Contractual Obligation
by Steve Murray

About Steve Murray, from the guy that knows him best, Steve Murray: "Steve Murray works hard as a heart doctor in North East England. He wishes he could keep himself in the manner to which he has become accustomed by performing magic & mentalism, but his patients love him too much, albeit through a process of psychology, misdirection, and showmanship. Occasionally, some them even get better. He is a member of the Middlesbrough Circle of Magicians whom he describes as the down-right friendliest bunch of magi anyone could wish to meet and dedicates this piece to them."

The plot is based on two sources: my own experiences and conversations as a 1st year in a London medical school, where failing exams was considered a worse fate than death, and also a few paragraphs in an old Dornford Yates book (I think it was Berry & Co but I can’t be sure). (I can’t describe the amount of snobbish satisfaction it gives me to say an effect has been inspired by a combination of Hollingworth and Dornford Yates!)

Huge thanks to Bruce "Dr. Spektor" Ballon for some excellent refinements in this routine.

The Basic Effect
A volunteer selects and signs a tarot card. The signed card is shown to the audience, and signature is seen by them. The card is then plainly and visibly burned – even as it burns, it is shown to the volunteer to ensure that no switch has occurred. The signed card then re-appears, with both the audience and volunteer confirming that, impossibly, it is indeed the same card and signature that was seen moments earlier.

Requirements
A tarot deck, with 2 extra cards of "The Devil". As a full deck can be difficult to handle, I use all the major Arcana cards, along with all of the "court cards" (i.e., page, knight, queen and king of wands, swords, cups and pentacles). The duplicate Devil cards should have a false ‘generic’ signature along the bottom of the card – just as if a formal letter or check had been signed. It should be in black, and basically illegible! All 3 Devil cards have a line marked with an “X_________” at the start, just like a real signature space on a check or a form.

Note: I had originally hoped to market this effect using packs of tarot cards combined with one-way tarot decks of ‘The Devil’; you can buy these from Keith "Blackhart" Hart’s website, although supplies are limited, and he basically makes them himself by just culling 21 tarot packs and making 21 different "Major arcana one-way force decks". Getting specially-printed decks is not possible at a reasonable price. One way round this might be to use playing cards, along with an "Ace of Spades" one-way deck.

The Card Handling
Set-up: The original Devil card (unsigned) is face down on top of the pack; the signed Devil card duplicate is beneath this. The other signed Devil card is in the place where it will be ultimately revealed from (in the story below it appears inside an antique wooden box which is far from the magus, and has been in full view all the time.)

A volunteer is selected and allowed to sit facing the audience on a chair which is positioned just behind the Worker of Weird Wonders’ table/altar. This positioning is important, as we will see later.

The deck may be false-shuffled, but there is no need. I suggest the deck is turned face up, and the cards spread left to right. The duplicate cards on the top are not displayed, and the faces can be seen to be both different and in a random order.

The blank Devil card is forced. The cross cut force is simple & effective here, as cutting Tarot cards is a very usual & natural practice in the Divinatory process. I also like the back-slip force, but I think it is too much like a card-man’s move in this context. Remember this is not a "card trick"!

The forced card is shown to all, and then signed by its selector, but in such a way that the audience doesn’t see the signature.

The volunteer is asked to sign briskly along the bottom of the card, using his “day-to-day check-book signature”. Before handing over the pen, you gesture with it in the air, replicating the illegible scribbled signature, and then touch the space you want him to sign in with the pen – these are extremely important subtleties. The first is to set up the audience unconsciously to accept the fake signature as his; the second movement is to force the volunteer to a) make a simple signature, which any flourishes, "smileys", etc which would potentially spoil the effect. The gesture also non-verbally instructs him as to where the signature is to be made – another very important part of the routine.

During the signing, the top card of the deck (the falsely-signed Devil) is turned over face up. The genuinely-signed card is taken and blown on to help dry the ink, whilst deck is dropped to side of left leg, to allow the top card to be turned over, as described by Hollingworth (NB this turn-over technique also features in Hugard & Braue). The "genuinely-signed" card is placed quickly face-up on top, and the deck is wrist-killed towards selector, with an aside like “Ink should be dry now…” The deck should go, in order from the top, face up devil, with real signature of volunteer, face up, but hidden, devil with fake signature, remainder of deck face down.
The positioning of the volunteer allows this to seem very fair, when in fact the volunteer and audience are going to see 2 different signatures. This is achieved as follows: the card(s) are given a double turn-over, so the deck, from the top, now goes fake signature Devil, ‘real’ signature Devil, then remainder of deck.

This situation allows us to take off top card and show to audience (but obviously not the person who signed it).

At this stage, the spectators see "The Devil" with a fake signature on it, but have no reason to believe it isn’t the real signature of the volunteer. The volunteer has seen his own signed card go on top of the pack, and has no reason to suspect a switch.

The faked signature card is now destroyed (burned in the story). Now cards are actually quite difficult to burn! You’ll need either several matches, or, better, use a lighter or candle flame. Flash paper, with or without chemicals, can be added for dramatic visual effect.

There is an important subtlety here: burn the bottom of the card and blacken/burn off the signature first. Then, as the card burns, turn it to the volunteer and let him see "his" card is really in flames (without actually saying "Look, I really am burning your card!")

Place the burning card into a clear ashtray of bowl and completely burn it. This will take a few minutes, but instead of feeling awkward, try to adopt a ritualistic approach (and refer to the plot).

The situation is now as follows: both volunteer and audience have seen a signed card slowly and completely burned to ashes. You have an identical signed card ready for a reveal somewhere* and you have the original spectators card on the top of a deck.

To finish the effect, reveal the fake signature card to the audience, and let them readily see the fake signature. You can flash it to the volunteer if the signature is either a) quite like his own from a distance, or b) you place your fingers over it to obscure the signature, but allow him to see the card is "The Devil".

Then as you turn to the volunteer specifically, execute a top change (loads of cover as you turn to him) and specifically ask him to confirm that the signature is definitely his. In many cases, you can actually hand him the card as a souvenir, although if the signatures are widely different, and you suspect he will show others from the audience I suggest you keep this card from him (the is a plausible way to do so in the plot below).

*Locations for the card to be revealed
When I first performed this I slipped the card into the pocket of an unsuspecting volunteer, then I asked the signatory to choose 3 people, and planned to use a magician’s choice, although he chose the person 1st by luck. Bruce “Dr. Spektor” Ballon suggested using a Bible or prayer book, emphasising some kind of redemption, which is a nice idea to round off the story. More recently, I have been using Dan “Lebanon Circle” Baines’ “Book of Revelations” to produce the card, after sprinkling a tiny piece of ash into the pages, after a spectator has examined the book, which is lovely way to produce the card, but may be ‘too magical’ for some.

The Story
“It must have been late May 1990, because we’d had the Mayday holiday party, and now it was time to work towards our first exam. All of us had watched that 'doctors in training' programme on the BBC, and we knew a few people would either leave or be booted out after failing 1st MB – our year one finals. The college took in around 120 people, with the expectation that 10-15 would either fail or leave by the end of the 1st year. The atmosphere was horrible – people were getting very twitchy, and competitive – deliberately winding people up about how much work they’d done, or rumours about extra people being failed this year due to a cutback in numbers. We all felt kind of…condemned.

"None more so than Alex; he was extremely bright but bored, and had been practically forced into medicine at London by his pushy surgeon-father, when in fact all he’d wanted to do was Philosophy and Natural Science. In fact he’d been offered a place at King’s college in Oxford, but his father had put a stop to it.

"Alex was fascinated by comparative religions and the Occult, but always with an open-minded scepticism. It was more about people for him, rather than the dogmas. He loved to do tarot card readings for people – especially girls. He always would charm the girls with his readings, and whilst the lads found him a bit odd and aloof, the girls thought him deep, meaningful and mysterious!

"Now Alex had simply not worked through-out the year. He hated medicine. He found the intellectual arrogance of scientific lecturers anathema. He also confessed that he thought most of his fellow students were stupid sheep, gobbling up facts and figures without thinking for ourselves. I also know for a fact that he was rebelling from his father.

"As the exam season approached, Alex’s will began to waiver, and the thought of facing up to his father started to frighten him. He began to do tarot readings for himself, and whilst no two readings were ever the same, even I could spot a pattern in the cards. The Tower. The ten of swords. Nine of swords. The Moon. The Devil. The more Alex took readings, the more these cards kept featuring, and the more agitated he became.

"It was on a late May night, after twelve when he spoke about his fears. He felt doomed, he said. The tutors had noticed his lack of progress over the year, and didn’t care much about his attitude. He was sure he was going to fail. Someone at the college must have tipped off his father, because he’d called Alex and they’d rowed. I know that much, but Alex never said what threats had been made. He came from a well-off, privileged background, and despite his free-spirit nature I secretly suspected he’d miss his foreign summer holidays travelling, his little Ford escort in which sometimes up to 8 of us would squeeze into, and the regular cash ‘treats’ from his mum which could keep us in cheap beer at the college bar. Whatever was said, Alex was now panicking that he would be kicked from the course this July.
He kept asking me what I do? How far would I go to pass finals? Cheat? Pray? Feign illness? Or even engineer an accident to keep him out and buy some time?
I told he was being stupid, and anyway he was clever enough to catch up if he’d only just apply himself.

"I’ll never forget his reply; he dragged on his cigarette, and exhaled long, like a sigh, blowing smoke from his flaring nostrils up into the warm dark sky.

“'Right now? I’d even sell my soul to get through finals…' then he paused and give a little laughing snort, 'Well, maybe not sell it. Perhaps lend it. Do you think Satan could use my soul for 6 months or so, kind of a short leasehold?'

"He laughed again. I smiled, but felt my old catholic schoolboy paranoia well-up. I murmured 'You shouldn’t joke…' but then trailed off, feeling stupid. Alex didn’t hear me, or at least didn’t register. He stared off into the night, dragging on his fag and continued, 'Yeah – my soul for 6 months, a little slice of damnation, rather than eternal. It’d be better than what dad would do to me!'

"I felt cold then; it was getting late, and I was suddenly cross with Alex. I told him I was off to bed, and that he should go too, so that he do some bloody proper work and pass the exams. We made no mention to that evening, and it totally slipped from my memory as I worked hard up to and during the exam fortnight.

"The results came out on a Thursday mid June. Some people had pass/fail oral exams, but most of my friends had got through cleanly. Including, to the surprise of many, Alex. He smiled thinly when I congratulated him. He told me we’d have champagne at the end of term ball, which was on the coming Saturday evening.
But we didn’t have champagne. Later that night Alex crashed his little ford Escort into a tree. He was taken to our hospital, the Royal London in Whitechapel, and put on Neuro’ ITU with a severe brain injury. He was not expected to survive. It was a terrible tragedy.

"We visited to begin with, but then stayed away. Alex became dead to us in a way, and as we headed off for the summer holidays, we didn’t expect to see him again when we returned in late September.

"Alex remained in a coma, and did survive, after a fashion. Amazingly he awoke from his coma in late December, 3 days before Christmas. His family claimed it was triggered by playing his favourite Christmas music to him – some sacred music recorded from the choir at King’s college, Oxford – the place Alex had always wanted to be. It was hailed as a Christmas miracle.

"In fact it was exactly 6 months to the day since his accident in late June. I saw Alex only once again after he awoke; he never spoke about what happened, and never made reference to his bizarre idea for a bargain with the devil. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. Perhaps I was being superstitious. I just don’t know.

"But I’d like to share with you a theory…I’ll need the help of someone to take the part of Alex. I can assure you that your soul will remain yours by the end, but in the meantime perhaps I could borrow it for a short while. Kind of like a leasehold…”

At this point the effect is performed as given above.

When the Devil card is ‘chosen’ comment:

“How apt. Now you must make a temporary contract with the Devil, by signing the bottom of the card, here (gesture), using a simple formal signature, as if signing a letter or legal document”

It is now explained that a contract with the devil must be offered with flames – hence the card is burned. After the card is burned, it is explained that as this must be a temporary contract, the contract must be revoked.

To do this I suggest some of the ash is pinched from the ashtray, and sprinkled over the wooden box, whilst murmuring an incantation.

The duplicate signed card appears inside an (ungaffed) old wooden box which has been on display throughout. The magus does not handle the box until after another spectator confirms that there is a single tarot card inside. [NB see above for other suggestions]

Once the restored card has been top-changed for the original signed card, it may be given for the spectator to keep. However, for small groups, where it may be obvious that the 2 signatures are different, you can say:

“I will hang onto to this and destroy it properly – after all, you don’t want any written contracts with the Devil, as he has ways of ensuring you fulfil your contractual obligations. As I mentioned, I met with Alex once after he awoke. He was pale, and looked haunted or lost. He appeared to have little capacity for warmth or intelligent friendly conversation. The neurologist said this was common after frontal-lobe injury, but that in time it should get better. His mother told me he screamed at night, suffering terrible nightmares, but he’d never be able to talk about them. When I visited him on the rehab ward he didn’t smile, even though he recognised me at once. After some pointless small talk I became awkward and said “Six months eh? After another 6 you’ll be ready for second-year.

"Alex just looked at me blankly. And just when I thought he wasn’t going to say anything, he whispered in that ragged, atrophied voice of those who have been on a ventilator, 'It’s longer than you think. Longer than you think, Steve. Longer. Than. You. Think.'

"I confess I fled.

"Alex never returned to college. A few years later I heard he’d committed suicide, unable to ever return to a full life, and always haunted. His nightmares, I subsequently learned, never ceased.”

Fini

Notes & Suggestions for Individualising Your Presentation
My story is quite clearly about me and my experiences. However you can adapt this to suit your own act.

You need to think of someone who might remind you of Alex. Think about why he is a tragic character. Why is he dissatisfied, and what might he want that is so important that he will deal with the devil? (Exams, 11 plus, driving test, even an audition for "Pop Idol"!)

Do you know of anyone at work, college or even school or had an accident and had time out? Whilst I do not suggest you use real people’s stories, they could form the basis for a fictional account.

Why not do some basic research about coma victim?

Did Alex really deal with the devil? Is it just a terrible coincidence? Does he have to end tragically? Or is he now a monk? Did he leave college and follow his dreams after all?

Could "Alex" now be very successful, and you’re still not sure what deal he made? Perhaps, you could hint, he is now a well known celebrity, enjoying his borrowed time, and awaiting the time to fulfil his "contractual obligation".

Whatever you decide, have fun and spook some people!

Comments, questions, feedback gladly received.

Steve Murray