Hi,

I have purchased MOAB 2.0 and I am very impressed with it. I don't know if this is legitimate discussion so if not, please accept my apologies. ---

As those who own the trick will know there are certain requirements on the word that must be chosen. I am a bit nervous that, DESPITE following the instructions in the guide ("make it harder for me" etc), the audience members I give the book to will just choose any word they like unless I explicitly spell out the rules for choosing the word (which the guide says not to do).

Does anyone have any tips on:
1) Making it more likely that they will choose a 'valid' word? (I was thinking of asking details about the word, i.e. how many letters in it, but I thought that might call attention to the effect)

2) Being able to continue the trick with the same person after they have chosen a 'wrong' word?

Thanks very much!

I always say the big words are the hardest so choose a big word, seven letters or more .... something you can visualize. I'll also confirm that they have a selection of possibilities so it is a real choice .. I never have any trouble. Gettting it wrong sometimes only makes it seem more real though that rarely happens.

Dan.

Welcome to the Café mag1c123.

Re 'making it more likely that they will chose a valid word'...

This will undoubtedly become easier the more you perform but when using this procedure for the first few times the prospect of giving the assisting spectator anything less than explicitly overt instructions can feel like a slightly daunting and risky task. Many 'serious' mentalists will advise you to make as little of the qualities of the word choice as possible. Others, who prefer a more surefire way of knowing the assisting spectator has chosen a word you can reveal, will prefer to employ a script designed to elicit confirmation that they are on the right track before getting into revealing the word.

Getting the balance between these two positions so that it is right, comfortable and works for you is going to be something that you'll need to discover for yourself. If you are concerned about the possibility that a word that you can't get might be chosen you might want to start by being more direct and specific with your instructions than the purists would be happy with and as you gain in your confidence and your assessment of your own ability in this regard you can gradually over ongoing performances become less overt with your instructions.

Re, 'Being able to continue the trick with the same person after they have chosen a 'wrong' word?'.

I can't recall this question being addressed before on many of the MOAB threads on the Café. For many performers getting a failure won't be any issue. They will have a performing style, manner and routine structure to their performance that allows them to either carry on and effectively have another go or pass it off as one of those failures that make the mentalism look more real. (But such an approach does beg the question as to why didn't they plan to fail at this point in the first place?)

However other routine structures won't accommodate a do-over or failure quite so readily or satisfactory. A tight script with many comedic moments that become 'used up' during the lead into a wrong word leaves no comparable tight scripting for a satisfactory do-over. In such cases repeating the effect or leaving it as a failure might not be an acceptable option.

Having a back up secondary script is a possible ploy but it's often hard enough to come up with one solid script that works for an individual performer.

Another option is to have another book test at your disposal with a different procedural method, as a back up. Something direct, quick and pretty bullet proof like Marc Paul's AAA book test would be a useful tool to have in your arsenal for such an situation.

Another alternative is to create a multiphase routine... that way if one part misses you can simply move onto the next part of the routine. With such a routine though you might want to structure it so you know you have the last phase in the bag before you get to the point you are going to reveal it so as not to leave yourself potentially ending on a failure.

Mag1c123 how many times have you had a problem so far and what did you do when you did?

Anyone still atching this topic?

Have been working MOAB2 for a few months now - outstanding!

Anyone done anything really 'out there' with it?

Happy to trade PMs on a stage routine I worked up from Outlaw's Kioku