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and mentalism communities. Also, to the many (too numerous to name, and I fear
leaving someone out!) at the Magic Café and Mentalist Sanctum who have offered
their feedback and insight, support and eagerness to learn. Go well!
Lasting Thanks: To the many who have influenced me and my art, work and life
(directly and indirectly), in no particular order: Banachek, Richard Osterlind, Max
Maven, Eugene Burger, Luke Jermay, Kenton Knepper, Docc Hilford, Brother
Shadow, Patrick Redford, Jim Callahan, and many more.
Sincere thanks to Sean Bott and Brian Voiles. You ve always been there for me,
teaching me, working beside me. I honor you both. Let s bust.
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BONUS SECTION
AFTERTHOUGHTS ON METAL BENDING
I always invite my audience and spectators to provide their own utensils, keys, coins, nails,
etc. to be bent at my demonstrations. Also, not just relying on my audience, I play it safe and bring
some of my own that can be examined before, during and after. I often use metal bending and cloud
melting together.
A great subtlety I used here was having a large plastic bucket carried around the theatre (or
passed around the group in workshops or large cloud busting demonstrations) by an assistant to
collect the utensils. By dumping all the pieces into the bucket, some will become misshapen by
weight and position; others will already be bent to some degree and were not noticed by their
owner. Also, and I did this on a few occasions, I had plants in the audience holding MY spoons and
forks (normal, but in a type and variety I prefer).
Notice I did not say  stooge , but PLANT. These people would come in for the show, and
the ticket master, usher or my assistant would simply hand out a few spoons and perhaps a fork or
two for people to take back to their seats and  check to verify they were free of trickery . They
were instructed to just put the items in the bucket when the assistant came by.
Of course, an occasional spectator would bend a spoon beforehand, and this only served to
help me later! Month after month, many people would bring their own forks and spoons, and I
could take my pick after they were all brought back and dumped on the table. Often, the piles were
so large, that I could reach directly into them as if digging for a certain piece, and covered by many
other pieces, could happily bend away with complete cover.
Also, the assistant who carried the bucket often worked the metal before me. He would grab
people s utensils, and while moving around, bend them, or tossing them in the bucket, he would
bend them. He would then allow some people to place their spoons in the bucket themselves, to
make a fair display of the collection process.
You could have an outright stooge or two in the audience who will add gimmicked tools to
the collection. These could be prepared forks and spoons to break, pre-twisted items, bent coins and
keys, or otherwise gimmicked item and/or things that would be otherwise very difficult to do
impromptu.
One of my most powerful and memorable performances ever was during a theatre show for
1,500 people in the Perry Egyptian Theatre in Ogden, Utah. I had stooges in the audience that
added a few bent coins, keys and working watches to the collection bucket.
I just bluffed with the watches. I could get some of the audience watches to work again, the
method is well known. Some didn t, but I had two other WORKING watches that were added to the
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pile by my stooges, and I only claimed they were not ticking as I placed them into the hands of my
audience and willed them to start.
After I bent some spoons and forks, I bent the key of an audience member, and then a pre-
bent coin, and then some pre bent keys, just by holding them or placing them in people s hands.
Also, when the assistant brings the bucket back to the stage or platform, before I openly
dumped the contents out, I would LOOK into the bucket and say,  Let s see, people have given
spoons, some forks, oh, there s a butter knife, some coins, a pair of scissors, etc.
I would just name things I saw in the bucket, and show a few, placing my hand in the
bucket, I could bend many things in just a few seconds by commenting, grabbing something,
showing it briefly, and tossing it back in. I would then just blatantly say,  Let s just dump ALL
these out. And then place the bucket off-stage. (Or upside down as a stand of sorts.) You can also
use the bucket to ISOLATE one or a few items, i.e. a ticking watch, a spoon you bent under cover,
etc. Now, the entire audience can direct their intentions at the piece(s) beneath the bucket, and
having a volunteer remove it, can view the results together.
If I had a stooge add a prepared fork or spoon (for breaking) to the mix, I would position
them as last to be approached by my assistant, so their utensil would be on top and would not get [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]