When I was young, my uncle Peter fooled me badly with a simple X-Ray Vision stunt. It played serious havoc with my developing mind.

Pete had been using his X-Ray Vision to “see through” the table top in order to identify how many fingers I was holding aloft. He hit it time and time again. I was later crushed, when dad explained that he’d simply been coding the information, to my uncle, via surreptitious foot tapping. In due course it was I who was performing the demonstration, and I’ve been fascinated with the X-Ray Vision plot ever since.

The one man show, HELLucinations, is my core act— the one I fall back upon for all of my highly paid professional work.

Purporting to replicate the demonstrations of the legendary Dr. Elmer William Bishop, the show commences with some direct and perplexing “card reading” and then quickly moves through a series of unbelievable-looking demonstrations of supposed X-Ray Vision. These, among other demonstrations, include “seeing through” a heavy iron box to reveal which card a spectator has reversed in the deck, AND IT’S EXACT POSITION in said deck. It is a demonstration repeated over and over, the conditions becoming more stringent every time.

The show, presented in all seriousness, can play for thirty minutes or an hour and a half. It leaves the audience completely convinced that I have the powers of X-Ray Vision—even with a full disclaimer. This, my friends, is real bread and butter stuff.

Secretly, I have always wanted a “casual” demonstration of these supposed powers—something that could be performed with any deck of cards, at any time!

And, that's exactly what we have here, in THE XRAY DECK. Steve Shufton has done a wonderful job, completely solving the problem—creating a practical, perform anywhere solution for the effect. He’s then gone on to clearly and concisely detail every nuance of his clever and direct method. Once you fully understand Steve’s approach, you’ll be able to perform The X-Ray Deck anywhere.

Here's what some professional mentalists and scholars have said about THE XRAY DECK:

"Great idea, great routine and great thinking! Another winner!"
-- Greg Arce

"Waaa?!?! That is fucking AWESOME!"
-- Jeremy Weiss

"X-RAY is one of the most fantastic effects I have come across. I like simple, easy-to-perform effects that require subtlety and sleight of mind rather than sleight of hand. This is an effect that Al Koran would have been proud to have invented. I can not wait to perform it and I know it is going to become a magical classic."
-- Martin Breese

"A wonderfully clear cut plot. This is very powerful and appears utterly impossible."
-- Marc Paul

"X-RAY is an amazing effect that also ENTERTAINS the audience. I know the professional performers, with dynamic personalities, will love X-RAY. However, I know X-ray will be a miracle, even when performed by average magicians, just for their friends."
-- Steve Dusheck

"Not only did I immediately absorb every last detail and nuance employed in the development of the X-RAY routine, I was blown away by the number of well known and respected names I encountered that had a collaborative role in its construction. X-RAY is an extremely powerful and entertaining effect. Watching Steve Shufton and Ben Harris concoct a recipe for a satisfying and delicious mental effect is as sweet as the frosting on my cake. Do I like it? You bet I do. Highly recommended."
-- Larry Becker

34 PAGES,
File Type: PDF