ENVELOPE TEXT

THE COLLECTION

Ideas And Routines For The

Professional Mentalist by Gidon Sagher
Copyright

Gidon Sagher
The Mind of the Mind Reader
Ideas and routines by Gidon Sagher

© 2020, Gidon Sagher

Design & Illustrations: Ori Perez

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The Mind of the Mind Reader - The Collection

ENVELOPE TEXT

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The Mind of the Mind Reader - The Collection

ENVELOPE TEXT
(MY TAKE ON) FOURTH DIMENTIONAL TELEPATHY

One sentence description: The performer reads the minds of three random
participants.

Preliminary thoughts: For a very long time I did not like the classic three
envelope test, but I still knew many variations of this effect. The reason I was
not fond of it was that it felt to me like a very procedural effect, requiring too
much handling, and the method felt too repetitive and transparent.
When I gave some thought as to how I would like such an effect to be
performed, I decided to write on the envelopes in bold lettering, so that a
large audience will be able to closely follow what is taking place. I wanted to
have only three envelopes and three billets, without having to hold a stack
of envelopes. I also wanted the method to be simple, but one that cannot be
back-tracked.
I believe that I have succeeded in my take on this effect, to address the things
that prevented me from performing it, and I think that whether or not you
are already using some variation of the three envelope test, you will find this
to be a new and refreshing approach that you will love.

What the audience sees: The performer invites three members of the
audience to the stage, asks the first participant, a male, to sit on a chair to
the performer's left, asks the second participant, a female, to sit on another
chair to his left, and asks the third participant, also a female, to sit on a chair
to his right. He begins by saying that many people believe what he does to be
merely a suggestion, but he is now going to demonstrate actual telepathy –

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or the closest thing to it. The performer takes out several books and asks the
male participant to his left to select one of the books, while holding up one
of them in an exaggerated manner, waving it about. The participant chooses
another book and the performer hands it to him, saying that it is amazing
how reverse psychology works every time. The performer then passes on the
remaining books to the audience, asks them to open them up and choose
random words from the text, and then return the books to him.
Subsequently the performer turns to the second participant sitting to his left,
next to the man, and asks her to think of a name of someone from her private
life who is not in the audience. Then the performer turns to the woman on
his right and asks her to think of an image that is easy to understand.
At this point the performer produces three business cards, hands participant
no. 3 a card and a pencil, and asks her to draw on the back of the card the
image of which she was thinking. He tells her that it is very important that
while drawing, she make sure that no one can see what she is doing. When
she finishes she should place the drawing face down on her palm and place
her other hand on top of the card.
The performer then turns to participant no. 2, who was asked to think of
a name, and hands her a business card and a pencil. She is asked to write
down the name and place the card on her palm facing down, as participant
no. 3 was also instructed to do. He then turns to participant no. 1, who
chose a word from the book, and hands him a business card and a pencil
with instructions to write down the word with as large letters as possible. He
explains that later the participant will need to show the card to the entire
audience, emphasizing that it is important that in the meantime, no one see
the card.
While the participants are busy writing and drawing, the performer

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produces three small pay envelopes, fans them out showing that they each
bear a number: 1, 2 and 3, written boldly with a black marker. He hands
the envelope marked 1 to participant no. 1 who was thinking of the word.
The performer takes the envelope marked 2 and takes from participant no.
2, who was thinking of the name, the card she wrote on and places it inside
the envelope, while the card is still facing down. At this point he instructs
participant no. 1 holding envelope 1 to mimic his actions and place his card
in the same way into the envelope, and turn down the envelope flap.
The performer then holds up envelope 2 and asks the participant holding
envelope 1 to do the same with his envelope and verify that the envelope is
opaque, and its contents cannot be seen from outside.
Next the performer takes the envelope marked 3, places the drawing into
the envelope face down, closes the flap and takes the envelope from the
participant holding envelope 1. He places all three envelopes on the table.
The performer then picks up a pad of paper and a large marker and lifts
envelope 1 from the table. He brings the envelope close to his forehead in
deep concentration, and places it back on the table. He writes something
down on the pad and holds it close to his chest. The performer then hands
envelope 1 back to participant no. 1 and asks him to open the envelope and
show everyone the word he chose. The participant takes out the card and
shows everyone the word written on it. Then the performer instructs him to
say the word out loud because there may be some audience members who
cannot see it. Participant no. 1 says the word is ‘mountainside,’ at which
point the performer turns over the pad in his hand and reveals the word
‘mountainside’ written across it.
The performer then takes envelope 2, again places it next to his forehead
and concentrates. He hands it back to participant no. 2 and asks her to bring

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the envelope up against the light so as to verify that its contents cannot
be seen. The performer writes something down on his pad again and takes
envelope 2 from participant no. 2 while handing her the pad. All the while
he keeps the writing hidden and asks her to hold it tightly against her chest
and not peek. The performer then opens envelope 2 and takes the card from
inside, turns to participant no. 2 and asks, "Who is Jane?" Participant no. 2
answers that Jane is her sister. The performer instructs her to show everyone
what is written down on the pad, and she turns it over to reveal the name
‘Jane’ written in bold letters.

The performer asks participants no. 1 and 2 to return to their seats and turns
to participant no. 3 to ask her if she can recreate her drawing. He hands her
a drawing pad and a large marker while also taking a pad and a marker for
himself. She is asked to turn around so that she stands with her back to him,
making them back-to-back. He instructs her to step closer to him, while he
himself moves back towards her. He asks her to approach a little more, and
after a few steps they are standing with their backs touching. The performer
playfully asks her if she can maybe move closer and when the audience begins
whispering and giggling, he turns to the audience and says, "People, come
on, I am a professional." He asks participant no. 3 to recreate her drawing
on the pad and to make it as big as possible, while he draws at the same
time. He then asks her to place the pad close to her chest and turn to face
the audience, while he does the same. The performer instructs participant
no. 3 to show her drawing, and she turns the pad over to reveal a drawing of
a Christmas tree. The performer looks a little disappointed and says, "Well,
I don't always manage to draw the same thing." He turns over his pad and
reveals that he too drew a Christmas tree, points to the participant's drawing

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and says, "I missed the star you drew on top of the tree, but I think it's close
enough."

The audience cheers and claps while the performer sends the participant
back to her seat.
As an afterthought, the performer can reveal two or three additional words
that were selected by the audience.

What the audience doesn’t see:

The principle: Numerous layers of deception making it impossible to back
track or reverse engineer.

Props and setup: Two large pads of paper, two big markers, three pencils,
three business cards blank on one side, and three small pay envelopes that
must be prepared as follows:

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For the preparation of the envelopes you will need a box cutter, a rigid piece
of cardboard or plastic the same size as the business cards to serve as a divider
inside the envelope, a big marker, double sided tape and blu tack, a few spare
envelopes and a surface suitable for cutting paper on.
Don't worry, you do not have to make these preparations before every
performance, and the three envelopes can serve you for multiple shows.
Usually, once I take the time to prepare them, I prepare five or six sets of
envelopes, and the envelopes I use fit perfectly into an empty pack of cards,
which is also how I keep them in my bag.
On the first envelope write the number 1 with a bold marker.
On the other two envelopes write the number 2, while trying to duplicate
the writing on both envelopes as much as possible.

Take one of the envelopes marked 2, insert the plastic divider, and using the
box cutter, cut out a rectangle containing the horizontal middle segment of
the number 2 drawn on the envelope. It is not necessary to be precise, just
make sure you are cutting on the inside border of the number drawn.

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Do not discard the

rectangle you cut out
as you will be using it
for the third envelope.

Cut out the front panel from a spare envelope, color it black using your
marker and place double sided tape on the back of the colored paper. Slide it
into the envelope, with the side you colored black facing the cutout window
you made in the envelope. The end result should be that the black from
inside the envelope will appear from the outside to be part of the number 2.

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Slide one of the business cards all the way into the envelope and on the
outside of the envelope, place a tiny dot on the bottom part of the cutout
window with a pencil. Then with the business card, draw a line just a little
underneath the dot you made on the card and write "Name:" on the left side
of that line.

You have just prepared your second envelope, that will serve as a disguised
window envelope.
With the rectangle you cut out while preparing envelope 2, cut it so that it is
just a little larger than the space on the bottom part of the number 2 drawn
on the envelope. Using the last envelope with the number 2 on it and a small
amount of blu tack, stick the cut-out square you just made on the number 2
so that the end result will appear to be an inverted number 6.

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Just before the show stack the envelopes, with the one numbered 1 on top,
envelope 2 with the cutout window behind it, and envelope 2 that looks
like an inverted number 6 at the bottom. Place them in your pocket in that
order. Put three business cards in your pocket as well, with the middle card
being the one with "Name:" and the line drawn on it. Place the three short
pencils on the table or in another pocket.

The performance and the secret: Many variations of the fourth-dimension

telepathy routine place great emphasis on the envelopes and on a
certain procedure that is relatively cumbersome. The focus should be on
communicating with the audience, talking with them and asking them to
think about their choices.
I use some type of force on participant no. 1; you can use any force, but it
must be a very strong and ‘clean’ one, since the choices made by participants
no. 2 and 3 are completely free, and it would look unnatural if I ask
participant no. 1 to choose a card or any kind of force with very strict and
limited options.
I personally use the ‘Mother of all Book Tests’ by Ted Karmilovich. This
allows me to be very ‘clean’ and open and have the participant write down
his word on the card and place it in the envelope himself. This approach will
give the audience the impression that everything is above-the-board and fair.
While all three participants are writing down their choices, the performer
turns to the audience, tells them that he has three envelopes and produces
them from his pocket, fanning them out so as to display the numbers. When
doing so, envelope 1 is on the far right, and the envelope with the inverted
6 is on the far left. Consequently, the numbers 1, 2 and 3, as envelope no. 2
hides the left part of the inverted 6 on the third envelope.

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Stack the envelopes back into one pack and hold them with the left hand,
making the number 1 visible to the audience.
Hand participant no. 1 the envelope while casually holding in the left
hand the other two envelopes. The number is clearly visible in a seemingly
unintentional manner without drawing specific attention to it.

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Then bring your right hand to the envelopes and turn them over, continuing
to hold them again in your left hand, and remove only the envelope with the
number 2 on it. Continue to hold the remaining envelope with the inverted
no. 6, so that the writing on it is concealed in your palm.

Take the business card from participant no. 2 and place it inside the envelope
in the correct orientation, so that the name the participant wrote down is
clearly visible through the cutout window.

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While doing so, instruct participant no. 1 to insert his card into the envelope
in the exact same way. Close the flap and again instruct participant no. 1 to
follow suit. Then turn the envelope over, so that the number 2 is facing the
performer, who can clearly peek and see the name that the participant wrote
down.

Place your thumb over the cutout window to conceal it, lift the envelope
and proceed to show it from all sides while asking participant no. 1 to do the
same and to make sure that he cannot see through the envelope.
This is further convincing that the envelope is ordinary, since it can be seen
from all sides.

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Hold the envelope between your index and middle finger and place it
underneath the envelope in your left hand, slightly clenched. This enables
you to remove the third envelope with the inverted 6 with your right thumb
and index finger, leaving envelope no. 2 in your left hand, while concealing
the cutout window behind your palm.

Immediately pinch the envelope with the inverted 6 with your left thumb
and index finger, so that the thumb covers the bottom left part of the number.
This gives the impression that the number 3 is written on the envelope;
swing out your arm to show it to the audience.

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Place the envelope face down, insert the drawing and close the flap. Next,
bring your left hand closer, turn over envelope 2 (which is being held towards
you), and place upon it the envelope with the drawing, also facing you. The
end result is the writing faces the performer for both envelopes - envelope 2
with the cutout window is behind envelope 3 with the inverted 6.

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Ask participant 1 to hand you his envelope and at the same time, with your
right thumb, peel off the small piece tacked on to envelope 3 and stick it in
your palm. Now, this envelope will be un-gimmicked with the number 2
written on it.

Take envelope 1 from the participant and place it at the top of the stack.
Then place all of the envelopes on the table in preparation for the revelations.
At this point the performer is not just one-ahead, he knows the contents of
both envelope 1 (the forced word) and envelope 2 (the glimpse).
In order to reveal envelope 1, ask the participant to take the card out of the
envelope and show it to the audience, rather than having him simply say out
loud the word he chose. This has several purposes. First, it proves that this
is indeed his envelope and his card, and no envelopes were switched or any
other sleight of hand occurred. Second, this sequence of actions creates a
pattern that the performer can replicate with respect to the second revelation,
when he himself opens the envelope and removes the card from inside.
For the second revelation pick up both envelopes, turn them over on the
table and hold out the envelope now bearing the number 2 (which is in fact

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the third envelope) and hand it to participant no. 2.

Ask the participant to check the envelope against the light to make sure it is
not transparent, thus reinforcing the belief that the envelopes are ordinary
and un-gimmicked. This is the perfect condition for the one-ahead principle
since the numbers written very clearly on the envelopes serve as proof that
there is no way of switching between the envelopes (not that anyone suspects
it).
When writing down the name on the pad and passing it to participant no. 2,
take the envelope from her, as if to help her hold the pad. Open the envelope
and remove the card, and now you have all the time in the world to look and
memorize the drawing made by participant no. 3.
Then ask participant no. 2 who is Jane, as if you are just now reading
the name off the card. When asking her to turn over the pad towards the
audience, and everyone claps, casually place the card back into the envelope,
take it together with the envelope left on the table and pocket them or toss
them away.
Now you are ready for the final revelation, during which time it is not even
necessary to mention the envelope, to the great amazement of the audience.

Variations
For the first revelation in the un-gimmicked envelope no. 1, I prefer to use
the aforementioned force, but any strong force can be used.
Another option that exists is using an anagram for a zodiac sign or Proteus
by Phedon Bilek, for example.
Another variation I have played around with is to write on the card "Please
choose between the number 37 or 68 and write your choice down on the
card, remembering the number you chose." Then, instead of the performer

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figuring out what is written in the first envelope, give it to the audience as
a challenge, and ask the participant to only tell the audience if the number
he selected is odd or even. Using the suitable psychological force, both the
participant and the audience will be surprised at their success in reading
minds.
Another variation on this effect is done using two window envelopes. Write
the numbers 1, 2 and 3 on the envelopes. Envelope 1 is un-gimmicked,
envelope 2 is gimmicked in the same manner as in the main routine, and
envelope 3 has a window cut out on the lower part of the number 3, where
the business card placed inside it has written – on the part coinciding with
the window on the envelope – "What did you draw?”

This way there are peeks for both envelopes 2 and 3, which the performer
places one after the other in his breast pocket or the inside pocket of his
jacket. Keep envelope no. 1 with the other two envelopes.
You can now make three revelations without touching the envelopes again.

Credits: Theodore Annemann; Bob Cassidy; Marc Paul.

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