Your Favorite Effects Using a Center Tear

[Delusional]

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased "Note by Matt Sconse". In this DVD, a center tear was taught with great detail. It was then that I realized that there could be literally hundreds of applications with this principle. So, What are some effects that can be done with a center tear? Witch are your favorites?

 

[Craig Browning]

I've done Mentalism for most of the past two decades (exclusively) and off and on for over thirty years. I have one routine where I use the CT and only because it is the most logical place I've ever found in which the CT actually fits and makes sense -- Bruce Bernstein seems to agree with me in that he published a similar perspective prior to my independent discovery of such.

The method is DUMB, illogical, and given the advances that have come along since its introduction (on peeks) it's superfluous. Acidus Novus is far superior and gets rid of the first major psychological problem the CT has -- tearing up the slip. But the CT has other problems, far too many to get into at this point.

Yes, it does have a "right" way of presenting it. . . the manner by which it was originally used by Mitt Joint Readers that performed a ritual in which a client's question was burnt and offered to the spirit world so the psychic could gain guidance and clarity. In this setting there is a flow and series of "logical" reasons behind the writing, tearing & burning. It's all staged in a way that invokes the sitter's desire and willingness to believe the spell being spun; the smoke from the burnt offering adding to the theater created by the Reader.

We don't have that advantage now days and so, we have lost the logic and flow behind a very out dated technique.

The CT has been exposed countless times via Cereal Boxes, Box Scout manuals and more. The only people fooled by how great it is seems to be magicians more than the laity. Don't try to justify it and force it to fit a particular "theme"; look at it for what it was and wrap your head around why it worked so well for charlatans and that handful of magicians that first learned it and used it "the right way". I'll still bet that Koran wished he'd never shared this piece let alone the others of those yesteryear inner-circles that knew it and had kept it close to the vest for so long, given how much it has been bastardized over the years.

 

[Austin Fields]

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased "Note by Matt Sconse". In this DVD, a center tear was taught with great detail. It was then that I realized that there could be literally hundreds of applications with this principle. So, What are some effects that can be done with a center tear? Witch are your favorites?

Start off in the right direction with mentalism before you try to do a whole lot with anything like a center tear or a peek. Craig has some fantastic text that can help you with starting out. I'd recommend you start now, there's a lot of reading to do but it's well worth the payoff.

 

[D ICE R]

I use the centre tear a lot, and whilst I agree with a lot of what Mr. Browning has said there are a few points I disagree with. I understand that a peek has a lot of advantages over the CT I still think the CT has its place.

Both the peek and CT both suffer from the primary draw back being that the mentalist has to touch the billet before the content is revealed. Whilst this can be justified if you are taking the psychic approach I feel that if you are present your powers as a more psychological angle there is no reason to touch the billet.

Basically there needs to be a justification as to why it is required to both touch the billets and tear it up in the case of a centre tear.

 

[eostresh]

I'm more into peeks and billet switches myself but I will say that the use of the CT in "Note" was perfect and a great way to justify the move. Made me reconsider the CT.

 

[Craig Browning]

Basically there needs to be a justification as to why it is required to both touch the billets and tear it up in the case of a centre tear.

I probably should take the time to address this point. . . maybe I'll do a special thread about it, what do you guys think?

 

[Mat La Vore]

The most logical effect for a center tear is Ashes on the Arms. Richard Osterlind has a great handling of this on his Mind Mysteries Too DVD set.

I personally prefer to use an I*p P*d, as it makes the effect much more clean and direct as I never touch or go near the paper they have written on. Also, there is no pre-folding, line drawing, or any other specified way of writing the name down or folding up the paper. The whole thing is casual and nonchalant, and allows for a great convincing line as to why having the name is even being written down. Handing them the pad I just say, "Here, write down the name you're thinking of... Good, now tear it off and put it in your pocket. That's just so you can't change your mind, and in case I'm wrong you can prove I'm wrong later" (B. Smith). This makes the whole writing down of the name incidental in the effect as opposed to the focus point.

That said, I do sometimes use a center tear. When I do, I tell them I want them to "make that name real now. Turn that name into a real memory." After they write down the name and fold the paper up, with my head still turned away, I ask, "Have you done that?" as I reach out for the paper. When they hand it to me, I keep looking away and ask if they can see through the paper as I display it. After they say "No," I continue, "Well let's just be sure"--and I do the first tear. "Now that you've done that (referencing them writing down the name) we don't need it anymore." I then ask them to hold the pieces in their fist and I turn their hand palm down. I ask them to visualize the name on the back of their hand, and using some suggestion, cause them to see the letters (Benjamin Earl has some good work on this on his Skin DVD, and of course Luke Jermay's works). I then continue, slowly revealing the name as I read the letters they're seeing off the back of their hand. Asking them to point to the first letter they see is a good starting point for this, then continuing from there.

Hope that added some value to the conversation.

 

[KeoSilver]

I probably should take the time to address this point. . . maybe I'll do a special thread about it, what do you guys think?

I'd read it.