Newspaper Blondie

"PACKS SMALL & PLAYS BIG" type stand up Mentalism effects are hard to come by. Combining two OLD* and CLASSIC effects together India's well known mentalist Mr. Pradip Rao has created a brand new presentation piece that really fulfills all the criteria of "Packs small but plays big" type of effect.

Here is the Effect(s):

Okay, this is how I remember it exactly:

The performer displayed a clipping of a long newspaper column. With his other hand he took a pair of scissors and ran the blades slowly down the column. A fellow spectator was instructed to call out STOP at any line. The performer cut the newspaper at the exact line indicated. The cut piece fluttered to the floor. I was then asked to pick up the fallen piece and read aloud the top line. It said “…was no need for anymore fear…”.

Drawing attention to an envelope that had been in full view all along, another spectator was asked to open it and show everybody a prediction contained within.

The prediction read, in large bold letters: IT’S OKAY. DON’T BE AFRAID. IT’S SAFE NOW.

It took us but an instant to realise, to our immense surprise; that the performer had correctly predicted from the newspaper, the exact line that we had freely chosen a moment ago.

But wait, there was more.

The performer asked me to once again read the top line and then look at the entire first paragraph. Reminding us that this para was the exact spot which we had freely chosen to stop at, I was now asked to look and remember any word from this paragraph.

The performer then proceeded to read my mind! This must be your first time, the performer said, because the letters are coming to me all jumbled up. But then one by one, the performer started to call out letters. He asked me to confirm by saying Yes each time he got a letter right and to cross them out with a pen. And when he reached the last letter, to shout out ‘Right’. He got all of them correct, and then he revealed the exact word I was thinking of.

Impressive indeed!

Props

We supply you with 30 specially printed newspaper columns. You use one per performance, so you have enough material for 30 shows.

You will also need the following items (use your own):

-         A pair of scissors to move slowly down the column and cut at selected point / line

-         An envelope and sheet of paper for the top line prediction

-         A pen for the spectator to cross out letters as they are called out

-         A large writing pad (optional). If you wish, have the spectator write down the word (with the correct spelling) on this pad, so that other spectators can see the letters being crossed out as you call them.