(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

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Barrie Richardson has established an enviable reputation
as one of magic’s finest creators of mental effects. His first two
books for Hermetic Press (Theater of the Mind and Act Two)
were highly praised. Mr. Richardson completes his trilogy
with Curtain Call, which features the full details of his entire
professional act, dozens of wonderful tricks, routines, and tools
for the mentalist, and concludes with a unique piece that always
brings a strong emotional response and a spontaneous ovation
from his audiences.
As the following two routines aptly demonstrate, Mr.
Richardson is a master at achieving memorable mysteries by
simple means. My thanks to Stephen Minch and Hermetic Press
for allowing M-U-M to publish these excerpts. —michael Close
mesmer’s Pencil
In Theater of the Mind, I presented an effect in which a woman
could not lift an ordinary wooden pencil (Pencil Pusher, p. 71).
This was a demonstration not of hypnosis but of the power of suggestion.
Over the past decade, this effect has been presented by
notable mentalists in North America and in Europe. I have added
two additional phases to this routine, either of which can be done
alone or in combination. I have also changed the script and, lastly,
I have given more specific details on how to tie the threads.
This is one of those rare pieces that can be done for a single
person or on stage in a large theater. There is no preparation, and
all that is required is a sharp pencil, a small invisible gimmick,
a cooperative helper and a significant amount of stage management.
It is imperative that the performer establish a friendly yet
authoritative relationship. There should be the feeling that this is
an experiment in which failure is a possibility and that success
is largely dependent on the special abilities of the volunteer. The
volunteer’s reactions are what make the demonstration so believable,
and this requires guidance and frequent public affirmation
of the helper’s success.
effect and Presentation:
Phase i
“Have you ever heard of Anton Mesmer? Mesmer was born
and educated in Switzerland, and he set up his medical practice
in Paris in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He believed
that a psychic ether pervades all space and that this energy flows
56 M-U-M Magazine
excerpt from:
Curtain Call
author: Barrie Richardson
description: Hardbound
with dust jacket, 251 pages
available from:
www.HermeticPress.com
through all bodies.
“He further asserted that sickness and body pain were caused
by a blockage of this natural flow, and he developed several
remedies using magnets and hands-on massage to reduce pain
and promote healing.
“His spectacular ‘cures’ became the talk of society, and King
Louis XVI offered him a life-time pension to keep him in France.
“Mesmer’s patients were mostly wealthy, attractive women
who had what we might now call psychosomatic illnesses and
repressed sexual anxieties.
“Like a modern stage hypnotist, Mesmer discovered the value
of not accepting all patients. Only those who could supposedly
control the flow of energy with their own body were accepted as
patients.
“Anton Mesmer would have the prospective patient undergo
tests such as the ones we will try.
“I need a volunteer. Ideally I would like to have a woman who
has had natural childbirth training. If not, I would like a woman
who has a vivid imagination. The experiment will be enjoyable,
and the helper will receive a special gift.”
An attractive woman, Carol, comes forward.
“Let’s assume you are a prospective patient and I am Dr.
Mesmer.” The performer freely shows a common yellow wooden
pencil. He places it on his open left hand, with the point resting on
the middle finger and the eraser on his palm.
“Please open your right hand – and relax.” The performer
takes the woman’s right wrist and holds her open hand five inches
above the pencil.
“Now I want you to feel that you have the power, due to the
animal magnetism that flows through your body, to adjust the
dormant energy in this pencil.”
He slowly moves her open hand three or four times over the
pencil.
Then...the eraser-end of the pencil starts to rise.
“Strange. Stay focused.”
A few more strokes and the pencil pivots upward two or three
inches.
There are obviously no threads or magnets.
“Now reverse the flow.” The performer slowly moves Carol’s
open hand backward over the raised pencil, reversing the flow.
Ever so slowly the pencil lowers back onto the palm where it
started.
“Will you please lift the pencil off my hand?”
Carol does so without the performer making any motions or
adjustments.
Phase ii
“Carol, you are doing a wonderful job. Would you like to try
another experiment?”
She nods affirmatively.
“Please ignore the audience. Forget they are here. Follow my
instructions and concentrate on the images I will give you in a
moment.”
The performer places the pencil on his open left hand, with the
eraser pointing to his right. Carol is standing at his right.
“With your left hand, grip the pencil between your thumb and
first finger. Good! Now relax and shut your eyes.
“Relax. Listen to my instructions. Carol, I want you to be successful.
Use your immense creativity to imagine the pencil you
are gripping is not a pencil. Imagine it is a metal bar. The metal is