Cinema Verite by Jim Kleefeld

Effect: Imagine being able to actually read someone’s mind. Hand out postcards with over 30 different film posters to the audience. You have no idea who has which film poster. Have anyone choose one and think about the title. They read the names of the films from the postcards, and you stop them exactly on the film they are thinking of. Do it again with someone else. They think of a film and read the same list of titles. You know which film someone is thinking of every time. Do it ten times with ten different spectators in all different parts of the room. Everyone reads the same list of film titles. You always know who is thinking of which film. An amazing secret, so easy you will be doing it in minutes. No crib sheets. Nothing to memorize. Nothing extra to carry. Use just the 32 postcards. Extra-thick, heavy stock, full color, glossy varnish, rounded corners. Complete with a sturdy snap-closure carrying case.

Don’t want to lug 32 postcards around? Just slip ten or twelve into your pocket and still perform it exactly the same way. Old and new films with a historical and sci-fi bent – Charlie Chaplin, Hugo, Sherlock Holmes, Time Machine, Rocketeer, Golden Compass, Wild Wild West. Familiar films, but not the easy ones that anyone could guess. Any good mentalist could come up with Gone With the Wind or Casablanca or Wizard of Oz. But your audience will really be impressed when you know they are thinking of The Prestige or Sleepy Hollow. Perform it any time, anywhere with anyone who can read and think. Take it table-hopping for close-up or hand out the cards into a 1000-seat auditorium. Do it over and over with one spectator or thirty times with thirty different spectators. No one will fathom the secret. You could do it with kids, but this is not really a kidshow effect. It is strong, powerful mentalism that works with adults in almost any venue. Did I mention it is incredibly easy?

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