I'm not suggesting we share tricks for the point of pick ups, but out of interest and entertainment. I think it would be cool to have a little collection of them here to try out.
You know the sort of tricks I mean - like so-called mindreading, hypnosis demonstrations and so on.
I'll start...
Assisted Levitation
This is very similar to the "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" trick some of you might know. Ideally you need a group of 5 people.
* Ask one member of the group to sit down on a chair or stool, while the other 4 position themselves around him/her.
* Each of the 4 surrounding members should put their hands together, extending their index fingers, as though imitating a gun.
* Two people should each place their fingers (still in the gun position) under the armpits of the sitting person, while the other two put their fingers under the knees.
* Now attempt to lift the sitting person out of the chair. You should find this rather difficult. You will do this exactly the same again, but first...
* Each of the 4 standing people should take it in turns to hover a hand over the sitting persons head, starting with everybody's left hand, and followed by everybody's right hand. All of the hands should be hovering and should not touch.
* Hold it there for 10 seconds, then everybody remove their hands one by one, starting with the hand at the top.
* Now attempt to lift the seated person in the same way you did before and prepare to be creeped out! The person should basically feel as light as a feather!
Stiff Arm/Closed Eyes hypnosis
This is quite an old trick and can be performed as self-hypnosis (as I'll explain here) but can also be adapted to another person. It works best when you (or your subject) are in a relaxed or slightly tired state as this is when you're most suggestible to hypnotic suggestion.
Begin by holding out your arm. Now tell yourself that you cannot bend it. Keep affirming this to yourself, and think of your arm as a solid beam of wood. The more you try to bend it, the stiffer it feels.
Alternatively, close your eyes and affirm that they're stuck together and you cannot open them. In fact, there are many variations to this exercise if you care to experiment.
What you should find is that you cannot bend your arm/open your eyes during this time. However, as soon as you break the state you'll be able to bend your arm/open your eyes at will.
Let's hear some more....
You know the sort of tricks I mean - like so-called mindreading, hypnosis demonstrations and so on.
I'll start...
Assisted Levitation
This is very similar to the "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" trick some of you might know. Ideally you need a group of 5 people.
* Ask one member of the group to sit down on a chair or stool, while the other 4 position themselves around him/her.
* Each of the 4 surrounding members should put their hands together, extending their index fingers, as though imitating a gun.
* Two people should each place their fingers (still in the gun position) under the armpits of the sitting person, while the other two put their fingers under the knees.
* Now attempt to lift the sitting person out of the chair. You should find this rather difficult. You will do this exactly the same again, but first...
* Each of the 4 standing people should take it in turns to hover a hand over the sitting persons head, starting with everybody's left hand, and followed by everybody's right hand. All of the hands should be hovering and should not touch.
* Hold it there for 10 seconds, then everybody remove their hands one by one, starting with the hand at the top.
* Now attempt to lift the seated person in the same way you did before and prepare to be creeped out! The person should basically feel as light as a feather!
Stiff Arm/Closed Eyes hypnosis
This is quite an old trick and can be performed as self-hypnosis (as I'll explain here) but can also be adapted to another person. It works best when you (or your subject) are in a relaxed or slightly tired state as this is when you're most suggestible to hypnotic suggestion.
Begin by holding out your arm. Now tell yourself that you cannot bend it. Keep affirming this to yourself, and think of your arm as a solid beam of wood. The more you try to bend it, the stiffer it feels.
Alternatively, close your eyes and affirm that they're stuck together and you cannot open them. In fact, there are many variations to this exercise if you care to experiment.
What you should find is that you cannot bend your arm/open your eyes during this time. However, as soon as you break the state you'll be able to bend your arm/open your eyes at will.
Let's hear some more....