Gerard Zitta

This is a different approach to the Zodiac sign topic, with somebody you have never met before. It is not a sign divination. It looks like an improvised and casual prediction of a complete stranger's Zodiac sign.

What the audience sees, or will remember:

You show them a business card with all the Zodiac signs on it. You ask a participant to name their sign, and on the back of the card, his or her sign was already drawn.

You will need a one-time preparation with index cards and a jacket, (or a wallet) to carry it. It does not require pre-show work, pocket writing or dual-reality.

...

Just a gag! But with all those which hand tricks, it's a change. It can be an opener or a closer to a more serious which hand routine, or in case somebody asks you to redo a which hand trick, or if somebody is giving you a hard time with methods that are not 100% safe.

Effect:

You ask a spectator to put a small ball in any hand while your back is turned, and then, to put their hands on each side of your head, behind your back. You will guess in which hand they hold the ball.

• Very direct
• No question asked
• You see nothing, You can be blind-folded
• 100% hands off
• No accomplice
• You...

The Addition principle: A novel method to peek, in full view, any information written on business cards or playing cards.

Twin peeks: A mind reading card effect. You find the twin of a thought card that was kept under the spectator's hand.

Quick peek: Find a missing card in a borrowed and shuffled deck in 1 second!

Witness: A puzzling drawing duplication: your own drawing is revealed by a witness, while the spectator's drawing is still under her hands.

Four of a perfect pair: You find a thought card and a selected card.

Invisible book test: An incredible impromptu book test with...

Trust: A spectator guesses the card placed in full view on the table at the very beginning. (Uses dual reality among other bold principles, but the cool thing is that the participant can swear in front of everybody that it is the same card). There is absolutely no force for the spectator's card.

Variations on Trust: Including an interesting one with a business card where you write the card (before the spectator reveals her card).

Crossword: Another, and different, method for "Trust".

Smashed: The spectator forgets her drawing.

Subliminal: An interesting addition to a force. This...

Here is another ploy to the Monty Hall problem, one of the most unexplored plots in magic and mentalism.

In this version, the mentalist plays the role of the candidate, and the participant plays the role of the host. As many people nowadays know the Monty Hall paradox or can search for it on the net, the game is made slightly more complex, in order to avoid any probabilities: The player can also play the role of a corrupt presenter if they wish. He can secretly steal the prize behind the third door, making it impossible for you to win the Ferrari! All this will allow you to mix mentalism...

This ebook is an exploration of a clever principle rarely used by mentalists or magicians, and probably known by just a few. It can use four to a dozen of flat objects (that can be borrowed): cards, jumbo cards, business cards, index cards, coasters, postcards, banknotes, photographs, billets, lottery tickets, coupons, poker chips, etc.

Effect (Example)

You can have your back turned:

You show a number of postcards, for instance, with different cities or countries. The spectator mixes them and puts the one she prefers, on the table. Then, she is instructed to put the other ones on top...

This is a funny little trick and a very simple plot. You can carry it in your wallet and always be ready, anytime, anywhere, or you prepare it in larger format, and perform it for larger audiences.

Effect:

You show an image of three ladies. The spectator selects one of them, and it was predicted on the back. It is also a funny visual gag. Very entertaining, simple, direct, easy to do, instant reset, and practical.

1st edition 2015.

A challenging and fun impromptu telepathy routine, with a devious combination of principles, and an original approach.

Effect: The spectator thinks of anything in the world (billions of possibilities!), and changes it to something completely different. They focus on a part of that "thing" and you guess it. The methodology uses well known principles, combined with new ones ("Yin Yang", "UPS", "Picture", "Zoom"). There are also new alternatives to dual reality, equivoque, multiple outs or misdirection. All of these can be powerful weapons to add to your impromptu or improvised mentalism toolbox. ...

A novel mental force.

A spectator thinks of a card and changes it to a new one, in his/her mind. You predicted it, or you name it BEFORE the spectator names his/her own card!".

Impromptu - Anytime, Anywhere. Perfect for informal and casual setting, or when you have NOTHING with you (It can be performed naked on the beach!). You can also use this as a "warm up" experiment, to open your mentalism act.

No fishing or "PA" - Nothing needed, no cards, no props. Pure mind reading. Can fool performers as well.

It is not 100%. Most of the time (80% approximately based on probabilities and...

This is a hands-off and impromptu card effect.

This effect should be presented as a mental experience rather than a card trick. The patter could be around complementarity or duality. You can talk about Yin and Yang, Black and White, Heads and Tails, Male and Female, etc. At the end of your introduction, you explain that in a deck of cards, this is represented by the two colors RED and BLACK.

A Spectator shuffles the cards and cuts it in two piles. He thinks of a color RED or BLACK and counts secretly how many cards of this color are in his pile (for example 7), while your back is turned....

The Monty Hall problem is a famous one in probability. It is based on a TV game from the USA called "Let's make a deal" (1963). It is named after the original host of this show. Inspired by this game, here is an original effect and a great plot for stage, parlour or close up. This unpublished method is easy to do and costs nothing. There is no maths or memorization or difficulty of any sort. It does require some one-time preparation, but just with some index cards, a sheet of paper (for the list of prizes), and a normal pen, nothing else. It can be adapted to your style, venue, weddings, birthday...

In ten seconds, you will be able to guess any information thought among two possibilities. It can be any effect where there are two outcomes.

• Improvised
• Very versatile principle
• Can be used in existing routines where you need to know for instance if a thought card is RED or BLACK, if a spectator likes something or not, etc.

• The nice thing about this principle, is that it is 100% impromptu, and even improvised.
• 100% Hands off
• No stooges
• No gimmick or electronics
• Works with many objects that can be borrowed (pen, knife/spoon/fork, lighter, eraser, card box, pack of cigarettes,...

This powerful utility will transcend a simple magic effect, or allow you to innocently bring something mental, emotional, strange, during a normal conversation, or an act.

• It seems to bring a plausible explanation to people's choices.
• It will provide misdirection or a logical disconnect, or another layer of deception.
• It will prepare your audience for a bigger "surprise".

[Note: This effect was already part of Mentalism games.

Effect: A spectator names any card, and you immediately produce it from your pocket.

Or: You write two cards on two business cards, put one in each pocket, and the spectator has to guess at least one of them. (It can be repeated right away if you want).

The method is 100% surefire and practical. There is no math, no probabilities, a little bit of memorization, but it is almost "intuitive". It is not difficult but needs a bit of rehearsal at the beginning, like for everything. It looks casual, completely impromptu, or even improvised, but you will have to do a onetime preparation with...

The "Bill trick", "Fred trick" or "Phil trick" (Paul Marcus, Fred Lowe, Trevor Duffy, Phil Goldstein,...) is so strong and funny, that it can be a closer, or even a standalone trick if you want to impress somebody, or get some booking.

For those who do not know it, here is a summary of the effect: A deck of cards is placed on the table. A spectator is asked to merely think of any card. The performer says: "The name of your card is Phil!". The deck is shown to have different names printed on the back of every card, and the named card is found to have the name Phil printed on the back!

This...

Although it does not meet all the criteria of a 'perfect ACAAN', this method still has many advantages:

• 100% impromptu and examinable
• deck is normal - it can be borrowed and shuffled by the participant
• ideal for close up and table hopping
• Very direct
• Very practical in live performance
• Strong impact on the audience
• Very simple to perform (from beginner to advanced but requires sleight-of-hand)
• Can be done with different sleights for the card control and for the counting. This allows you to repeat the effect.

• it is actually an 'Any Selected Card At Any Number', or what...

Have you ever noticed that sometimes daughters and mothers look similar, not only because of genes, but also the way they dress, their hair style or colour, their glasses, etc. Same thing with pets, especially dogs. Sometimes, they really look like their owner.

In this ebook, you will find some ressources to use this idea in packet tricks, using images instead of playing cards. The impact on your audience will be much bigger and entertaining.

Example of effect:

You show a bunch of photos in one pile, and you show another pile face down, without showing the photos. "There is a sosie...

Do you think people really care if you find a coin is heads, or in their left hand?? They rather are impressed if you guess their secrets or if they lie.

Intro/Basic effect: You meet a complete stranger. They think of somebody, or something, or a place you can not possibly know. Anything. And then, they think of a secret, a statement about this person, this object or this place that is either true or false. You (or the audience) will then ask only one question, not related to the statement, and will know instantly if the statement is true or not.

Heads or Tails: You find out if they lie...

A bunch of numbers from 1 to 52 are presented to a spectator. Some are written in red, some are in black. From now on, the performer will not look or touch anything. A spectator thinks secretly of one of the numbers, and has to lie when she names the color of the number among a few other ones. There is absolutely no force.

Then she shuffles a deck of cards (that can be borrowed or even imaginary!), and deals the cards face up, just saying if they are red or black. When she reaches her card, she has to lie. The performer immediately stops her at this card, even though he did not look or touch...

This effect is a variation of an effect called ACAT (Any Card At Any Time), extracted from CLUE ebook. It can be presented with playing cards, or special cards (like the Vernet PSImbol deck, or movies (like Directors's cut or Screen test), French postcards, etc.), or just with blank index cards or your own business cards (with drawings, symbols, words, numbers, etc. on the back). It is not a card trick, but rather a mystery or paradox.

It is hands-off, automatic, self-working, can be done over the phone or sight unseen, stand up, close up or stage (with jumbo cards). It is easy, practical, and...

"Zitta has done it again. He has completed a new work that is outstanding, practical, and mostly Impromptu. I don't know how he does it, ideas, brilliant ones, flow like water. Get this. And if you don't have them, get all his work. They bring me and the audience wonderment, joy, and workable thoughts. 5 out of 5" - Marc Salem

THE HYPNOSIS SYSTEM
"Make the Spectator forget something they just signed"

A spectator signs a business card where a few signs/objects/suits/names/etc. are written. This Spectator must memorize their order. The signed business card is given to another Spectator. The Performer suddenly "hypnotizes" the first Spectator (by clapping his hands for instance or whatever). The First Spectator must repeat what he saw on the business card but he will always forget one of the objects! Much fun watching the reactions of the audience and of the "victim"!

THE DIE IS CAST
"Make the Spectator lose...

Three unusual gimmicks for PK mysteries.

MELTING SPOON

This is Gerard's take on the classic bending spoon effect, but just between two fingers: the spoon visually melts. You will need to buy something you won't find in magic stores. (It will cost you just a few dollars.)

UNIVERSAL DETECTOR

A borrowed beer mat is torn and folded in half by a spectator. The performer writes "ALCOHOL BREATH ANALYZER" on it. The beer mat will bend when approaching a pint of beer or a glass of wine but not with a glass of water for instance! Very versatile method that can be very useful and bring something...

It is impossible nowadays to be a magician or mentalist and not perform an effect with a phone, smartphone, ipad, laptop, etc. It is also perfectly justifiable to use it as a prediction, as an out, a cueing system, a cribsheet, a storyboard, etc.

This bundle is about phones, but it also contains original effects, ideas and principles, sometimes combined with classic ones, and some of them can be applied to your existing routines, or sometimes without a phone. The Mimosa principle will transform your smart phone into an extremely powerful tool that you can use as a multiple out system or emergency...

It is impossible nowadays to be a magician or mentalist and not perform an effect with a phone, smartphone, ipad , laptop, etc. The following mentalism effects look mostly hands off and impromptu.

No special applications or sleight of hands are required.

• OPEN SESAME Get any equipment unlocked without touching it! Easy to do, fun to perform, 100% hands off and impromptu. Works with any locked telephone, pad, PC, Smartphone, keylock etc.
• STUCK A method to force any number with a borrowed iPhone (and maybe other phones).
• CALC'ACAAN An "untoxic" ACAAN that uses any telephone or calculator...

The following effects are practical, commercial, use classic techniques or principles with new ideas, and, most importantly, are "connection-makers". They are impromptu, for closeup, strolling, and parlor, and do not take much pocket space. Most are very fast, require nothing else than the provided images, tables, list, etc. sometimes with business cards and a pen.

MASCOT: Your spectator has to find your "mascot" among a list. Very easy, and entertaining. In 30 seconds, you will fool everybody, except 4WD addicts!

MONTH PSYCHO: "Month psycho" is another method to guess a birth month....

An improvised technique for the HEADS or TAILS plot, or else, as it can be done with any flat object, like an index card or a piece of paper for instance with a different information on each side (that can be different than HEADS or TAILS, and allow a more captivating story than a binary game or a bet).

Effect (as perceived by the audience):

• "Please take a coin, toss it, and watch secretly which side is up"...
• "There is no way anybody here can know if you lie or tell the truth"...
• "Now, if you want, you can turn the coin over. You can do it covertly, as many times as you want."

BILL DATES: You predict the bill and the date that a spectator you just met, will take out of his wallet.

THE JANUS FORCE: A business card is fairly selected among five, by throwing a dice, only once (or by freely naming a digit 1 to 6). The result on the back of the card was predicted in advance of course. Furthermore, you can show that the odds should have been against this result, as there were more cards with the opposite outcome. This system can be used to force any choice between two possibilities (for instance: red or black, heads or tails, etc.) even though the other choice had more...

This ebook explores for the first time, the principles inherent to probably any newspaper, magazine, or publication, in the world. Everybody reads them, every day, but nobody notices the rules and logic in the innocent sheets they hold in their own hands. These properties are good to know as they allow some pretty neat impromptu or improvised effects, or design your own routines, once you know their 'secrets'.

It is more a piece of knowledge every magician or mentalist should know. Most 'recipes' are simple, and there is no difficult memorization or calculation involved.

All the effects...

An improvised book-test with a borrowed newspaper.

There are dozens of newspaper tests or predictions, but this one is different, improvised, and will be remembered as hands-off.

• There are no newspaper tears or cuts, no center tear, no peek, no counting, no secret writing, no sleights, no weird procedure, no complex maths or logic or convoluted stuff, etc.
• All you need is a normal borrowed newspaper. No gimmicks, no other props, cards, swami, pens, etc. Nothing else, except ...you... and the secret.

With this flexible system or combination of principles, you will be able to create your own effects like this one: Example of effect:

"Do you think you are influenceable? I bet you are..."

You show a business card with the five ESP symbols. The spectator freely points to one of them. This is the one you predicted.

• The basic effect is not new, but it is that direct and quick: They announce their choice, and you conclude.
• There is apparently no 'process', no force, no fumbling, etc. in between.
• It uses common objects (pen, index card/paper, etc.).
• Any patter or presentation can be...

Two effects for one low price.

An improvised month divination

Month ID is an original method to secretly gain knowledge of a stranger's month of birth. (Actually, any information among twelve possibilities...) It can be done independently, anytime, anywhere, without any preparation at all, or props.

Basic Effect:

You ask a person you just met: "Do you know your zodiac digit? It is a digit between 0 and 9 that is influenced by the season, the climate, the month of birth and other factors. Here is how to calculate your ZODIAC DIGIT: Think of your birth month and do the following ... " (Very simple, just a couple of...

Effect: A spectator looks at a card in a borrowed shuffled deck. You eliminate cards and the last card is their selection.

Key points:

• 100% impromptu and improvised.
• Any borrowed deck with any number of cards
• Hands off
• The cards are shuffled many times during the routine
• No accomplice, no gimmick, no setup, no dual reality, no sleight of hands, no fishing, 100% surefire.
• OK for stand-up, walk-around, parlor and why not stage.
• You do not have to touch or see anything
• You just need to know a couple of devious principles (some are new).
• Baffling and cannot be reverse-engineered due...

Before re-designing your business cards, check this out. It will save you hours and money for trials and errors, in looking for a practical and simple way to make business cards useful for your mentalism effects. Clever business cards can become a very powerful secret weapon you will always carry with you. They can also replace expensive props or effects, and allow you to create your own and personalized routines. Not to mention that your business cards are a wonderful marketing tool, as well.

The "system" described in this e-book, will allow you to improvise many mental effects, that use...

MIMOSA simply allows your smartphone to be smarter!

• You can predict the future. You can predict virtually anything. You will now have a way to do it WITHOUT knowing or forcing the outcome.
• Your phone can also become your memory. It can be a new type of crib sheet or index, but now, it can be huge, and access to the information will be instantaneous. There is a secret move that lasts a fraction of a second.
• MIMOSA will also allow you to always carry with you a multiple and virtually unlimited number of outs.
• It can be used as a safety exit for your existing routines. You can predict...

Finger games:

• The 4 fingers game: Another method for "Equifinque" (Phil SMIFF)
• Finger burn: Ask a spectator to show you any finger and put it over a candlelight or an invisible lighter. Your same finger will carry a blister.
• Voodoo finger: A variation to give away your business card.

• Hold on to your card: An impossible IN SPECTATOR's HANDS transposition.
• Magic mushrooms: A short-term-memory test where you show the same card to different spectators, and they forget it after showing them some psychedelic images!

  The two following sections describe an effect that looks...

All the effects will look improvised from the audience point of view, but they need a one-time preparation, and all are easy, except for the three last ones that will need more practice and some rehearsal.

ATM wallet: You will do this one every single time you have to pay something. You need an item every magician has got already in their drawer.

X=H3-E2: Rapidly force one object among a higher number of objects. (twice as fast as "PATEO", and easier to perform.)

Phone hypnosis: Block a borrowed phone (harmless), with the power of your mind. Easy.

Bright as a feather: Use a feather...

A selection of lovely effects for weddings, Valentine's day, couples, etc. that will open hearts and doors...Most of them are impromptu.

Valentine day
A two phase 10' routine where two cards, randomly chosen face down at the beginning, will help to find two other cards. Each phase can be played independently.

ACAAN for couples
A perfect ACAAN for couples. Impromptu.

Men desiring women
This is Gerard's version of a classic spelling effect (impromptu), based on a mathematical principle. He will also reveal how to personalize it with your own words ...

Nice to meet you
A nice way...