An ESP Prediction
by S.J. Lea

A little about S.J. Lea, from the man himself: "I'm gearing up for some live performances in London, possibily with some other London-based mentalists. My released products include The Comic Book Test & Stag Mag-ic, Matchbooking and I'm shortly releasing a chess book test whereby the performer can set up a chess board in the position a spectator is thinking of." S.J. also has a couple of websites worth visiting: mental-magic.com and booktest.net.

Effect: A spectator is asked to think of an ESP symbol of their choice. The mentalist reads the spectator’s mind and notes down the thought of symbol on the back of a business card which he then seals in an envelope and pins to a board. The spectator is then asked to tell the audience which symbol they were thinking of. Breathing a sigh of relief, the mentalist takes the envelope from the board and gives it to the spectator to open. Inside she finds the business card with the ESP symbol she just thought of written on the back.

Preparation: To perform this effect you need an envelope, a business card, a craft knife and a nail-writer. The type of envelope you need is small and square with flaps that meet in the middle. Your best bet is to go to a Paperchase (or similar) where they sell a large variety of cards, envelopes and so on. Go for one that is a bit smaller than a CD case and made of thicker paper than business envelopes. In addition, choose a business card smaller than standard. The smaller the envelope and card, within reason, the stronger the effect in my experience. It’s easier to
perform too.

Once you have your envelope, use a craft knife to separate the right hand side of the bottom flap. Leave around half an inch at the top and separate all the way to the bottom. If you have cut carefully the envelope will look no different than before you started. You can now do two things. You can tuck a business card vertically into the flap and have it hidden on the outside, ready to write on. Or you can stick a card into the flap horizontally, ready to push into the envelope. We will use a mixture of both in this effect.

Performance: Ask you spectator to think of an ESP symbol and tell her that you will read her mind and note down the symbol she thought of on a piece of card which will be sealed in an envelope. Have the envelope flap (the regular one you lick) open and the hold the business card against the back of the envelope. It will look like you plan to lean on the envelope. Make a couple of writing gestures over the business card with your pen as you explain what you’re doing. When you are sure she has concentrated on the symbol long enough for you to read, pretend to note it down on the card.

You now need to make it look like you have sealed the business card into the envelope. Lift up the card so that the spectator can see the back of it. Move in downwards as if you were actually going to put it inside the envelope. But instead of putting the card inside tuck it into the prepared flap. Guide the card down and into the secret flap. Your other hand will be holding the envelope and will naturally prevent the card from poking (or falling) out of the side. As soon as the card is in place, see below, lick the top flap and seal the envelope shut.

All you have to do now is pin the envelope onto a board without flashing the back. If you are using thinner paper be careful of the light, you may reveal the silhouette of the business card. It’s not actually too damaging if you do. It looks a bit odd standing upright in the corner but at least you ‘proved’ that it’s in the envelope. You have a good opportunity to slip on your nail-writer while you are putting your pen away in your pocket.

Tell the spectator that you found it difficult to read her mind. I usually like to give the impression that the mind reading was difficult whenever I do it. This is for two reasons, firstly it let’s people know that reading a mind is difficult and secondly, it makes the effect less ‘straightforward’ and gives the audience the added excitement that things might not go as planned. However, there is a third reason at play in this effect which I’ll come to in a minute.

Going back to the spectator, explain you’ve written down what you managed to read and hope you’re correct. Ask her why she thought of that particular symbol. For the benefit of the audience, you (of course!) already know, have the spectator say what sign she thought of. Nod encouragingly when she reveals it.

Remove the envelope from the board and hold it in the hand with the nail-writer. Use it to write the symbol on the back of the business card. You now need to rotate the card around and push it inside the envelope. See below.

The method I use is to hold the envelope in my right hand with the fingers in front and my thumb on the top left hand corner of the business card. The sharp corner of the card will stick into the pad of the thumb. If I pull backwards with my thumb the business card will move and the sharp right hand corner of the card will stick into the palm of my hand. I can now use my thumb and palm to get the card on it’s side. The edge of the business card will be hidden from the audience by my palm. Once the card is on its side I can push it inside the envelope with my thumb. During this process my left hand is available to steady the envelope. This should take less than 5 seconds.

You don’t need to rush, remember that you told the spectator you found it difficult reading her mind? You can now use this to act excited, pleased, relieved, etc. that you were correct. The idea is that you clutch the envelope because you’re pleased with it’s contents (in reality you are getting the business card inside). To round things off, as you go to hand the envelope to the spectator give it a couple of shakes while you shake your head as if to say, “this thing… this thing… this had me worried for a
minute!” The business card will now be rattling around totally free inside the envelope.

You don’t have to give the spectator the envelope. I almost always do, I do take the precaution of holding the corner with the secret flap as I pass it over, but no-one has ever noticed the secret flap. If the flap gets a bit roughed up you can always open the envelope yourself and shake the business card out or have the spectator reach in and take it out. Once out, you can open up all the flaps to demonstrate that there are no other business cards lurking in the envelope and be left clean. But as I said
before, you generally have no problem handing over the envelope. The closest shave I ever had was a spectator who kept eye contact with me while she opened the envelope. Her thumb ended up in the secret flap and she pulled the envelope open that way. Thinking she had simply opened the envelope, she pulled out the business card and no-one was any the wiser.

I hope you enjoy this effect and find many further uses for the envelope.

S.J. Lea