Psycho by Daniel Madison

Psycho is an ebook of simple and subtle ideas and performance effects based on psychological suggestion and pseudo-psychological magic, written in 2007 and released in 2010. These notes offer a way of thinking and a refreshing approach to the art of using psychological suggestion as both a tool and an illusion within itself.

Psychological Forces
An insight into the idea of psychological forcing and ‘pseudo-psychological suggestion’.

Playing Card Psychological Forces

Four of Clubs
Jack of Spades
Jack of Hearts
Queen of Hearts
Four of Diamonds
Psycho
An expose on psychological illusion: A random spectator is stopped and shown the back of a playing card, they are asked to name which playing card they think it is with near-perfect accuracy.

Fifty Second
An expose on psychological suggestion: The process of psychologically forcing a playing card is exposed to a spectator, through which as a demonstration of proof, an apparently freely named playing card is actually psychologically forced on them.

Pairs
A red deck and a blue deck are mixed together on a table. The performer selects a card, then the spectator selects a card, both cards are held and turned over by the spectator to reveal both the same card – The 2 of Diamonds.

Blind Spot
As a demonstration of unconscious memory, any spectator can spot within seconds which card is missing from a shuffled deck.

Rainman
The performer is instantly able to name which card/s and how many are missing from a deck he has never touched before simply by weighing and riffling the indices.

Crossover
A demonstration of controlling any four cards freely selected by the spectator by means of mirroring and psychological control.

The Psycho Deck
A deck of cards, each card signed by a different personality of a psychopath: The spectator is able to identify the true identity of the psychopath…An unsettling effect through which the deck itself reveals the spectators thought-of-card.