Pen ink in palm trick?

[Alex]

My friend recently came back from a meal at a club which she belongs
to, who's special guess talker this week was a magician.

Now normally i find that just watching the magic is enough, and knowing
how it is done can ruin the mystery of it. However this time, my friend
is being rather "annoying" i guess is the way to put it, adament that
trick was not magic. I'm pritty sure she doesn't mean this, but she
seems to lack logical thinking when faced with "amazing" feats like
this.

So to solve this predicament i'd like to explain to her how the trick
was done. I've searched the web and usenet, but i cant find anything
(I'm not really sure of the title of the trick so it is hard).
Basically the trick goes as follows:

According to my friend, the magician never touched her hand (although
logically it is quite apparant that at some point he touched her hand,
or an object he was using in his trick touched her hand). The
description i've got is not that detailed, so just bear with me if you
can. my friend was stood up, about 10 feet away from the magician, who
asked her to hold out her right hand infront of her, and clench her
fist. He then told her that he could transfer energy from his hand to
hers, and asked her whether she could feel her hand tingling (I
remember derren brown doing the tingling sensation tricks, but anyway)
she replied yes, but thought it might just be because she was clenching
her hand quite tight.

He then held out his own hand infront of himself, palm side up, took
out a marker/felt tip pen from his pocket, and drew a circle in the
center of his palm. He then explained he would transfer the blue ink
circle to her hand. He then wiped the mark off his hand, turned his
hand over, clenched it, did the whole intense concentration look, and
asked my friend to do as he did. He turned his hand back to palm side
up, but still clenched, and then slowly opened it. My friend did the
same and alas, when the palm was opened there was a blue mark in the
center of her hand (although she now describes it as "more of a
smudge")

Now with this lack of detail before she was asked to stand up (she wont
tell me because she is adamanet he didnt touch her before hand or
anytime during the trick) i dont expect anyone to be able to give me
the explanation on how it was done, but i want to try and find out none
the less.

Does anyone know the name of this trick or any standard routine that it
is done? I'm not sure i will ever convince her, as in her mind he never
touched her, but oh well.

Thanks for any help,

Alex

[Adam Lane]

As far as I know this is a version of a very basic and simple trick that you
wouldn't be able to avoid finding if you spent 10 mins. searching on the
internet or flipping through any number of beginner magic books (for
instance, Magic for Dummies).

But what I can't understand is why you would WANT to convince your friend it
was a trick. You said you don't like to ruin the mystery of tricks for
yourself. So why do you want to ruin it for her?

Post by Alex
My friend recently came back from a meal at a club which she belongs
to, who's special guess talker this week was a magician.
Now normally i find that just watching the magic is enough, and knowing
how it is done can ruin the mystery of it. However this time, my friend
is being rather "annoying" i guess is the way to put it, adament that
trick was not magic. I'm pritty sure she doesn't mean this, but she
seems to lack logical thinking when faced with "amazing" feats like
this.
So to solve this predicament i'd like to explain to her how the trick
was done. I've searched the web and usenet, but i cant find anything
(I'm not really sure of the title of the trick so it is hard).
According to my friend, the magician never touched her hand (although
logically it is quite apparant that at some point he touched her hand,
or an object he was using in his trick touched her hand). The
description i've got is not that detailed, so just bear with me if you
can. my friend was stood up, about 10 feet away from the magician, who
asked her to hold out her right hand infront of her, and clench her
fist. He then told her that he could transfer energy from his hand to
hers, and asked her whether she could feel her hand tingling (I
remember derren brown doing the tingling sensation tricks, but anyway)
she replied yes, but thought it might just be because she was clenching
her hand quite tight.
He then held out his own hand infront of himself, palm side up, took
out a marker/felt tip pen from his pocket, and drew a circle in the
center of his palm. He then explained he would transfer the blue ink
circle to her hand. He then wiped the mark off his hand, turned his
hand over, clenched it, did the whole intense concentration look, and
asked my friend to do as he did. He turned his hand back to palm side
up, but still clenched, and then slowly opened it. My friend did the
same and alas, when the palm was opened there was a blue mark in the
center of her hand (although she now describes it as "more of a
smudge")
Now with this lack of detail before she was asked to stand up (she wont
tell me because she is adamanet he didnt touch her before hand or
anytime during the trick) i dont expect anyone to be able to give me
the explanation on how it was done, but i want to try and find out none
the less.
Does anyone know the name of this trick or any standard routine that it
is done? I'm not sure i will ever convince her, as in her mind he never
touched her, but oh well.
Thanks for any help,
Alex

[Joker of The Pack]

Post by Alex
My friend recently came back from a meal at a club which she belongs
to, who's special guess talker this week was a magician.
Now normally i find that just watching the magic is enough, and knowing
how it is done can ruin the mystery of it. However this time, my friend
is being rather "annoying" i guess is the way to put it, adament that
trick was not magic. I'm pritty sure she doesn't mean this, but she
seems to lack logical thinking when faced with "amazing" feats like
this.

But you have logical thinking, you sure know how to work it out - get some magicians
to tell you :-)

Post by Alex
So to solve this predicament i'd like to explain to her how the trick
was done.

Do I misunderstand you, or did you say that she was adamant that it was NOT magic?
If so, why do you feel the need to provide proof of something she does not doubt
(trickery rather than supernatural power)?
I think that your "friend" story is a cover-up for the fact that you desire the
answer to satisfy your own curiosity.

Post by Alex
I've searched the web and usenet, but i cant find anything
(I'm not really sure of the title of the trick so it is hard).
According to my friend, the magician never touched her hand (although
logically it is quite apparant that at some point he touched her hand,
or an object he was using in his trick touched her hand).

You assume the magician must have touched her hand. Logical thinking is not enough,
you need to be more devious and underhand. Either that, or more determined in your
search. If you want the answer enough, you will find it.

There can be many ways to achieve any given effect. Although magicians could work
out possible methods, they cannot give a definite answer to how an effect was
achieved on a specific occasion. I can think of a few possibilities but, not having
seen the performance, I could not tell if any of them could apply to that specific
performance.

Post by Alex
The description i've got is not that detailed, so just bear with
me if you can.

Details are never too precise, that is the way it is intended to be.
Have you seen the David Blaine shows... and the part where someone is asked how far
off the ground David levitated? That person really believed that they saw him rise
that distance from the ground.
People see what the magician wants them to see, and remember the parts the magician
wants them to remember. Magic is based on psychology and control, a good magician
can use psychology to make you create that false reality within your mind.

Never, never, never rely on a description given by someone else, and do not rely on
all TV magic shows as being a real view - go watch a live performance for yourself.
Nothing beats seeing the impossible done right in front of your eyes.


Seasons greetings.

JoTP.