JUSTIFICATION: Billets & Billet Issues
This would seem one of the biggest issues people have when it comes to billet work and for a few reasons the least of which is the action of having someone write a question or whatever, on a small card or slip of paper. . .
. . . the bigger issue being magician’s guilt
FIRST, A BIT OF HISTORY
Contrary to the belief put forth in the magic community the word “Billet” is a legit term used in the Spiritualist world to refer to a small slip of paper upon which a client writes the gist of their question. Though rare you will still find Billet Readers being advertised as such, from that particular culture, so don’t fear calling these little “love pillows” (the original meaning from the “French” according to Bob Cassidy, because they were used in Victorian times as a way for lovers to pass affectionate thoughts to one another; especially in cases of forbidden love.)
In this explanation we find the answer to our first quandary – why would people write something down? The answer being that it’s what has been done for over a century from within the shut-eye world. Needless to say, someone working outside the New Age/Psychic Entertainer approach will have it a bit tougher explaining away such things but that is why so many follow the primary rule of billet work. . .
Magicians place importance onto the slip because of guilt, that’s it (outside the fear of doing the switch, copping the read and how to end up clean which is more fear based). Guilt comes because we know we are about to cheat our butts off in order to create a seeming miracle. Because of the brain washing we are given when it comes to charlatan antics we feel “dirty” and worse, so as to escape this psychologically empowered monkey on our back, we start viewing what we do as being a “trick” which restores the more innocent idea behind what we are doing. BUT. . . as Stephan Minch pointed out long ago, a true mentalists has one foot embedded in the Theater with the other firmly planted in the world of the confidence artist. More so, we are willing to do whatever it takes to sustain our biggest of all illusions – the claim of who & what we are. This can range from taking credit for someone’s watch stopping or other peculiar happenings when we are around to our work with billets, swamis, benders, and more. The IMAGE is what’s important and when it comes to Mentalism, you really don’t get to enjoy downtime. . not if you are seeking to be “more” than some guy doing tricks.
So it’s ok to have people jot something down; it’s tradition and as Bob Cassidy says, “it keeps you making me look like a fool later in the show.”
We’ve likewise seen how our act of ignoring the slip (whatever duplicity you’re running with at the moment) takes away from our unconscious “tells” – those subtle ideomotor cues we give off and some audience members might pick-up on. It’s something we needn’t lend power to and for those that seem to have problems with this hurdle I’d recommend you sit down with the following resources;
Most Anything By Bob Cassidy
Bob always has solid billet work featured in most all of his books but the main one’s to look at are the One Man Billet Act, Invisible Billet, and the Moldavian Switch. But there is one other Cassidy piece I believe everyone needs to study if they are considering billet work, it is a short section found in his Theories & Methods for the Practical Psychic entitled “The Billet Switch” (pg 19) through pg 21/ the “Open Switch & Read”. While this book has several fantastic billet bits in it the outline of doing a one-on-one billet Reading is some of the most powerful information any student could ask for, demonstrating just how powerful that little piece of paper can be. Frankly, mastering billets and the swami is about the only two bits of mechanical trickery any mentalist needs to really know (though proper use of impression tools is a wise thing).
SWITCHCRAFT by Elliot Bresler – this is top of the list MUST HAVE – PERIOD!
Other Prime Resources:
Thought Reading with Billets vol. I & II – I will place strongest emphasis on Vol. I in that it will give you a ton of insight on the original Peek technique that still reigns as the most practical and easy to do “standard” of the craft going – ACIDUS NOVUS. Vol. II covers a full billet peek method known as Acidus Globus which is good and to my knowledge the only full billet read currently available in legal form. There is another (Obsidian Oblique) which is superior in my experience but not available legally, unless you purchase it from one of a limited number of folks that bought the original release. Do note, it comes with a CD so torrent downloads will not give you everything that goes with it.
John Riggs & Docc Hilford both focus on billets in their many manuscripts so study what they have to offer.
The Master Billet Course by Allan Zingg – is a fun DVD series that offers a series of routines employing billets that are both, fun as well as devious.
WARNING: This is a very long dissertation on Billet Work in general that spans a total of 3 parts (due to post length limitations). I will be listing the associated links at the top of each posting for your convenience. This would seem one of the biggest issues people have when it comes to billet work and for a few reasons the least of which is the action of having someone write a question or whatever, on a small card or slip of paper. . .
. . . the bigger issue being magician’s guilt
FIRST, A BIT OF HISTORY
Contrary to the belief put forth in the magic community the word “Billet” is a legit term used in the Spiritualist world to refer to a small slip of paper upon which a client writes the gist of their question. Though rare you will still find Billet Readers being advertised as such, from that particular culture, so don’t fear calling these little “love pillows” (the original meaning from the “French” according to Bob Cassidy, because they were used in Victorian times as a way for lovers to pass affectionate thoughts to one another; especially in cases of forbidden love.)
In this explanation we find the answer to our first quandary – why would people write something down? The answer being that it’s what has been done for over a century from within the shut-eye world. Needless to say, someone working outside the New Age/Psychic Entertainer approach will have it a bit tougher explaining away such things but that is why so many follow the primary rule of billet work. . .
IGNORE IT!
Just as you learn to ignore the hand that has the vanished object and focus on the empty hand that mimes the action of taking it, so with billets you must learn to no make them a big deal in your own head. I believe it was Dunninger that suggested we ask ourselves “What would a real mind reader/ psychic do”? and in the case of billets, they are quite nonchalant and look at them for what they are; a slip of paper someone wrote something on – it’s innocent and means NOTHING. Magicians place importance onto the slip because of guilt, that’s it (outside the fear of doing the switch, copping the read and how to end up clean which is more fear based). Guilt comes because we know we are about to cheat our butts off in order to create a seeming miracle. Because of the brain washing we are given when it comes to charlatan antics we feel “dirty” and worse, so as to escape this psychologically empowered monkey on our back, we start viewing what we do as being a “trick” which restores the more innocent idea behind what we are doing. BUT. . . as Stephan Minch pointed out long ago, a true mentalists has one foot embedded in the Theater with the other firmly planted in the world of the confidence artist. More so, we are willing to do whatever it takes to sustain our biggest of all illusions – the claim of who & what we are. This can range from taking credit for someone’s watch stopping or other peculiar happenings when we are around to our work with billets, swamis, benders, and more. The IMAGE is what’s important and when it comes to Mentalism, you really don’t get to enjoy downtime. . not if you are seeking to be “more” than some guy doing tricks.
So it’s ok to have people jot something down; it’s tradition and as Bob Cassidy says, “it keeps you making me look like a fool later in the show.”
We’ve likewise seen how our act of ignoring the slip (whatever duplicity you’re running with at the moment) takes away from our unconscious “tells” – those subtle ideomotor cues we give off and some audience members might pick-up on. It’s something we needn’t lend power to and for those that seem to have problems with this hurdle I’d recommend you sit down with the following resources;
Most Anything By Bob Cassidy
Bob always has solid billet work featured in most all of his books but the main one’s to look at are the One Man Billet Act, Invisible Billet, and the Moldavian Switch. But there is one other Cassidy piece I believe everyone needs to study if they are considering billet work, it is a short section found in his Theories & Methods for the Practical Psychic entitled “The Billet Switch” (pg 19) through pg 21/ the “Open Switch & Read”. While this book has several fantastic billet bits in it the outline of doing a one-on-one billet Reading is some of the most powerful information any student could ask for, demonstrating just how powerful that little piece of paper can be. Frankly, mastering billets and the swami is about the only two bits of mechanical trickery any mentalist needs to really know (though proper use of impression tools is a wise thing).
SWITCHCRAFT by Elliot Bresler – this is top of the list MUST HAVE – PERIOD!
Other Prime Resources:
Thought Reading with Billets vol. I & II – I will place strongest emphasis on Vol. I in that it will give you a ton of insight on the original Peek technique that still reigns as the most practical and easy to do “standard” of the craft going – ACIDUS NOVUS. Vol. II covers a full billet peek method known as Acidus Globus which is good and to my knowledge the only full billet read currently available in legal form. There is another (Obsidian Oblique) which is superior in my experience but not available legally, unless you purchase it from one of a limited number of folks that bought the original release. Do note, it comes with a CD so torrent downloads will not give you everything that goes with it.
John Riggs & Docc Hilford both focus on billets in their many manuscripts so study what they have to offer.
The Master Billet Course by Allan Zingg – is a fun DVD series that offers a series of routines employing billets that are both, fun as well as devious.
More on Part II
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