with a !om$letel% different word"

Either wa%, the e)$eriment now is o*er"

w

/hile fieldtesting !hyme"ime, e)$erien!e ta&ght me a few things that are worthmentioning" At first, I had onl% one !ard among ten that wo&ld rh%me" #rialanderrorshowed that gi*ing $eo$le the entire ten word list was too o*erwhelming($l&s it made foran &n!omfortal% long silen!e in the middle of the $resentation"


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1*er the %ears, !hyme"ime has en6o%ed a $rominent s$ot in m% re$ertoire for an&mer of reasons" 4irst, the sh&ffling is real" Se!ond, the !hoi!es are their own and arefollowed to the letter" #hird, %o& reall% do re*eal a word she 6&st dreamed &$" 4o&rth, when%o& think ao&t it, there is no 'reset' to s$eak of" 4inall%, the fa!t that %o& ma% re$eat theeffe!t immediatel% and get a !om$letel% different answer makes this effe!t in*al&ale to theworking $rofessional"

I feel !hyme"imeoffers a whole new for!ing method that has %et to e f&ll% e)$loited"+lease(feel free to $la% with this !on!e$t and !onsider other a$$li!ations for it within theworld of Mentalism"

-o one wo&ld e more $leased than I to witness %o&r efforts someda%"

$ick Ayres#ilton #ead %sland, S&

m'Rh%me#ime' !o$%right =>>? % Mi!k A%res" 4or $erforman!e &se onl%" All rights reser*ed"4or more m%steries, *isit www"mi!ka%reswares"!om

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Mick Ayres - RhymeTime.pdf