Introduction
By Jeff Stone
Recently the Sale Lake City Magi were treated to a lecture by Danny Archer. I’ve been a fan of his for quite some time. I really admire the way he thinks and so I was very excited to meet him. His lecture was fun and entertaining, and his coin work (particularly his 3 fly) was beautiful. Not only was the lecture fun but Danny was such a nice guy . . . so nice that he graciously donated an effect – a really good one – to this month’s issue of the mag. If you haven’t already, check out his website: Danny Archer’s Website. He has a lot of great instant downloads.

Anyway, here’s the award winning effect Mental Monopoly . . .

WHAT
A triple prediction using a Monopoly game. This effect sprang to mind while I was trying to come up with an effect to perform at a sales meeting for real estate agents. That was the genesis and here are the methods I worked out. First is a stand-up presentation, that is followed by a close-up handling. Feel free to try other methods or techniques that may work well for you. This effect was award the Best Mental Effect for 2003 by the IBM.

WHEN
On a large sheet of paper print a predication that says “I knew you would keep the dog, choose $220 and pick Kentucky Avenue.” Seal it in a manila envelope. Or you can take the actual deed, dog and money from a Monopoly game (take these from a second game as you will need the tokens and deeds for your performance set) and seal them inside a manila envelope. Take a full set of Monopoly cards and remove Kentucky, States and No. Carolina (the sides with color are the fronts/mortgage side are the backs).

On the table place BACK UP; No. Carolina, Kentucky the rest of the cards and on top goes States. You also need 6 game tokens (one of which must be the dog). You also need one Chance card (“You have been elected Chairman of the Board pay each player $50”) and one Community Chest card. Print “Go directly to next trick, do not pass GO. Give me a nice round of applause as I return to my seat” by hand or computer as large as you can and affix it to the printed side of the Community Chest card. Place both cards in an accessible pocket.

HOW
When ready to perform, introduce the props (game tokens, property deeds), sealed prediction and have a spectator join you on stage. Explain that the spectator will play a game of Mental Monopoly and show and place the sealed prediction in a prominent place. The three items will be forced as follows.

THE TOKEN
I use the PATEO (pick any two, eliminate one) force invented by Roy Baker. Basically what happens, is the spectator would pick up any two tokens, one in each hand. The magician then touches one hand and that token is eliminated and the remaining token is placed back on the table. Then you pick up two tokens and they eliminate one. All you have to do is remember to NOT pick up the dog. It will end with the spectator holding two tokens and you touch the hand that does not contain the dog. If using an odd number of objects the magician goes first, an even number and the spectator would go first.

THE MONEY
You use the backs of the Monopoly cards (Mortgage values) to force the amount of money. Spread through the cards and explain that each card has a mortgage value on the back and show that the values are different. Explain that they will pick two cards by chance, and remove the Chance card and have the spectator hold the card face down and insert it anywhere they want into the face down stack of cards and leave the card outjogged. LH thumb should obscure the top cards name (States), as much as possible.

Using Bill Simon’s Prophecy Move, you will turn the Chance card face up. You spread through the cards and take all the cards above the Chance card into the RH. The LH thumb holds the Chance card on top of the pack. The RH revolves palm down and the RH thumb contacts the face of the Chance card. As the RH turns the Chance card face-up the LH places it’s cards on top sandwiching the card in the middle of the pack.

This move appears to do nothing more but turn the Chance card face-up, but it really places the Chance card between States & North Carolina. As I do the move, I make a comment about the Chance card (pay each player $50). Now as you spread through cards take all the cards ABOVE States, and place on table face down, remove States, Chance card and No Carolina and hand to spectator with the request that they total up the mortgage amounts. Balance of deed cards are placed on top of tabled cards, (Kentucky is now the bottom card of the pile).

THE DEED
Now do a Cross-Cut Force. Invite your spectator to cut off a portion of the pack and place it to the side. You pick up all the cards that were not cut, turn it crosswise and place it on top of the portion they placed aside. For the needed time delay, retrieve Chance card and as you put it away, take out Community Chest card and have them pocket it without looking at it. Now you lift up the crosswise portion and tell them to “look at the card you cut to”, and show them that they have cut to Kentucky. Recap, and have spectator opened sealed envelope, and read prediction (or show token and deed) and count the money. To finish, have them remove and read aloud Community Chest card.

PATTER
I talk about the fun of growing up and playing indoor and outdoor games with my siblings. Our favorite game was always Monopoly. In fact I brought along a set tonight. Open box remove and show sealed prediction. We don’t have time to play a full game but let’s try a little experiment. Basically the rest is explained as we go along. When selecting the token, I explain how my family always fought over who would be the hat. That’s why we are going to use random elimination to select a piece. When your helper is left with the dog I say, “I wanted to be the dog”! The trick lends itself to many patter possibilities because Monopoly is one of those shared human experiences we can all relate to.

THIS
To make the trick play big and increase visibility, I made a copy of the The Monopoly Board and had it laminated. I have memo stand (available from office supply stores) that holds the board upright and I write in their selections with a dry erase marker. Here is a handling, which allows for a free choice of properties by using sleight of hand. The money and the dog token are inside the prediction envelope. They are both forced the same as before. The property would now be a totally free choice.

I hand them the marker and ask them to circle a property on the board (ex. Boardwalk). Offer them a chance to change their mind if they wish. Whatever one they decide, as they are circling the selected property on the board, spread through the cards and get a break below Boardwalk as you say “you know, if I’d of had a hotel on there you would owe me $ 450.00.”

Double Undercut at the break (bringing the selected card to the bottom). Turn the cards over and ask spectator to pick up and verify that the prediction envelope is sealed shut. As they do this (which gives you tons of cover), Top Palm the property card in the RH. As they state that the envelope is sealed shut, you say “Oh, I almost forgot to give you something important.”

Several things happen here. Follow the choreography with props in hand and you’ll see that it flows along naturally and logically. Your LH reaches out to retrieve the sealed envelope. Once it has the envelope, the LH transfers the envelope to the RH which holds it concealing the palmed property card behind the envelope. The LH reaches into your pocket and removes the Community Chest card and hands it to spectator as you say “Put it in your pocket and don’t look at it.” As they are doing that, the RH transfers the envelope (and palmed card) to the LH.

The RH picks up the box lid of the game and hands it to the spectator who is instructed to hold it waist high in both hands. The RH rips open the top of the envelope and the left hand inverts the envelope and lets the contents (and concealed property card) come falling out onto the box lid. The envelope is shown empty and discarded. Have the spectator first pick up and show the correct token, then display the correct property card and lastly count the money to show all three predictions are correct. Have them read the Community Chest card for the finish.

Here is a version you can use in close-up situations. All you need are the six tokens, the set of property cards (stacked as before) and the Community Chest and Chance cards. You also need a Kaps style wallet. In an envelope place $ 220 and gaff and seal the envelope and set it so that it is ready to receive a load in the wallet. Using paper clips, fasten the two cards (Community Chest and Chance) to the outside of the inside jacket pocket where the wallet resides. Introduce the six tokens and have one freely selected. Give them the chance to change if they wish.

Retrieve all the tokens in RH and retain the selected token in the RH as you dump them in the LH, which places them in the outside jacket pocket and emerges with the stack of property cards. The RH goes inside the jacket and loads the token into the wallet and emerges with the chance card. The money is forced just like the stand-up version. They freely name any property card, and like in the stand-up version, the card is controlled, palmed and loaded in the wallet as the RH emerges with the Community Chest card (message would be slightly different). Recap, cleanly remove wallet, open zipper, tear envelope and let spectator remove contents and verify.

Archer’s Additions

Not a lot that I can add to the effect. It has a great hook, because Monopoly is such a part of so many peoples lives. Most of us played it when we were young and then as parents, we start playing again with our own children (I just looked at our game shelf and we have 3 regular Monopoly games, 1 Catopoply and 1 Beatles version).

Back in the day, it was a real hassle to try and make the laminated Monopoly Board (and the prediction). Today with the internet, computers and Kinko’s it is the work of a few minutes. I use a paperclip stand (purchased at an office supply store) to hold the board upright and using a dry erase marker, I write down the selections so the audience can re-member them. I one version, the spectator themselves use the marker to circle the property they want.

There are so many triple predictions in the literature (the classic Rule of Threes) and Mental Monopoly adds a fun, playful presentation. I mentioned that the effect was awarded the Best Mental Trick for 2003 by the IBM. I am not sure of the date, but there is a funny story about how I found out. One day in 2006, I was out running errands and my wife calls and tells me that a big box had arrived in the mail for me.

I wasn’t expecting anything, and when I got home I looked at it. It was a rather large box addressed to me and with a return address from the Inter-national Brotherhood of Magicians. I opened the box and nestled among a huge pile of packing peanuts, I pulled out a statue. The plaque attached to the base declared that Mental Monopoly had been selected as the Best Mental Trick for 2003 by the IBM. Unfortunately in the three years it took to get to me, the magi-cian at the top has broken off, but I was still honored to have my effect singled out.

Mental Monopoly appeared in my first set of lecture notes called Working Alone.