2011-12 Dennis' Deliberations

Equivoque is the word that most magicians recognize as “A Magician’s Force”.  This is the technique of making the spectator think that they have a free choice while you know what you want them to choose and manipulate them to take what you want.  I was recently talking to a couple of professional magicians and we were talking about the technique. I told them that I always explain it to magicians as the same thing as asking someone to choose which current author of mentalism books they prefer, Phil Goldstein or Max Maven.  

The PATEO Force is usually credited to Roy Baker. It stands for (P)ick (A)ny (T)wo - (E)liminate (O)ne.  One of the great examples of this technique was when the deep voice of Eugene Burger combined with a Robert Neal story. Eugene laid many cards face down on the table and said that people were dying in the small medieval town and people began to accuse others of being responsible for the deaths. Eugene had a spectator pick two cards and he turned over one. It was the Queen of Diamonds, the town’s seamstress. Was she a witch? No, soon she died. All the cards had a profession in the village. The Jack of Spades was the Gravedigger. He was selected and died. It got down to the only card that was not dead and Burger turned it over and it was the one who brought the plague, the ace of spades.  I thought that this was a great example of story telling and the PATEO Force.  
One suggestion on Equivoque: If you are doing it multiple times, break up the way you ask them to choose so your method is not obvious.  Like Max Maven’s B-Wave, the application of Equivoque can be simple and yet powerful.

MELINDA is BACK.......uhhh.    But I prefer her front.....

Actually, I liked Melinda’s illusions. Perhaps there was not enough room at the top for her. I mean, uhhh, at the top of show business there was not enough room.

She complains in Magic Magazine (November issue) that they used to always want her to dress skimpier.  Well, golly gee, that's all most men remember her for.

She had a lot of “bump and grind” and was properly instructed in that style of dancing by her mother, Bonnie, a former Vegas dancer. But, she could move rather well when choreographed.

Her first and only solo TV special, the Disney produced one taped here in Orlando, was a train wreck but I could see some great routines and concepts in it. Her magic got lost in needless scenes with fairytales; unicorns, cartoon characters and even an Indianapolis racecar vanish. The Melinda personality got lost in a massive Disney promotion show.

 I really hope she can make a comeback.

Some guys are just crazy for magic. They think, eat and have it on their mind all the time. It dominates their life!  I wonder if the following letter could actually ever happen.

Dear Abby,I am a professional magician with a deep concern. I have never written to you before, but I really need your advice. I keep strange hours with my career, and I have suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me.The usual signs; phone rings but if I answer, the caller hangs up. When I'm about to leave for a gig, I learn, for the umpteenth time, my wife is about to go out with "the girls", although when I ask their names she always says, just some friends from work, you don't know them. When I finally get home and discover she's not there, I try to stay awake and watch for her when she comes in, but I usually fall asleep.Anyway, I have never broached the subject with my wife. I think deep down I just did not want to know the truth, but last night she went out again and I decided to finally check on her. Around midnight when I got home from another show, and again she wasn't home yet, I hid in the garage behind some illusion props so I could get a good view of the whole street when she arrived home after night out with "the girls."When she got out of the car she was buttoning up her blouse, her hair and makeup were all messed up and a guy kissed her good-by and I really need your advice!It was at that moment, crouching inside my Zig Zag, that I noticed a hairline crack along the door at the hinges. Is this something I can fix myself, or should I take it back to Abbotts for repairs?Signed...Puzzled Magician

I hope that gave you a Holiday laugh and keep your life balanced in the New Year!  Show attention to the ones you love this holiday season.

Peace and Happiness to all in 2012!

Dennis Phillips, in the heart of the Great Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg, Virginia