Gerard Zitta

Imagine you are anywhere but on stage, and you are unprepared. Somebody asks you to do a 'magic trick' (yeah, they know who you are!). You answer you would like to, but you have nothing with you, but a pen and a few business cards. You take out your business card holder or box, and you start amazing your audience.

Now, imagine you would take a deck of cards. It would be all different … Nobody would believe you are unprepared!

This ebook is a compendium of Gerard Zitta's effects, that can be done with business cards. They all 'look' impromptu, and most of them are indeed impromptu...

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...

Tons of ideas in this manual...A compendium of effects, principles and methods related somehow to the "Any card at any number" plot, commonly called ACAAN. Even though they are not all 'perfect' ACAAN's, they are interesting, entertaining or original variants from an audience point of view.

• Some are original, some are based on combinations of old principles, with some 'twists' or new ideas.
• Most are card tricks, some are not.
• Some are impromptu or even improvised, some need some preparation.
• Some are hands off, some need some (easy) sleight of hand.
• Some are direct, some are more convoluted. ...

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...

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...

This product bundle includes three items, with more than 15 effects that can be carried in your pockets.

Cool Mysteries impromptu, requires no special props or preparation. The two other ones need some one-time preparation (only one effect needs a special gimmick): Pocket Mysteries, Hot Mysteries.

CONTENTS

COOL MYSTERIES

• Elimination
• The bills trips mystery
• Hands off my Lady!
• Guess my card
• Take my order
• Any candy at any number

• Monty Hall dilemna (V1)
• Flash at Carnival, Nice 1932
• Free will ( V1)
• Color healing
• SVP

• The hypnosis system
• The die is cast
• Chair'Z ...

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...

"ACAAN with a mental shake"

Gerard likes the ACAAN plot. Whether it is impromptu or formal, closeup or on stage, it always has a strong impact. There have been loads of methods since Mr. Berglas presented this effect in the mid 70's. For this manuscript, Gerard wanted a 100% hands off solution, direct, practical, with NO sleight of hands and doable on stage or closeup and, if possible without knowing the card nor the number. The result is not a card trick but more of a mentalism effect.

EFFECT:

The performer places a boxed deck of cards in full view. He won't touch it again. Four presentations...

Short warm up mentalism effects. Anytime, anywhere, practical, easy, direct and impromptu.

Some of the simple ideas presented in this ebook can also be used as safety nets in your existing routines.

W(h)i(t)ch hand?
A classic: A spectator hides a coin in one of his fists and the performer shows which hand.

• Impromptu – no gimmicks, no electronics
• Versatile - presentation can vary
• Anytime, anywhere, anybody
• Simple and direct

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. ...

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...

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...

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 100% improvised and hands-off original routine with business cards.

Diabolik:
Effect: Two spectators (one liar and one truth-teller) draw two different objects (or names, words, etc.) on a business card. They swap their cards and pens as much as they want (or they are shuffled by a third spectator), and hide them between their hands or in their pockets. It is impossible (really) for you, to know which spectator has which drawing, which pen they used, who lies and who tells the truth, etc. You really know nothing. And yet, with only one question, innocent and justified, to only one spectator,...

9 Hands off effects you can do completely naked

Elimination: A card prediction without cards

The bills trip mystery

• "Happy Hour"
• "Money transfer"

• 3 card monte
• 4 card monte
• 5 card monte
• all hands off

Take my order: Imagine you are performing in a restaurant, you approach a table.
"I am your waiter. Are you ready to order?"
"Actually my name is …, I am a Performer"
"You are the waiter and I am the customer!...

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...

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...

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...

Two hands off and impromptu effects you'll do for the rest of your life at any moment notice, and every time you'll meet somebody because they are fun to perform, simple and practical.

"Man both routines are very very clever! I love them! Especially the heads and tails one!!! I definitely use them! Well done mate!" - Romanos, creator of GERTI/Silver swindle

This ebook is a combination of the simplest plots you can perform in Magic: HEADS or TAILS? and WHICH HAND? They can be done separately as well.

The routine:

Take your wallet and casually throw a $100 bill (or just $1...but...

This is a fantastic principle to know. You need nothing. Just your brain and some easy acting skills. You can improvise anytime anywhere. It is hands off, practical and the method is very simple. And most importantly, it is fun for the participants, for yourself and for the audience. What else do you want?

You will be able to detect liars in a group of people and identify which one has selected a specific card or ESP symbol for instance. You can show your psychometry skills with borrowed objects. There are tons of applications.

You just ask the same question to some of them.

It does...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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,...

"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

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...

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."

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...

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...

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.

Have you ever played "Which hand" with somebody, and they hid the coin behind their back? Here is a way to overcome this problem.

Effect:

A spectator takes one of his coins, and puts it in any hand behind his back. You won't look either. They can even hide it in their back pocket, or on the chair, if they decide to cheat. You find out where the coin is (which hand, or which pocket).

100% improvised and hands-off.

(The method here is different than in Coin Games or in Bluff.)

1st edition 2014, 7 pages.

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...

Effect:

Somebody hides a coin in one of their hands, and the mentalist has to guess or predict which one: Left or Right?

This method uses classic techniques and is probably the simplest, the most direct, the safest, and probably the boldest one! It can be done separately, or embedded with other methods, or used as an out. Its major advantage is that it will not be perceived as a logic puzzle, and will really leave an impression of free choice. It will kill all previous solutions of potential methods (logic, electronic, gimmicked, etc.) that Cartesian spectators might suspect.

Another...

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...

Two effects for one low price.

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...

A practical and easy two-way out system.

Janus V3 is a very simple and practical two-way out system. It is impromptu and everything is examinable before and after. It allows you to leave your business card.

To describe it, we can compare it to another system by Scott Guinn called Assertive positive/negative.

• The reader must also know another principle by Max Maven (in Videomind Volume 2) but the method and presentation are completely different.
• It also uses business cards (or jumbo cardboard cards).
• It can be done anytime with no setup. It is impromptu if you have a 'little something' with you (It is not a gimmick, it...

This clever mathematical principle allows you to find a thought item among any number of items, even though you do not know the initial order. You don't even need to know what they are. You see nothing. It is entirely hands off and improvised, and can even be done over the phone. It works with any number of flat objects (cards, index or business cards, coasters, etc.) or usual objects (key, coin, lighter, pen, etc.).

Two practical examples are provided, but it is so easy that you'll be able to improvise your own mentalism effects with borrowed objects or cards, or with your own business...