Bob Cassidy - Extremely Remote

Bob Cassidy - Extremely Remote
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Introduction
About a year ago， I decided to revamp my act and build it around the premise of
??Remote Viewing??. Apart from providing thematic consistency to my presentations， I
also wanted to capitalize on the increasing public awareness and interest in the
phenomenon. Over the past year， I have released three of my favorite RV routines， all
of which create exactly the same effect， but under different conditions and procedures.
Why， you may well ask， am I releasing yet another Remote Viewing variation?
Well I think it is a bit more than a mere variation， but there were two important reasons
that led to the creation of ??Extremely Remote. The first was simple necessity. Since I
had adopted remote viewing as the primary skill of my stage character， it was essential
that I devise as many methods as possible for achieving the same or a similar effect
under virtually any performance conditions.
The second reason was more personal. Early in 2002， I released part one of
Theories and Methods for the Practical Psychic. It was the first e-book I had ever written
and my first completely new piece of work in nearly seven years. In it， I included my
remote viewing routine called ??The Moleskine Divination.?? Based on the success I had
presenting it to paying audiences， I was certain that mentalists would see some merit in
the routine.
Some did. Others， realizing that the effect required a set of Royal Heath??s classic
??Dye-ciphering Dice?? (a seeming sacrilege to purists and an apparent throwback to the
??playing cards and dice?? approach to mentalism)， proceeded to trash the effect in
particular and the e-book in general. While I tolerate criticism very well， I honestly
believe that the use of the dice in the ??Moleskine?? effect was entirely logical， interesting
and believable. I was determined， though， to recreate the effect without using the Heath
dice.
Another complaint about the ??Moleskine?? effect was that the ??book of targets??
required quite a lot of work to put together. This， I still believe， was a strong point ?? the
more work it takes to prepare an effect， the less people will perform it， which is fine by
me. Who needs the competition?
In ??Extremely Remote??， I believe I have met my self-imposed challenge. There is
a ??book of targets?? but it doesn??t take the same amount of work or time to put together. It
takes considerably more. Heath??s Dice are not used. It uses regular dice.
I am only kidding. Those of you who stopped reading at the end of the last
paragraph wouldn??t understand my reasoning anyway. There is a die involved， but it
exists entirely in your participant??s imagination. And the book can be prepared in just a
few hours while you are watching Law and Order reruns or downloading Microsoft??s
latest Critical Update.
In addition to being a very strong routine， I think you will find a lot of use for the
utility device that is at its core.
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Extremely Remote
This is the RV routine that I carry with me all of the time. If you take the time to
put it together you will not only have an excellent impromptu routine， but will be
prepared to perform several equally strong effects on the spur of the moment. If you are
naturally disorganized (like me)， you will also enjoy an additional benefit， as you will
soon see.
Effect: (Part One)
Having turned the conversation to the topic of remote viewing， the mentalist offers to
give a demonstration. He opens his organizer to a section labeled ??Remote Viewing
Targets?? and shows that it contains almost six hundred locations， including famous
buildings， landmarks， bridges， lakes and other geographical points of interest. The list
occupies over forty-eight pages and each page contains approximately twelve handwritten
and sequentially numbered ??targets.?? The first target is numbered 111， and the
last is numbered 666. He allows a spectator to flip through the pages to verify the
number and variety of the entries.
??In an actual remote viewing experiment， the actual target is selected at random.
There is any number of ways to do this， from using a sophisticated computer program
down to the simple expedient of rolling dice. We could use three dice， for example， to
generate a random three-digit number. If we were to roll a five， a one and a four， we
could call that five hundred and fourteen. Or， we could change their positions around
and get one hundred and forty five or four hundred and fifty one.
??The highest three digit number you could get with three dice would be six
hundred and sixty-six ?? three sixes. The lowest， obviously， would be one hundred and
eleven， represented by three ones. Between those numbers are five hundred and fiftyfive
three digit numbers， each of which has been assigned to a separate target in the
book.?? The performer allows another spectator to verify the hundreds of different target
locations in the book.
??You have to be careful with dice， though. You must be sure they are perfect
cubes and are not weighted， loaded， or shaped in any way so that they would tend to
favor certain number combinations.
??The easiest way to do this， I have found， is to forego real dice entirely and use
imaginary ones. I??ll show you what I mean.??
The mentalist removes several business cards from the organizer， bookmarks
the ??remote viewing section??， and closes the book. He places it in front of the spectator
who is to act as assistant， also providing her with three of the business cards and a
writing implement. [The business cards and pen are not always necessary or desirable，
but sometimes they are necessary. See my note below.]
??Here， take this too，?? the mentalist says as he pretends to hand the assistant a
non-existent die. ??It??s an imaginary die. I only have one， so we will have to use it three
times. Just play along with me and imagine that it??s real. Look it over， notice that the
sides are marked from one to six with spots. It??s a perfect die， but I want you to roll it just
a few times to satisfy yourself that it is not weighted or loaded in any way. Go ahead，
roll it.??
After whatever byplay seems appropriate， the mentalist tells the spectator to note
the number on top of the die. ??Don??t tell it to us，?? he cautions her. ??Just write the number
on the back of one of the business cards， and then place the card on the table， number
side down.??
He continues， ??Now tilt the die or give it a turn so that you are looking at another
number.?? He has her actually pantomime the action. ??You should now see a different
number. Write that on a blank business card and then place that card face down onto
the first.??
He requests that the participant tilt the die one more time so that yet another
number is ??showing??， and he has her write this on the last business card which is then
placed face down on the other two.
??May I have the die please??? asks the mentalist as he retrieves the imaginary
cube and returns it to his pocket.
??Now pick up the business cards and mix them up so that even you do not know
which card has which number written on it.??
The mentalist turns his back and walks away as he instructs the spectator to turn
the cards over and place them next to each other， thus forming a three digit number.
[NOTE: When I perform the effect， I dispense with the business cards and
let the spectator do the whole thing mentally. I feel it is stronger this way as it
emphasizes that everything takes place in her mind. You may， however， if the
spectator is a bit nervous or inebriated， prefer to have her write the numbers
down as described. Be sure， however， to have her hide the cards or destroy them
before you turn around to face her and begin your ??remote viewing.??]
??You now have a randomly generated three-digit number. It represents a target
location in the organizer. Please open it and look up the target. Do not tell anyone what
it is， just fix it in your mind.??
Before the spectator even has a chance to locate the target， the mentalist begins
to describe the location. He removes a pad and pen from his pocket and makes notes
and draws simple pictures. He then gives an exact description of the physical structure
and its geographical location. There is nothing vague about his description ?? he actually
spells out the name of the target.