BACKDATE amg This effect has one weakness—it must be used as an opening item—but I think you may decide that its strength more than makes up for that, EFFECT You enter holding a pad and pen. After your opening remarks you ask three spectators, within whatever presentational mise en scéne you care to use, to cach name a single digit, thus naming a three-digit number. You note these down. You ask the last of the three spectators to join you on stage; when she docs so you ask her, rhetorically, if there is any way you could have known what she or the others would respond in answer to your request. She says no, and you agree—but perhaps you could have projected the thoughts to them... t this paint you turn so that yourback is to the audience. Pinned to the center of your jacket at the back is an index card; itis in fact secured with asafety pin. You ask the spectator to open the pin and unfasten the card, When she complies, you ask her to read what's written on the card. It says: will attempt to influence three members of my audience to create « particular three-digit racmber; the number Thave in mind is ___.” Of course the number mentioned is absolutely correct. | gGS METHOD ‘The prediction is written on a three-by-five-inch index card along the lines indicated above; the space for the number is left blank. A two-inch safety pin is pushed through the center of the card fram the blank side, then back out again and fastened, so that about an inch of the pin-bar is visible on the writing side of the card.666 MIND, MytH & Maaick oe cee eS CeCe Ce UENO, eae este ce, You will need a dark-colored jacket and a six-foot length of strong thread that matches it in color. With a needle, run the thread out the middle of the back of the jacket between the shoulders, around the bar of the pin on the message side of the card, and back through the jacket again just a quarter of an inch lower, (The thread in the illustrations is shown thick for clarity.) Inside the jacket, the two ends of the thread are tied together (o form a yard- long loop, and the end of this loop is secured to a length of elastic which runs from one side belt loop to the other, Of course you have to put the jacket on for this final bit. If all this has been correctly done, the predic- tion card will tend lo be held against the back of your jacket al the middle by the elastic tension on the thread. It can, however be drawn around your body, under the armpit, and held against a five-by- seven-inch pad which you are holding as you enter The working is fairly simple and direct. You should enter so that the pad- holding-hand is downstage; thus the thread is concealed by the arm itself and there is Virtually no chance of the audience seeing it.MYXTYR The three digits are named. You write them on the pad and on the prediction card, in the appropriate position. You invite the last of the three spectators to come up; as she heads toward the stage you put the pad under your arm so you can lead the audience in applauding her for helping Once the pad is under the arm you simply release the pressure that's been holding the card against the pad, and the elastic draws it into position at the middle of the back of your jacket. You are holding the pad again by the time she reaches you at the microphone, and you go through the presentation as indicated, reading the numbers off the pad. It is important you do this to justify the use of the pad Now you turn your back and show the card apparently pinned there securely. As you request that the lady unpin the card, your hand goes under your jacket and grasps the loop of thread to maintain a firm tension on it. If this is donc itis impossible for the lady to discover that the card is not actually pinned to the jacket, She unpins and removes the card, reads your writing, and thus the first miracle of the evening concludes. NOTES You sce now why this must be an opener—not just because of the physical setup, but because the idea is that the card was there in position on your back when you made your entranee (not, please, that it appeared there!), You will, in making your entrance, be sure that no one can note the then pristine condition of the back of the jacket. Ideally you should come through the curtains at the center. The setup here could be materially improved by using a permanently installed reel attached inside the jacket in place of the élastic; it is obvious how this would be arranged. A patter theme I've considered would have to do with having arrived late, you didn’t have time to remove the dry-cleaning tag... | Another presentational notion (from which derives the title) has todo with having members of the audience decide on a particular date, a specific year in history. You rattle off some real or imagined facts concerning that date, and then show that it was predetermined=a date with destiny, so to speak. I have described how the card is set the first time; for farther perfor mances you sim ply stick the pin through the card, let the thread loop from the back of the jacket go between bar and card, push the pin back through the card and close it. 667