Are there any newer resources on blindfolds. I have "Sealed Vision" and of course 13 Steps (and I know Tarbell discusses the matter although I don't have that volume). Are there any newer material on the subject or any books I've missed?

TRY the "Blindfold Book" sold by Jeff Busby.

It was written to accompany Richard Osterlined's stainless steel blindfold but has some interesting ideas and views on setting the mindset of your audience. It also has a useful reference section at the back listing lots of blindfold books and manuscripts and Busby/Osterlinds views of their practical use.

phillip

If you like the idea of having your eye sockets filled with dough and your head mummified in bandages in the style of Kuda Bux then a good source is "The blindfold enigma" by Caroll K. Priest. It's available from Martin Breese and can be found here:

http://www.sherlockholmes.co.uk/magic/magic.htm

I've purchased the blindfold enigma but have yet to recieve it. If anyone has any recommendations for this or another source that can offer important info not in this book (sealed vision? any info on this effect?)PM me or email me. I'd really appreciate it.



But from what I've read about the blindfold enigma, it's about all you need for the modern blindfold effects.



Jonathan Grant

Marko - he of the Learned Pig Project - has a booklet out entitled THE GREAT EYELESS VISION ACT. In there he discusses the process of blindfolding, as well as all the nitty gritty of doing an eyeless vision act. It is available from H and R Books and is available on his new CD Rom that he is marketing.



-Marty

Yes, Marko's manuscript is worth a read, better value on the CD

(I stock that in the U.K)



Dough and coins in your eyes is hardly modern blindfold stuff!



John Riggs had a book out that dealt with blindfolds, but cannot remember the title.



Personally I prefer a metal blindfold (a Malcolm Davidson idea). You tap a coin against it to highlight it is metal, a spectator holds it up to the light to verify no holes in it, it can be placed on and taken off quickly.



Depends what you are using it for. For an X-Ray eye act it probably pays to go to town.

Paul Hallas

(who stocks metal blindfolds in the U.K. lol)

Metal or cloth, you still have to convince the spectators that you cannot see through them and down the nose.



I make a show of making strips of duct tape. I tear a six-inch strip into four pieces each six inch long and less than an inch wide each. I stick each one of these to the edge of my table by one end and let them hang. I then tear several (5 or 6) more six-inch strips.



I then take two paper napkins and fold them up into packets and tape then over my eyes with the narrow strips (an “X” of tape over each napkin square). Next the duct tape is taped across my eyes from above the eyebrows to the tip of the nose, it is pressed well against the skin and each strip is overlapped by the next. The spectator assisting me tape-up presses the tape well against my face and insures that I cannot see (as indeed, I cannot).



A black blindfold is then tied over this whole mess.



I am led to a chair and sit. Several (usually three, as more gets a bit tedious and boring) spectators come forward and hold an object between my hands, but do not allow my hands to touch the item. I identify “sense” who the individual is via “reading” their vibes and identify the item being held.



The blindfold is taken off, the tape checked and then peeled painfully off and the act ends.



Is it modern? Absolutely not! I have been performing this act since 1966 when David Hoy (Dr. Faust) taught it to me. He published it in 1968, in the Bold and Subtle Miracles of Dr. Faust (which also includes his book test often referred to as the Hoy book test). OK, I have updated it by using Duct tape rather than the surgical adhesive tape I used to use for the effect.

As I said Mumblepeas, for an X-Ray eye act, it pays to go to town.



As for old methods, if they ain't broke, don't fix 'em.



The first thing people think of in that type of act is that you must be able to see,so you have to overdo it.



But in other routines with blindfolds, where supposedly donning one is simply to aid concentration, and you may sneak an Annemann over the shoulder glimpse to something written/arranged behind you, or perhaps you are giving information you apparently wouldn't have been able to see anyway, then the "he must be able to see" solution doesn't enter into it. There is no need in such circumstances to go to such lengths and yet it can add drama, or a good visual image, as can blindfolding a spectator.



Paul.

I use buckets (funnier), or special prep. swimming glasses...(modern)

Oftentimes, just a good old handkerchief rolled and then tied over your eyes is quite effective (from an audience perspective).

Friends,

"The Even Compleater Fortune-Teller" is the name of John Riggs' book with his excellent blindfold in it.

The late Jack Dean published "Psychic Sight",in which he discussed several ways to to present a blindfold act and various blindfolds, including what he considered to be the one used by Kuda Bux.

I don't know if Jack's material is still available.

Hal

I work alone on stage so I am always affraid of the spectators doing stupid things while I am blinfolded, like watching in my briefcase or things like that.

How do you avoid this problem ?
Best,

Fred

Control them. I know it sounds simple but it is true. If the audience wants you to succeed and are not trying to "figure out your tricks" and instead beleive that without their utmost cooperation you cannot do this, then they won't. If they feel that you are trying to pull one over on them, they will try to trip you up any way they can and usually will succeed.

Another thing is to make sure that they cannot trip you up. Make sure there is nothing left for them to trip you up with. Make sure things are closed, not left in the open, that you are selective with your volunteers so you only take extremely cooperative people and assign one to act as "stage manager" to "keep you facing the audience" (when you are truly without sight you will find that it can be hard to face them all the time) "as well as to keep you from bumping into things and from falling off the stage. When they see that you truly are helpless while blindfolded, they act in your best interest if you have selected them right.

PSIncerely Yours,
Paul Alberstat

Fred,
Paul (as usual) gives excellent advice. Audience management is a key here. Remember, the stage is your "turf" so be in command of it. You need to do this without being overbearing, though. Be gentle but firm in your instructions to the audience. Kenton Knepper's Wonder Words has a good piece of advice in this area.

And how long is your blindfold on with spectators on the stage? Shouldn't be too long. Plus, you don't need a lot of spectators on the stage with you when you are blindfolded. Keep it to the bare minimum. One ot two at most. None is good, too! The one or two who are on stage with you should be easy to manage as you should be able to see them anyway ( I hope this isn't considered giving away methods. I take for granted SOME degree of competence in this forum).

I work out of a briefcase or a salesman's sample case. It is closed when I am not either taking something out of it or putting something into it. I never/rarely leave items out when I am done with them. I almost always put them back in the case and close it. See Dan Harlan's video/DVD on mentalism for a nice way to keep your props out of sight when the effect is over.

Best regards,
Tony Razzano

Thank you Paul and Trinity for your advices.
I do agree with you on all points. I never had any problem but it is a sort of nightmare. Frightening mental images at the moment I take the blinfold.

I do like the idea of the "stage manager".
Thank you again.
Best,
Fred

Hmmm... this could be funny if it was set up ahead of time with the spectator (stooge or instant stooge). Let's say you're doing a design duplication. While you're slowly getting impressions as you duplicate the design, the spectator could be going through your briefcase and pulling out embarrassing things, like women's panties, and holding them up for the audience to see ;o) Of course, the last thing pulled out of the briefcase would be a piece of paper -- containing a copy of the spectator's drawing, drawn by you in advance and placed in your briefcase as a prediction.

-Steve

Mumblepeas...your act seems to be mostly about "fun with duct tape"

A brilliant, RARE and very little known system calls "EYES OF INDIA"! 6 pages published and commercialized by U.F. Grant, many years behind.
Here it is the effect: "Commitee of spectadors is invided you step forward. They place piece of dough or clay to over each the performers eyes and then encase the perform head in thick towels, wond in all direstions. When this is completed the performer head is completely obscured, having the appearance of mummy head. With his vision thus completely out off, the to performer may proced you demonstrate series of amazing tests, proving his clain you eyeless vision."
Would be this the same system that became famous KUDA BUX??? This wonderful system was disclosed to me by the great argentine mentalist Pedro Christofersen, in 1981.

Diabalo, Yep, as written it does seem to be about the duct tape. And in performance the audience’s knowledge that seal of the duct tape on and around the eyes is critical.

Actually, in performance, the duct tape is being torn and stuck to the side of a table as the patter/instruction (get out an object) is being given. The use of a spectator and sticking the tape on and pressing it firmly into place is also accompanied with continual patter. The idea is to “over-prove” the inability to see once the tape is in place. Without the audience buying the fact that you truly cannot see, the rest of the act is nothing!

The entire act runs somewhere between 5 and 8 minutes, with about 1.5 minutes used in tearing the tape and sticking it on the face.

There is a longer routine that I perform, where the audience participation part I described, is only the last phase. It runs about 12 minutes. Much of it can be found in the 1940’s booklet “Sightless Vision.”

Some years ago went to see Glen Falkenstein’s brilliant blindfold routine in his act. He was using what looked like the Osterling Stainless Steel Blindfold. Glen used only the blindfold and nothing else. He did not spend any time demonstrating that he could not see. In fact he only tapped on the blindfold and told us it was solid and therefore blocked his vision. He slipped it on and did his bit. He performed several nice “impossible” stunts. I thought the act ran well.

After the show, I overheard several of the audience member’s talk about the blindfold bit. Without ever having touched one, they clearly understood how it worked! Very few were convinced that the blindfold itself, hindered sight.