POSTMENTALISM ALVO STOCKMAN The Effect Before a major event (football game, election, etc), you offer to make a prediction to one of your friends. However in the interest of security, you don’t want to hold on to the prediction yourself, nor do you want your friend to. You offer to mail the prediction in the form of a letter to your friend’s house, using the US Postal Service. In this way, it would be a felony to tamper with it! You write the prediction, put it in an envelope, address it, put a stamp on it, and hand it to your friend. You then invite him to put the letter in any mailbox in town. The following day (or whenever the letter happens to arrive), alone at home, your friend’s brain will slowly disassemble itself and finally shut down, trying to figure out how you knew. YES. It’s as clean and straight-forward as it sounds. There’s absolutely nothing misleading in this description. Get ready to have some fun, this is a reputation maker.Introduction In envelopes, pockets, folded billets, and boxes, written predictions have become a standard theme in magic. Its easy to see why. The ability to predict the future is something central to being human. In fact, some consider it the most important measure of intelligence. The ability to be prepared for future events is a critical survival skill. Even in our day to day lives, weathermen, stock analysts, marketers, politicians, lawyers, and hundreds of other occupations are focused around the outcome of future events. Predicting the future is a theme everyone can relate to and see the value of. The focus of any prediction effect inevitably comes down to its integrity. When a television escape artist puts on chains, traditionally he will have a privately hired member of the local police force examine them to make sure the handcuffs he is using are legitimate. In this way, a 3rd party has vouched to the audience for the effect’s integrity. There are a couple of drawbacks to this when performing casually for friends. First, most of us are not under 24 hour police surveillance. This makes contracting a member of local law enforcement impractical. And second, even when a privately or even “randomly” selected police officer is chosen from an audience during a stage show, their legitimacy is still in question. Are they really a police officer or an actor who is part of the show? Each time a question like this is asked, it chips away precious credibility from the performance. In a written prediction effect (particularly between a mentalist and a single individual), there is a dilemma of who to entrust with the prediction until the time of revelation.+ If the mentalist holds onto it, the details could be discretely changed (as they often are), compromising the integrity of the prediction. + If the spectator holds onto it, they could read it and possibly change the outcome, also compromising the original prediction. Ideally we would have an escrow style trusted 3rd-party agent who could hang on to the prediction for us until after the predicted event. There would also be severe penalties for either side to tamper with the prediction. The solution | propose in Postmentalism is to use the US Postal Service to mail a prediction to your friend’s home.Benefits Buildup Anticipation is a huge part of pleasure. It’s what makes Christmas mornings, 16th birthdays and Fridays so much juicier. In Postmentalism, your spectator will be looking forward to receiving this mysterious prediction from you for at least a day or two, listening for the mailman and anticipating what it could be. Private Reaction | touched on this concept in my effect “Mix Tape’. Regardless of whether you’re performing on stage or walk- around, it’s impossible to get a truly honest reaction from someone as long as you're watching them. By sending the prediction to their home, your spectator is somewhere they feel safe, comfortable, relaxed and most importantly, alone to react completely genuinely to your performance. It’s obviously a different kind of performance where you don’t get to see a “freak-out” moment, but one that hits hard and will be remembered forever. Souvenir In many tricks, the spectator is left with some scrap of signed card that the magician gives to them (usually to avoid having to walk it over to the waste basket) with the belief that they will cherish it and remember them fondly forever. The problem is that usually it’s a meaningless shred of a performance. In Postmentalism, the spectator receives an envelope, addressed and mailed to them, delivered to their door the old fashioned way (which is only getting more memorable as email takes over), that they personally put in the mail. This envelope contains a full recount of what happened during the performance and any time they lookback at it they will be able to relive the moment. Posial Integrity As far as middlemen go, it doesn’t get much better than the USPS. It’s actually a felony to tamper with the mail. Assuming both you and your spectator are performing outside the walls of a prison, this should be more than enough to convince them that no one has changed the prediction.Benefits Buildup Anticipation is a huge part of pleasure. It's what makes Christmas mornings, 16th birthdays and Fridays so much juicier. In Postmentalism, your spectator will be looking forward to receiving this mysterious prediction from you for at least a day or two, listening for the mailman and anticipating what it could be. Private Reaction | touched on this concept in my effect “Mix Tape”. Regardless of whether you’re performing on stage or walk- around, it’s impossible to get a truly honest reaction from someone as long as you’re watching them. By sending the prediction to their home, your spectator is somewhere they feel safe, comfortable, relaxed and most importantly, alone to react completely genuinely to your performance. It’s obviously a different kind of performance where you don’t get to see a “freak-out” moment, but one that hits hard and will be remembered forever. Souvenir In many tricks, the spectator is left with some scrap of signed card that the magician gives to them (usually to avoid having to walk it over to the waste basket) with the belief that they will cherish it and remember them fondly forever. The problem is that usually it’s a meaningless shred of a performance. In Postmentalism, the spectator receives an envelope, addressed and mailed to them, delivered to their door the old fashioned way (which is only getting more memorable as email takes over), that they personally put in the mail. This envelope contains a full recount of what happened during the performance and any time they lookback at it they will be able to relive the moment. Postal Integrity As far as middlemen go, it doesn’t get much better than the USPS. It’s actually a felony to tamper with the mail. Assuming both you and your spectator are performing outside the walls of a prison, this should be more than enough to convince them that no one has changed the prediction.Method Summary The key elements to the method for Postmentalism are a special time-delayed disappearing ink pen combined with a clever switch. The general idea is as follows: While performing, you use the special Postmentalism pen (provided) to write out the name and address of your spectator on the prediction envelope. After putting a stamp onit, you hand this envelope to your friend and ask that they drop it in a mailbox. Once this has been done and you are alone, you will re-write their address on a new envelope (with a normal pen), and wait till the event you are predicting has been completed. Now it’s simply a matter of writing a new “prediction” and mailing it to them. The result will be that the original envelope is blank by the time the postal system gets their hands on it and they will be unable to deliver it and thus forced to throw it away for you. The copy that your friend receives will be indistinguishable from the original and as accurate as you want it to be.Method Step-by-Step Supplies 2 identical postage stamps 2 identical envelopes 2 identical pieces of paper 1 Postmentalism pen (included) 1 non-gimmicked pen (matching ink color) Preparation The special ink in the Postmentalism pen takes roughly 24 hours to vanish, however you could (if you reeeeeeally wanted to) carefully read the residue or imprints the tip of the pen leaves on the envelope after the ink vanishes. This creates a tiny (teeny tiny) possibility that some Dudley Do-Right working for the postal service may attempt to deliver your unmarked letter. Here is the solution: You will prepare the envelopes you use by wrting out an arbitrary address (or two) on them with the Postmentalism pen a couple days before you perform the trick. This will ensure that the envelope already has some imprints in it before you write down your spectator’s address. When your spectator’s address disappears, the resulting combination of imprints will be unreadable to a postal employee. The Pen The Postmentalism pen is a specially developed gimmick with ink that disappears slowly. This makes it perfect for this effect. It’s disguised in a very common, brand name office pen tube to throw off any suspicion. You will also need asecond (ordinary) pen that has a similar color ink. This ink does *not* need to match exactly. In fact, as long as it is roughly the same shade it will work. Almost any major office supply store will have such a pen. Again, keep in mind that at least a day or two will pass before your spectator will see the envelope again. Our brains are not wired to recognize subtle differences in colors over long periods of time. One thing | will suggest is to use non-white envelopes. This will help hide some of the minor residue left over by the ink. Timing In deciding when to perform Postmentalism, here are some considerations: It should be close enough to the event that you can write your second prediction soon after to avoid a strange delay in the letter arriving to your friend. Ideally, you want to begin performing just after the daily mail pickup. This gives you a full 24 hours (important as we'll see in a moment) to write your prediction and get it delivered, as well as at least 24 hours for the ink to completely vanish. Writing the Original Prediction Have ready your envelope, stamp and a piece of paper. Then propose to your company that you'd like to make a prediction. At this point, you can simply write a very broad and vague prediction (or a bold guess) to your friend. In the off-chance that he or she is compelled to tear it open right then and there, you'll be covered. You might be wrong, but you’re covered.Next you will put the prediction in an envelope and seal it. It’s at this point you must start paying careful attention to the envelope. The Stockman Switch The Stockman Switch is based on a combination of (1) the fact that it is almost impossible to distinguish two pieces of writing from the same person unless they are side-by-side and (2) that handwriting is inherently unique. Ask your friend their address and write it carefully on the envelope. If you make a mistake, just scribble it out and keep going. Memory Remember where you scribbled and made mistakes on the envelope. You will need to re-create them later. Mistakes are not actually bad! In fact, | suggest you make one or two little ones just to subtly make this envelope seem unique. If you’re having trouble remembering someone’s address or how you wrote it and you have a cell phone with a camera, you can discretely take a picture of the envelope when you’re done. Your ability to remember these things will improve over time. To subtly create a seeming uniqueness to the envelope, draw a smiley face, star or some other symbol. Practice! It’s integral to Postmentalism that the spectator believe they have received the same exact letter in the mail. What you already have working in your favor is that1. Different copies of one person's hand writing is difficult to differentiate unless compared side-by-side. 2. At least a day or two will go by between comparisons which means their memory will be a little fuzzy anyway. 3. The fact that you casually ask their address subtly implies that you don’t have it in memory. This being said, it doesn’t hurt to practice a few handy seemingly unique symbols you can consistently doodle onto your envelope (smiley face or other). Dropping into a Mailbox Having finished writing on the envelope, pay attention to where you stick the stamp and hand the envelope to your friend. Take your time. There’s no rush. In fact, to build suspense and anticipation even more, | encourage writing the prediction and actually letting your friend hang on to the prediction for a while. This will anchor the notion of both permanence and control to the envelope and your friend respectively. Perhaps make the prediction before dinner, give the envelope to your friend, eat, then walk to the nearest mailbox together. Ask your friend to put the envelope into any mailbox they’d like. Drive to a distant one if you’d like or simply walk together. In any case, it’s in their hands and ready to go. When you both arrive at the mailbox, note the pickup time. This isn’t mission critical, but if it’s not been picked up yet, note that you should really try to get your second prediction in that same day’s batch to avoid delays and to get the correct date stamped on it. Delays are normal however andit wouldn't make or break your effect if an extra day went by. In fact, if you’re performing on a Friday or Saturday, you have even more time to wait comfortably. However the date is stamped on letters when they are mailed, so the timing is still important. Making a Duplicate Envelope As soon as you’re alone again, it’s time to create a duplicate envelope. Even if the event you’re predicting is not for several hours, you should still make this envelope as soon as possible to avoid forgetting some obvious and distinctive element of it your friend may remember. Once the event has passed, you can write out your prediction any way you'd like and mail it to your friend. Distance vs Time An interesting opportunity is when your friend lives far away. Perhaps they are in town on holiday or a business trip. The time it will take to deliver a letter or simply for them to receive the letter may be extended. In these cases, it helps to write a bit longer of a letter to both jog their memory and to weave it in to a genuinely friendly letter for someone you don’t see often. Postmarks It is important to understand how postmarks work. Envelopes are stamped with the current date as they’re being processed by the Postal Service. It is not necessarily the same day you’re sending it however. If you mail after- hours it won't get stamped until the next day. If mailed on a weekend, it could be postmarked as late as Monday. As long as you can get your real prediction in before the cut-off for the day it would have been stamped, you’re set.Polish The brilliant improvisationalist Michael W. had some fantastic suggestions for Postmentalism that I’d like to share with you here. If you’re willing to take a little extra time (and | hope you are—this is a miracle after all!) set yourself up ahead of time by arranging to meet your friend at a coffee shop or restaurant where you know they would give you an envelope and paper on polite request. Mention you have a wild idea, then go up to the counter, pretend to borrow a pen, and actually ask for an envelope and a piece of paper to use for your performance. What this will do is take any attention away from the tools you’re using (pen, paper, envelope, etc) and focus it purely on the effect. Optionally, to further add spontaneity you can use napkins. And if you can’t get an envelope, save that part till you get to the post office. A lovely touch that Michael also suggested was to put something ridiculous on your pen (masking tape, stickers, feather, rubber bands) like servers do to identify their pens. Just take a look at your local bar & grill to see examples of this. This further sells the fact that you just went up and found a pen on the counter of the cafe, for instance. One of the benefits of this is taking the attention off the slight weirdness of the color of the Postmentlism pen ink. However in the future, even as the technology improves and the ink looks more normal, | would still suggest “borrowing” the pen as it gives a much more off-the-cuff style of performance which is preferable with such a bold miracle. If you can't get a stamp from the establishment, either have one ready in your wallet or accompany your friend to the nearest post office and mail it together.Dressing There’s an opportunity every time you perform Postmentalism to uniquely dress it up to fit the situation. Here are just a few examples. Premonition The most obvious use for Postmentalism is to predict outcomes of large scale events. This is absolutely fine, it’s a great opportunity to make a huge impact with someone. | would present it as a premonition that you're getting. Perhaps tell your friend that you need to write them something about the upcoming event. In the case of agame, maybe write just the score, but not which number belongs to which team, or make a tiny error (off by a point, say). It’s my strong belief that it’s a bit fishy when you're perfectly accurate as to what the outcome is. It takes some of the mystery out of it. This style of performance is obviously great for use on friends. However, one other situation it’s great for is in making a big impact for a potential business relationship. If you’re trying to book a show, sign a deal or get your “foot in the door’ in any way, try performing this at the interview. Not only will it hit them between the eyes and completely floor them, but they'll get it a day or two after your meeting forcing them to remember you, and nine times out of ten, call you back. Number Cruncher For predictions about game scores, stock prices, weather or anything else heavily involving numbers, you may want to try pretending that you are doing some hard core calculations. Write down some funny looking equations, or bring in some information from the internet and crunch those numbers intosomething that looks like a prediction. When doing mentalism, it’s a good idea to give people a hook to latch on to. For example, one of the things that makes Derren Brown so appealing is his ability to blur the line between psychology and magic, constantly pushing the line of what people will believe is possible. Good Fortune This performance best justifies the spectator not immediately being allowed to see the prediction you write since it directly involves their actions. Write your friend a letter that they are not to read until a later date. Have them mail it to themselves as they would in the standard presentation. Later that evening, pay attention to any interesting things that may occur. A phone call with good news comes during dinner, they trip and fall on the steps to the subway, a blonde in a red dress gives him her phone number. Anything that they might consider significant and remember. Write this in a letter as though you were seeing into their future. Sprinkle on some more cold reading style messages for a forecast of the next week’s fortune! Baby Gender + If a friend or relative is pregnant, and you know she is going to find out the gender the next morning, make a prediction based on reading her palm! This is a great opportunity but sadly will not come up very often. Imagine the impact if it turns out she’s having twins!Example Timeline Friday 7:00 pm Visit local coffee shop and ask politely for a sheet of paper (for real prediction) and an envelope (for dummy prediction). Prepare envelope (write arbitrary address). Find nearest post office. Go inside and make sure stamp machine is working, buy two first class stamps and put in wallet. Saturday 9:00 pm Meet friend at same coffee shop. Tell them you had a dream about them and Sunday’s Football game. Go to “borrow” a pen, paper/napkin and envelope. Switch envelope out for prepared one. Return to table. Write the prediction and seal in envelope. 9:30 pm Have friend drive you to Post Office. Go inside. Have them pick the kind of stamp, or if they want mixed postage. Address envelope. Take a picture of them holding the envelope with your cell phone. Take a picture of them mailing the envelope Sunday 10:00 am Review photo of envelope and prepare duplicates. Wait for outcome of game. Send your prediction from same post office. Monday/Tuesday Your friend gets the envelope in the mail. They call you. Tell them to meet you so you can take another picture of them holding the prediction. Buy a copy of the newspaper with the headline showing the final score of the game. A Month Later Send your friend the photo of them holding the paper and your prediction.Acknowledgements I'd like to thank Michael W. for his suggestions and feedback. I'd also like to give a very big thank you to Luke Jermay. His creativity has been an inspiration to me. Post Analysis Have fun performing Postmentalism. It may not be your everyday worker’s solution, but when you need a true miracle and the opportunity presents itself, | think you’ll be very pleased with the results. If you have any exciting stories to share or questions regarding the effect, you may contact me directly at alvo.stockman@gmail.com Alvo’s PRO tips for being a successful Postmentailist. . ALWAYS prep your envelopes (write an arbitrary address). . ALWAYS walk with your friend to the mailbox. . TEST new envelopes before you use them in a show. Some work better than others. Make sure the ink is vanishing. . DON'T perform Postmentalism in extreme cold. It may affect the timing of the ink 4. When in doubt, MAIL YOURSELF.www.PenguinMagic.com Cure Et ae ee kt dl