Glass Box Prediction

THE BLURB:
Back in 1986 Devin Knight who performed as a professional
psychic shocked the world with a headline prediction that
involved the Newfoundland Plane crash that killed over 200
people. The prediction had been held by a state senator.
News of this went worldwide and the story was carried in
over 2000 newspapers. In the history of magic NO HEADLINE
prediction had ever garnered this much attention. The
closest thing was the Robert Nelson Prediction of the Ages
but even it didn't come close to TV, radio, and newspaper
that this prediction made.

Even to this day magicians and mentalists still talk about
the 1986 prediction. It made magic history. All this caught
the attention of the renowned mentalist Al Mann and as a
result he and Devin became close friends and worked on
improving headline predictions to make them even better. Al
Mann wrote a book called the Incredible Feats of Jason
Michaels and teased mentalists with the effect but refused
to tip the secret. Part of Devin's method was revealed in
the rare Al Mann glass box manuscript of which only a
handful are known to exist. Devin sold his original copy on
eBay for $600.00 a few years ago.

The methods included are ADVANCED glass box techniques that
Devin and Al Mann secretly developed and Devin used to fool
reporters around the world. This information goes far beyond
the original glass box manuscript and describes some of
magic's closest guarded secrets.

After 15 years, Devin is finally tipping part of the secret
in this release. Over the years Devin has been offered
thousands of dollars by top mentalists for the information
now available to you. Here is the effect as seen by the
audience:

Mentalist arrives at a VIP, hopefully a high government
official with a small clear plastic box. Inside the box are
3 slips of paper, each seen to be separate from the others.
The slips are of different colors and folded. The clear box
is sealed with tape and the VIP signs his name on the tape
so the box can't be tampered with. He keeps this box in his
possession and TRUTHFULLY, neither the magician nor secret
assistant ever touches the box again, even during the show!

On the day of the show the VIP brings the glass box to the
show. The performer explains that the box contains
predictions made 2 weeks ago. The VIP brings the box on
stage and verifies it has not been touched or tampered with
in any way, shape, or form by anyone since in his
possession. To verify the predictions, the performer calls
for two people in the audience to come on stage. To insure
these are random people and not stooges, balls are tossed
into the audience and two people come on stage. The audience
can see the slips in the clear box and THE SLIPS NEVER LEAVE
SIGHT OF THE AUDIENCE.

One of the two spectators names any number from 1 to 52 and
the second volunteer deals to that card and reveals it. The
VIP reaches into the box and pulls out the green slip and
written on it is the card just named. The first spectator
freely selects any book (no force). He hands this to the 2nd
spectator. The first person names any number from the pages
in the book (FREE CHOICE), and the 2nd spectator turns to
that page and thinks of ANY WORD on the page, not the first
word, but any word and calls it out. The VIP reaches into
the box and removes the yellow slip and written on that slip
is the word just called by the person chosen by tossing
balls into the audience. PERFORMER NEVER TOUCHES THE SLIPS;
THE VIP REMOVES THEM FROM THE CLEAR BOX, opens them and
reads the prediction and then hands it to the two spectators
to verify. This is baffling beyond words and has fooled some
of the biggest names in magic! Now for the killer kicker
ending:

The VIP removes the last slip in the box and opens it. IT IS
SEEN TO HAVE BEEN NOTARIZED with an official stamp and seal.
The VIP opens the slip and reads it. It contains 3 HEADLINE
PREDICTIONS that are 100% correct, and they have been
notarized two weeks earlier! During this time the magician
stands on the other side of the stage, NEVER TOUCHING THE
BOX NOR THE SLIPS OF PAPER!

The press and VIP can take the notarized slip to the notary
the next day and he will verify he READ and NOTARIZED this
slip 2 weeks ago! The article in the paper will show a photo
of the slip and the statement from the notary.

Nothing looks tricky, and this effect is so strong after
doing it you will soon get a reputation for being the real
thing. This is one of the most baffling prediction effects
in the world! This has been held a closely guarded secret
with only a handful of people in the world knowing the
secret, until now!

This uses some of the most ingenious and devious methods
ever devised and could only be created by the joint team of
Devin Knight and Al Mann. This information has NEVER
appeared in print before and shows the inner thinking of
Devin Knight & Al Mann.

You receive the acrylic box (roughly 4" X 4" X 3"), color
paper slips, and a detailed manuscript revealing all the
inner workings that Devin used for over 6 years as a
professional psychic, including a BONUS EFFECT!

This release will also show you the latest breakthroughs
with this method. This will include how you can have an
actual FOLDED CARD in the box instead of a slip. The folded
card when removed from the box will match the card the 2
spectators mutually selected. This makes for better
visibilty to the audience and will PUZZLE those who may be
familar with Al Mann's original 3 slip method.

There are several workings given from the simple to the more
complex that can result in worldwide publicity for the right
person. In this kit you will also see some of the publicity
that the Associated Press gave this trick worldwide.

MY COMMENTS:
Devin Knight has gained somewhat of a dubious reputation of
late. But, make no mistake, this routine is solid and can
certainly be a publicity building machine, should that be
the goal you seek. However, I'm not sure a professional
mentalist, who is well-versed with various methods of doing
headline predictions would benefit from this product.

First off, the box is really unimportant, so far as the
methodology is concerned. It's ungimmicked. You can use a
regular box, a clear plastic freezer bag, or a FedEx
envelope, if you like. What's important is Devin's
twenty-six page manuscript (8.5" x 11", stapled) that
contains various methodologies, ideas and invaluable
performance tips to creating a headline prediction. The
manuscript does have its share of typos, but they don't
detract too much as you're reading it.

Also included are basic moves with billets, for those who
need such info, and extensive work on how to correctly use
stooges. In fact, the routine in the blurb above uses a
stooge. I won't give any more details, but it's an
important element to know since some performers don't, and
won't, use stooges. If you fall into that category, then
know that Devin Knight includes a basic handling, which is
quite good, that doesn't require this technique.

I really don't know how original all of this information is,
except that I've seen a majority of the info in this
manuscript in various other places, such as Lee Earle's
fabulous headline prediction (which, I believe, is reprinted
in his M.I.N.D. book). Unless you're interested in Devin's
insights on the use of stooges, I'm not sure an experienced
mentalist who's knowledgeable in headline predictions would
find anything new here. But for those who aren't
knowledgeable, this is a fine primer on the art of
predicting headlines and recommended.