THE AME ESTATE AT

Jl:IV.E1t RIDGE, N.VA.

Tel. 304-9477730P.O. Box 155Great Cacapon, WV 25422

An ALMANN

ULTRA"EXCLUSIVERelease It1 __

The astonishing secrets of Psychic metal bending as performedby Steve Shaw and Richard Osterlind. Most of the secrets appearin print for the first time. THE TEST OF THE TINE. MATTER INORBIT. THE BENDS, and MELT DOWN by Steve Shaw. Plus THE SPOONBEND and THE REMOTE PSYCHIC POWER by Richard Osterlind.

Plus THE PSYCHIC TOUCH by Al Mann.

Plus the account of Jamescalled Project Alpha whichparapsychologists.

Randi,s psychicshook the

sting operationworld of the

THE "HE ESTATE AT

RIVER RIDGE, N.VA.

Tel. 304-947-7730P.O. Box 155Great Cacapon, WV 25422

An ALMANN

ULTRA EXCLUSIVERelease # _2_.

Copyright 1995 byAl Mann Exclusives

WINTER OF 1994. No one in Appalachia remembers such asevere winter. Snow started falling in early January andcontinued in waves until mid March. New snow fell atop old snow.The old snow turned to ice and the emergency wards of thehospitals were full with cases of broken ankles, hips and injuredbacks.

Residents of my community were imprisoned for a whole weekunable to leave or even walk around the house due to the high snowdrifts and icy grounds. One of these days was January 20th, my70th birthday. I had plans for a tuxedo dinner but had to cancel.

But life must go on and through the gloom a ray of lightoften shines through. That ray of light came as an unexpectedphone call from Steve Shaw of Houston, Texas.

I had never spoken to Steve before. I did see him at one ofthe conventions where it was rumored that he was one ofRandi's Alpha gang that had pulled off a psychic sting by usingtrickery to pretend true phenomena.

Steve introduced himself and then asked if I could considerwriting a book on metal bending and the Alpha Project, formagicians only. This episode should be told in book form. Sofar only magazine articles existed telling the story and wouldsoon be forgotten.

So you don't believe in true psychic phenomena.thinking of approaching Steve about the same thing!fly over unlimited distances!

I had beenThoughts do

I was flattered. Steve was one of the big league of metalbenders. He had dazzled audiences allover the world with hisspoon and metal bending. He knew all the secrets of the art plusmany of his own invention. Yes! Of course I would write a bookon it. It would be my pleasure.

Another big-league metal-bender that called was RichardOsterlind, my life-long friend. Richard knows secrets of metalbending that are not known by others. He also voiced the opinionthat a book should be written on the art of metal bending.

Steve saidabout Projectphotos of thein the book.

he would mail to me everything so far in printAlpha and later we could get together and takeinner most secrets of metal bending to be included

February 28th, 1994. A phone call came from the roadmaintenance official of River Ridge, the community where I live inthe mountain state. "Stay home today." He said. "The roads aretreacherous. We have been pulling cars out of ditches allmorning." BUT nothing could stop me from going to the postoffice to pick up the mail and the package from Steve. I plowedmy car into the snow and sure enough, got stuck in my own driveway. One hour of shoveling freed my car and finally got it to theicy roads inside River Ridge. Another half hour of wheelspinning and sliding got the car to the outside state highway.The highway was already plowed and salted but still only 15 milesper hour or less could be made in progress.

STEVE SHAW

STEVE SHAW: Steve Shaw istoday one of the giants ofmetal-bending. He has refined theart into the perfect illusion.Audiences are convinced that Stevebends metal by some unknown power.Both the lay audiences and thepsychic investigators see thespoons, forks, spikes and keys bend,twist and break before their veryeyes apparently without any physicalhelp.

The package from Steve was a heavy one that would take sometime to digest.

In one demonstration during theAlpha Project in McLab oneinvestigator witnessing Steve's art ofbending spoons and forks, remarked, "Thisis the real thing. I wish James Randiwas here to see this." In fact Randiwas close by disguised as a yippy,

2

complete with buck teeth, long hair, baggy pants, droopinghat, etc.

Steve is at his greatest when he demonstrates remotephenomena by having members of the audience hold spoons and keysthat bend, break and fall to pieces while Steve is far away.

Steve Shaw was born in England on 11/30/60.American and his mother English. They later movedand then to the USA. Steve attended schoolcountries.

His father wasto South Africain all three

Steve Shaw was seduced by Lady Magia while reading a bookabout Uri Geller written by James Randi. Steve felt that hecould duplicate anything that Uri did plus he had somerevolutionary ideas of his own. Martin Gardner stated in hiscolumn in the Skeptical Equirer that Steve was a better metalbender than Uri Geller for he had ways to visibly bend a forkthat far surpassed any of Uri's techniques.

The one paramount difference between Steve and Uri is thatUri claims his magic is performed by the power of his mind whileSteve claims he can duplicate. the same effects by the art of theconj ur or.

The Project Alpha Experiment:Part 1. The First Two Years

JAMES MCDONNELL

What would happen if two youngconjurors posing as psychics wereintroduced into a well-funded universityparapsychology laboratory?

James Randi

In 1979, James McDonnell, chairmanof the board of the McDonnell DouglasCorporation, donated half a milliondollars to Washington University, in St.Louis for the sole purpose ofinvestigating psychic phenomena. Mr.McDonnell had a life long interest inthe paranormal. It is said that he wasprimarily interested in communicatingwith the dead! He wanted to talk todead test pilots and asked them what wentwrong. That was not asking too much.After all communicating with the dead iswell documented. The dying speak to the

3

dead. - - - The great Nazarene spoke to the dead (Matt. 17:1-9;Mark 9: 2-9) and then ordered the witnesses to keep it quiet forthe deed is incredible.

The half million dollars would support the McDonnell project(called McLab for short) for five years. It would surviveanother year by an additional grant of $150,000.

Donating mega-bucks for psychical research has been done manytimes in the past and will be done again many times in the future.The donators are not foolish or naive. In fact they are veryintelligent, aggresive and dynamic individuals who are in thehabit of getting things done. They are only doing what comesnatural for mortal man.

Man has inherited from his dim past a sense of wonder and anunsatiable thirst for knowledge that forces him to forever reachfor the unreachable. Man must forever search for a power beyondhis limits and a way to peek into the infinite.

McLab, under the direction ofphysicist Peter R. Phillips, advertisedin newspapers for gifted persons tocome forward and be tested. Manyapplications were received includingthose of two young men, Steve Shaw,19 years of age, from Washington,Pennsylvania and Mike Edwards, 17, fromMarion, Iowa.. Both Steve and Mikewere accepted and Steve and Mikesecretly contacted James Randi and thesting operation called Project Alphasprang into being. The fact thatSteve and Mike were magicians was keptsecret. Most amazing, for ProjectAlpha was to last years with hundredsof laboratory experiments some with

PETER R. PHILLIPS negative results and some positive.

RANDI

As usual, the negative results areforgotten while the positive results becomeexalted and taken as miracle.

Other applicants were also acceptedbut it was Steve and Mike who created asensation with the investigators. Mikeplaced a key in the hands of Phillips whichbent! It was said that of all the peopletested by the laboratory, Steve and Mikewere the only ones considered to be genuinecases with psychic ability.

"These two kids are the most reliableof the people that we've studied." saidPeter R. Phillips.

4

TESTING

SHAW EDWARDS RANDI

The testing of Steve Shaw and Mike Edwards for psychic powerat McLab was done for a continuous period of almost two years(1980 to 1981). The boys clocked 160 hours of testing. The overallresults of the many tests were most positive, thoroughlyconvincing the investigators that the two young psychics truly hadparanormal powers.

The proceedure used in the testing was archaic as far asmagicians and mentalists are concerned. The investigators wereusing methods that were used 100 years ago when the spiritualistmediums were in their heyday. Apparently the McLab professorsnever read the histories of the testing of famous mediums likeCharles Foster, Dr. Louis Schlesinger and others.

Foster had his share of testing from which he emergedtriumphant. These famous mediums were tested by their ownclients, the 'sitters,' and also by competitors posing as psychicinvestigators. Many curious sitters reveled in putting their

5

mediums through most difficult tests. In one case a sitter wrotea question on paper and then solder it between metal plates. Andthen, would you believe it, left the missile in the hands of themedium for several days. The same thing happened with othersitters who wrote messages and sealed them in envelopes and thenthreaded the envelope all around with thread or wire and thenwax-sealed the whole envelope. The mediums always found a way toopen the envelopes and read the message and then reseal theenvelopes with wax or resolder the metal plates without signs oftampering. That is hard to believe but it did happen.

In the case of Henry Slade, the slate writting medium, doubleslates were brought to him locked with bolts and nuts and padlocks and asked the medium to produce a chalk message in theinside surface of one slate. Again the locked slates were leftwith the medium for weeks! Needless to say when the slates wereopened a message was found inside.

A live flea was supposedly usedThe flea was carried in the cap ofsecretly released inside a glass domeweighing machine. In time the flearegistering weight!

in a pseudo-psychic test.a fountain pen and thenthat covered a sensitivehopped onto the machine

Whether the above testactually done is immaterial.and study these tricks andcollege proffessors ignore'trivia. '

was someone's pipe dream or wasThe fact is that magicians think upput them to use while laureated

magician's books considering them

Yet, it is this selfsame trivia offered as miracle thatoccasionally shake the very foundation of the world, start newreligions and make intelligent men sit up and take notice.

Physicist Phillips was thoroughly convinced that Steve andMike were the genuine article and had psychic powers and he sostated in a research report at the annual convention ofparapsychologists.

Dr. Berthold E. Schwartz, psychiatrist and consultant toMcLab, who personally tested Steve Shaw in his nome in New Jersey,stated that, "It is an understatement to say that Shaw is oneof the the best psychics in the world. There is just no body likehim in the field. He is a prodigy."

Parapsychologist Walter Uphoff stated that Mike Edwards "iscertainly one of the strongest, most exiting psychics in theworld. - - He has passed all kinds of stringent tests before 18people, including metalurgists, physicists and psychiatrists."

In the case of Steve Shaw, test sealed bottles containingfuses, spoons, locks etc. were left overnight in the boys bedroomso that perhaps while asleep, psychic phenomena would occur!

6

mediums through most difficult tests. In one case a sitter wrotea question on paper and then solder it between metal plates. Andthen, would you believe it, left the missile in the hands of themedium for several days. The same thing happened with othersitters who wrote messages and sealed them in envelopes and thenthreaded the envelope all around with thread or wire and thenwax-sealed the whole envelope. The mediums always found a way toopen the envelopes and read the message and then reseal theenvelopes with wax or resolder the metal plates without signs oftampering. That is hard to believe but it did happen.

In the case of Henry Slade, the slate writting medium, doubleslates were brought to him locked with bolts and nuts and padlocks and asked the medium to produce a chalk message in theinside surface of one slate. Again the locked slates were leftwith the medium for weeks! Needless to say when the slates wereopened a message was found inside.

A live flea was supposedly usedThe flea was carried in the cap ofsecretly released inside a glass domeweighing machine. In time the flearegistering weight!

in a pseudo-psychic test.a fountain pen and thenthat covered a sensitivehopped onto the machine

Whether the above testactually done is immaterial.and study these tricks andcollege proffessors ignore'trivia. '

was someone's pipe dream or wasThe fact is that magicians think upput them to use while laureated

magician's books considering them

Yet, it is this selfsame trivia offered as miracle thatoccasionally shake the very foundation of the world, start newreligions and make intelligent men sit up and take notice.

Physicist Phillips was thoroughly convinced that Steve andMike were the genuine article and had psychic powers and he sostated in a research report at the annual convention ofparapsychologists.

Dr. Berthold E. Schwartz, psychiatrist and consultant toMcLab, who personally tested Steve Shaw in his home in New Jersey,stated that, nIt is an understatement to say that Shaw is oneof the the best psychics in the world. There is just no body likehim in the field. He is a prodigy."

Parapsychologist Walter Uphoff stated that Mike Edwards niscertainly one of the strongest, most exiting psychics in theworld. - - He has passed all kinds of stringent tests before 18people, including metalurgists, physicists and psychiatrists."

In the case of Steve Shaw, test sealed bottles containingfuses, spoons, locks etc. were left overnight in the boys bedroomso that perhaps while asleep, psychic phenomena would occur!

6

Needless to say it did. The fuseblown simply by inserting wires tobottom end and one at the top endend of the wires to a car battery!

inside the sealed bottle wastouch the fuse, one at the

and then touching the bitter

Spoons inside other sealed bottles, bent and twisted, padlocks became locked together, other items like pipe cleaning rodswere twisted into wire dolls, etc. and etc.

In one case the boys were offered sealed digital watches.Mike Edwards stole one as he went to lunch. He then placed thewatch inside his sandwich and into the microwave oven. Whenretrieved, the digital watch developed the crazies.

One thing is constant in all the laboratory psychic testingthroughout history. When the controls are relaxed, miracles areforthcoming. When the controls are tightened, miracles stop.

There was one test where some 48 test bottles had negativeresults. To negate that, another test was done with a small papervane pivoted on the point of a vertical spike and then coveredwith a glass dome. As an added precaution the bottom edge of thedome glass set into a half-round groove in a wooden platform!Would you believe it that Steve and Mike made the paper vane movesupposedly with the power of the mind alone. This test was indeeda convincer. This type of test is strong enough to start a newreligion! But Steve later confessed that, while the investigatorswere not looking he slipped a tiny ball of paper under the rim ofthe glass dome lifting it about 1/16 of an inch. The paper vanewas made to move simply by blowing on it. Ho! Hum.

Berthold E. Schwarz, M.D., A close friend of the Dunningersand Psychiatric Consultant at the National Institute forRehabilitation Engineering, Butler, N.J. started to test Steve inhis horne and office in New Jersey on November 3rd, 1981.

During the testing of Steve, Schwarz referred several timesto the agency of The Psychic Nexus. This mysterious soundingtitle simply means a connection. It can be taken lightly or it

7

can be deadly. Let us call it the PN.

SHORT RANGE PN: Someone tried to take a picture of Stevebut the shutter in the camera would not work. The photographerfixed that but then he noticed that the metal arm of his flash gunattachment was bent. The shutters of two other polaroid camerasheld by another person also taking pictures would not work! andboth batteries in the cameras went dead! Another person closebynoticed that his LCD alarm Chronograph malfunctioned. Atelevision screen sUddenly went out. It was discovered that one ofthe diodes went diodead. In fact the T.V. screen repeatedly shutoff when Steve was around. And would you believe it, the electricshaver quit when Steve was using it.

Decorative metal flowers drooped when Steve was close by,and clocks stopped. A lady that took part in some key bending byholding the keys that bent in her hands went horne and foundthat her stove was out-of-wack and her phone did not work, etc.and more etc.

Steve called a lady long distance and afterup her phone she noticed that her new

Seiko wristwatch stopped working for one half

LONG RANCH PN:the lady hungbattery-poweredhour.

While I was reading the exploits of Steve Shaw in my horne inWest Virginia, my community of 1200 acres had a massive powerfailure. The residents were set back a couple of centuries. Wewere without power for five days and covered with snow. Norunning water, the electric pumps in the wells would not work.Forget about taking a bath. The bath room was out including thetoilets. The T.V., radio and thermostats were cold and silent.

The residents took the frozen foods out of the freezer andthrew them on the snow outside. But the snow was not cold enoughand the food spoiled. Oil lamps, candles and the fireplace werelit. Snow in buckets was melted for making coffee and shaving.We did have charcoal broiled steaks from the fireplace.

The phones were working. So I started to call Steve to givehim a dressing when I remembered that these power failureshappen every winter in our area like clockwork. Our trees arevery tall and the roots shallow. So during a storm they fallonthe power lines and break them. BUT Steve states that rainfollows him wherever he goes.

FATAL PN: Here is one talent that everyone should master.Especially Mentalists and Psychics. Quoting Dr. Schwarz' ownwords from his book ftTaming the Poltergeist,ft he stated thefollowing about a couple that was to attend a planned eveningsession with Steve - ftthe couple did not make it, and months laterI learned that the day after our evening with Steve, E's father,who was living with them and in no acute stress, had died. No

8

special significance is attached to this, but it is mentioned inpassing as a possible part of the psychic nexus."

The Psychic Nexus, like the cursetree, can now be seen as a terriblemiserable poison-tongued creeps that Iunexpected. It is indeed a wonder.

that dried up the figdeadly weapon. Some

used to know croaked

THE BURNING OF THE BOOKS:

James Randi made offers toMcLab several times to takepart in observing Steve Shawand Mike Edwards to look forpossible trickery. But Randiwas turned down every time.

In the meantime BertholdE. Schwarz, M.D. wrote andpublished a 50 page booklettitled 'Taming the Poltergeist

Clinical Observations onSteve Shaw's Telekinesis. '

This booklet totallyglorified Steve and declaredhim to be a true psychic.

Paul at EpheaUi (Aoto 19.19)

when Randihis sting

he declaredDr. Schwarz,Edwards were

In 1983 Dr. Schwarz was about to release his bookheld a news conferrance in Manhattan and exposedoperation which he called The Alpha Project, wherethat all the miracles performed at McLab and withwere done by trickery and that Steve Shaw and Mikemagicians under Randi's control.

To illustrate the powerful draw of pseudo-miracles, SteveShaw performed the mind shattering illusion of making one tine ofa fork bend visibly! The entire audience gasped. The media boysasked how that was done. Randi replied that it was donebeautifully and Steve confessed that he cheated.

Needless to say this caused much embarrassment and discomfortto McLab and Dr. Schwarz.

Laureated college professors are reluctant to socialize withRandi. There is no common rapport. In fact they don't want himaround. Yet Randi was kind enough to show them, the hard way,that they were on the wrong track and barking up the wrong tree.

Dr. Schwarz burned his books "The Taming of the Poltergeist."Three copies of the book survived as these were in the hands of

9

Steve Shaw and are today a highly prized co11ector ls item.

McLab ran out of funds and closed down in 1985.

Sting operations for the psychic sciences are not new. Inbiblical times, we read in the Apocrypha in the Book of Bel andthe Dragon about Daniel, the prophet/magician, who convinced KingCyrus that his priests and his god Bel were frauds and layed atrap that caught 70 of the priests of Bel entering the godlschamber (which was securely locked by Daniel and the King),through a secret door and eating the goodies that were intendedfor the god Bel (Marduk). Cyrus destroyed the priesthood and theGod Bel.

In 1882, Edmund Gurney, psychicinvestigator and member of the Society forPsychical Research in London and primecontributor to the 520 page book, Phantasmsof the Living, became stung by what i~ nowknown as The Blackburn-Smith Fiasco. Two youngmagicians, Douglas Blackburn and G. A. Smith,tricked their way through telepathic teststriumphantly enough to convince Gurney thatthey were genuine psychics. Gurney madeprogress reports to the S. P. R. Blackburnlater confessed.

GURNEY

"I, Douglas Blackburn, now declare that the whole of thealleged experiments were bogus, and originated in the honestdesire of two youths to show how easily men of scientific mindand training could be deceived when seeking for evidence insupport of a theory they were wishful to establish." StatedDouglas Blackburn.

Edmund Gurney died in 1888, at the age of 41, in a hotel roomin Brighton, with a sponge bag with chloroform pressed over hisnose and mouth.

In 1884, Henry Seybert of Philadelphia, left in his will tothe University of Pennsylvania, $10,000 with the provision that a

10

commission be appointed to investigate spiritualism. The Seybertcommission investigated Henry Slade, the slate writing medium withnegative results.

The Seybert commission was in turn completely mystified bymagician Harry Keller who produced writing in answer to questionsby clever trickery.

In 1949, Arizona prospector James

Martin Gardner, a former columnistfor Scientific American magazine whoassisted Randi in planning the AlphaProject, put it as follows: hThere areaspects of reality which will remainforever impenetrable to science. - Thereis a notion that science will alwaysremain incomplete."

So! Where do we go from here? Wego forward. Steve Shaw, Mike Edwards,James Randi and several of the re-searchers of McLab, agree that psychicalresearch should continue. MARTIN GARDNER

Every last one of us senses and knows that there is'something' out there in the vast space between mortals and Gods.

This writer believes in that 'something.' A Godly power thatshows itself occasionally, but shows it does.

The following article by this writer appeared in the PsychicEntertainers Association paper.

CHILDREN OF THE ID

Bizarre stories are part of the fair of the magician.During a lifetime of magic, magicians experience strangeand unexpected happenings and coincidences.

Bessy Houdini told about the time she was givingreadings in Canada. An old lady sitter asked Bessy LOhelp her find her son who had left home many yearsbefore. Bessy knew a man in her neighborhood inBrooklyn who worked as a butcher and who had thesame name as the old lady. She told the old lady thather son was well and living in Brooklyn and working asa butcher. Hidden forces were indeed at work, for thebutcher turned out to be the old lady's long lost son!Bessy and Harry decided to layoff the spook businessafter that.

11

Fogel told about the time that he wrote down afictitious name on a dummy billet and then switched thedummy for the true billet, only to discover that the writerhad written down the same name. This unnerved Fogeland threw his program off kilter.

Dunninger, Blackstone, and many other magicians tellsimilar stories and keep reminding us that where there issmoke, there is fire!

I no longer wonder about strange and all-powerfulpsychic forces, for I have seen them at work. Here ismy story: In 1959, while living in the Bronx, a friend

and his wife came calling at 3:00 PM on a Tuesday. Anunexpected call, since at that time, everyone was at work.My friend had taken the day off for some very importantbusiness. He was a close friend, with whom I visitedregularly, and had some beers with at the local bar. Hewas no ordinary person. He had travelled widely andwas a very successful purchasing agent for a big firm inNew York. His wife went upstairs to converse wiu: mywife while we stayed in the 'living room. Straight away,he begged me to read the cards for him. I had done thisbefore, and he had been very impressed. He knew that1 would divine and answer important questions. He hadone paramount question in his mind: "Will I have a son?"After the regular reading, I answered his question andsaid, "Yes!" He was baffled and overjoyed at the sametime. He asked, "Is that in the canis?"

"Yes," 1 said. "Very much so." My friend jumpedhigh in the air with joy, picked up his hat, called hiswife, and bid us farewell.

My wife carne down and asked, "What did your friendwant?" I told my wife about his question, and that I hadsaid that he would surely have a son.

"Wish 1 had known," said my wife. "I would havewarned you. They have just been to the doctor and thedoctor told him he could never have children. He'ssterile. His sperm is as dead as a doornail. They havealready been to several doctors, and they have all toldhim the same thing." I then told my wife that I hadfol1owed the old Gypsy formula. I had to encourage thesitter and give him an optimistic view of the future.

My friend was a very intelligent person, aggressive,and a most positive thinker. He believed devotedly inmagic and prognostications. He visited a Gypsy fortunetel1er about once a year or whenever he needed help. Hewould listen intently to everything that was said andremember and interpret it for his own purposes. Both heand his wife were late bloomers, and they had marriedlate in life. They were both near their fortieth year whenthey married. Neither had been married before.

Ten months later, this couple had the most beautifuland healthy baby boy one can imagine. Today that childis alive and very healthy, 29 years of age, married, andwith children of his own! '

Positive Determination

Do stay with me, for there is more to come. First letme ask, were the doctors wrong in their analysis, or didthe unbending faith and iron-will positive determinationof the sitter unleash the psychic motive force in his mindthat resulted in conception? I choose to believe that themagician, the reader, in this case me, had lillie to dowith it other than to plant the much desired suggestion inthe most expectant mind of the sitter. God-forces, ofwhich we know nothing about, did the rest.

, Along comes the year 1985. I am invited to doreadings for some society ladies for the benefit ofPlanned Parenthood of Freehold, New Jersey. I had aswell time doing readings for these fine ladies. One verybeautiful young married lady walked into my parlor. Shewas coy, very quiet, very careful, and seemed to beafraid to talk. I gave her a reading. But she was not atall interested in the reading. She spoke with tongue-in-check, and afraid of insulting my intelligence said, "Ihave been examined by several doctors and have beentold that I am sterile and can not have children. ' 1 wantvery much to have a baby." .

Did she ring a bell? Yes! 1 heard many magicalbells ringing. Here was an identical case to the one in1959! Another person with the same unyielding faith andiron-will determination and a profound belief in magic.Not on purpose, but by pure chance! I proceeded in thesame fashion as before. I told the lady there was a babyin her future. What else could I tell her? I was her lastresort. Magic! The last pillar to lean on. The very lastport-of-call. And what, dear reader, did I have to lose?

A year later, I was invited to a party given by thesame group of friends. As I sat amongst the group, I

could, not help noticing that the women were goingbananas over a newborn baby. I asked who the motherwas and to my most pleasant shock, I was told that itbelonged to the beautiful lady, the same lady that hadcome to me for help the year before!

Do I believe in hidden and unknown forces? You canbet your gold plated nail writer I do! We are mortals,ladies and gentlemen, and believe it or not, we aresurrounded by the most marvelous mysteries. Formysteries have been reserved for mortals. The Godshave none.

MENTALIST STEVE SHAW

,~

THE AME ESTATE AT

RIVER RIOGt, W.VA.

Tel. 304-947-7730P.O. Box 155Great Cacapon, WV 25422

ache~rtbetlt~

@

~ttu~ hahl

What is your pleasure? Gentlemen. For whatever miracle youwish, just scoop a spoon full of wonder brew from the magiccauldron of Steve Shaw.

So you want to transmute basic (bent) metal into gold. Yougot it. Steve Shaw is doing it on a daily basis. He 1s bookedsolid. He bends, warps, twists, contorts, braids, coils and breaksmetal with the power (it seems) of his mind. His audiences aredazzled and baffled, amazed, dumbfounded and at a total loss as toa solution.

"He is better than Uri Geller." says Martin Gardner.

STEVE SHAW'S TECHNIQUE

The following effects of bending metal were invented by SteveShaw:

THE TEST OF THE TINE

This is the effect that drew gasps from the media boys andgirls in Manhattan.

This test is done with a fork. Use your own. A cheapvariety is the best. The presentation of this test is grosslyincredible. The audience is of course not aware of what is aboutto take place other than the fact that Steve is a metal bender.

14

What will be done i~ that one tineof a fork , Fig. 1, will bend visiblybefore the eyes of your audience whetherthey are close in front of you or seatedin an audience.

PERFORMANCE:

I

Fig. 1

Steve takes outexamination. Thesein any way.

two or three forks and passes these out forforks are ungimmicked and unbent or prepared

As soon as Steve takes back one of the examined forks hebends one tine out as shown in Fig. 1. This move is done whileholding the fork with both hands at the ends. The move is totallyundetected by your audience and can be done surrounded. This moveputs Steve far ahead of his audience for now he is holding a bentfork in his hands unbeknown to his audience.

Fig. 2

As in Fig. 2, Stevealways holds the forks orspoons with both hands. Theright hand (or left) covers thetines and at the same time thethumb bends down one of thetines as shown. Steve doesthis move in a most casual anddisarming manner as he looksand converses with the audiencewith a pleasant smile.

Fig. 2 shows the performer's view.

NOTE: The fingers of both hands while bending the tine DO NOTMOVE! The muscles on the back of the fingers of both hands DO NOTMOVE! Only the thumb moves! Your thumb is hidden behind yourhand, therefore your audience sees nothing. Bear in mind that atthis juncture the audience is relaxed for they have seen nothinghappening yet. The wise ones are watching Steve's hands expectinghim to bend the fork in the middle of the handle into a nu shape.But that does not happen.

Next Steve does a short lectureabout bending metal. It is a strangephenomenon which he cannot explain."You have examined these forks so pleasewatch." Right away Steve starts to shakethe fork fast back and forth as shown inFig. 3. Every joint of the hand and armshake at this time. The first finger andthumb holding the fork move up and downin a rubbing motion. Plus the wrist andand elbow are all shaking. It is utterly

15

impossible for the human eye to see the bent tine while the arm,wrist and fingers are movig rapidly.

Next the finger tips stop moving and then the wrist stopsshaking while the elbow continues the shaking back and forth.Slowly the action slows down and stops as Steve says. "Look!Look! the fork is bending." then the shaking is stoppedaltogether but the wrist and arm continues slowly to benddownwards towards your audience. This action makes the tine ofthe fork appear to bend further. It is an illusion of the firstwater. All the giants fall with this one.

MATTER IN ORBIT

In effect the bowl of a spoon is made to turn visibly 180degrees around its vertical axis, right in front of thespectator's eyes. This happens while you hold up the spoonbetween your thumb and finger tips of one hanq. This is shown bythe arrow in Fig. 4A.

AB C

Fig. 4

gaff to accomplish this fabulousthe gaff is in, long before thespoon ahead of show time and then

table in full view and no one will

Wonders never cease! Theeffect is undetectable. In factshow. For you must prepare theyou can place the spoon on thesee the preparation.

TO PREPARE Take a soup spoon as shown in Fig. 4a and bendthe bowl towards you so that it bends at the neck, Fig. 4B. Nexttwist the bowl of the spoon to the right as shown by the arrows inFig. 4B and 4C and all the way until the bowl points upwards asin Fig. 4D.

Fig. 4D shows the finished product. The spoon again looksnormal except that now it has a twist at the neck, as shown in thecircle. The twist is then covered by your thumb as you handle thespoon and show it around. If the spoon is placed on the table itis covered by a second spoon that lays across it. Your viewerssee nothing.

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THE PRESENTATION. You pick up four spoons off the table orremove them from anywhere. One of the four spoons is prepared asin Fig. 4. You pass out the three ungimmicked spoons forexamination, then take the first one back and walk to a fourthperson and give him the spoon from the first person to examinewhile you retain the gimmicked one.

"Ladies andand found to be

Gentlemen, foursolid. Let's

spoons have just been examinedtry a test with one of these."

"Those of you holding spoons, please hold them at the tips ofyour fingers like this and concentrate on trying to bend them bythe power of your will. Think hard and tell me if you seeanything happening." "LOOK! Look! the bowl of my spoon isturning." Amazingly, the person close by watching your spooncan see the bowl turning, but the handle which is also turning isnot seen because you are holding the spoon with both hands and thehandle is not seen. At the end you pass your spoon around andleave it with anyone to keep.

The turning of your spoon ispushing up a tiny bit at a time.any movement of your hand.

done by the tip of your thumbYet, your audience does not see

Fig. 5

THE BENDS

Steve says "Watch this." andhe places his other open hand asshown in fig. 7 and moves this handback left and right, as shown by thearrows, over the exposed part of thespoon and slowly pushes the spoonout so that it appears to be bendingupwards and then he passes itaround.

An examined spoon is taken inboth hands and while your audienceis examining another spoon or forkthat you bent, the spoon in hand isbent. This move is covered by thehands. The spoon is bent into ashape as shown in Fig. 5. And thenit is held in one hand as shown inFig. 6. Only the part of the spoonthat is not bent is exposed to thesight.

Again the illusion is perfect.

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MELT DOWN

This is the classic spoon breaking effect. Steve makes amasterpiece of it and it appears that the metal simply melts andthe bowl of the spoon falls off.

The usual before-the-show preparation is applied to thespoon. Preferably a soup spoon is used. The spoon is bent backand forth just below the bowl until the metal shows some fatigue.At this point the spoon looks normal but is about to break nearthe bowl. A few trials with half-a-dozen spoons will teach thenovice just how far to go. If you look at the spoon with amagnifying glass you may see a tiny almost inperceptible linewhere the spoon will later break.

For the show, the prepared spoon is on the table. This spoonis picked up with another one or two spoons which are passed outfor examination. The prepared spoon is kept and this is tapped onthe table, carefully, indicating it to be solid and in one piece.The spoon is then given to one spectstor who is told to hold thespoon gently between the fingers of both hands, one hand at eachend. Tell the spectator not to bend the spoon for you wish it toto be bent by mindpower only!

Fig. 8

You next take the spoonfrom the spectator and holdthe spoon by the tip of thehandle so that the bowl ofthe spoon is at the lower endas in Fig. 8a, and startshaking the spoon like apendulum. Shortly the spoonbreaks but hangs by a thread

While the spectator is holding the spoon by the extreme endsyou rub the spoon with the thumb and first finger near the bowlwhere the invisible break is and at the same time you push downslightly and then up slightly without exposing the act. You willthen feel that the spoon has broken but it is still holdingtogether to a tiny fraction of metal.

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of metal, Fig. 88 and then it falls. The illusion created isthat the metal simply melts and then the bowl drops off.

IN THEIR HANDS. Occasionaly hit the table with a preparedbreaking spoon and then give it to a spectator and have him orher hold it by the tip of the handle and tell them to shake thespoon until it breaks.

CRUSHING POWER, by Al Mann

Toying with Steve's metal bending secrets I accidentallymisdirected my psy-power at a spoon and, would you believe it? thebowl was crushed flat. Since this was an accident it cannot berepeated. So! Take the crushed spoon and place it amongst theother spoons and forks that you have bent during the show. Leaveit on the table for the patrons and waitresses to take home assouvenirs.

This crushed spoon is now in the collection of Steve Shaw. Igave it to him as a remembrance together with other metal itemsthat I have accidentally bent.

HOW TO PREPARE CRUSHED SPOON: Take soup spoon and place onhard rock. Hit bowl of spoon with sledge hammer.

Sure hated to part with this secret.

Richard Osterlind Lenderman & Jarvis Entertainment106 Conn. Blvd.East Hartford, CT 06108203-289-0221

Richard Osterlind

RichardOsterlindfour-digit-plus fee.

is a professional Mentalist with a

He has been a Mentalist since 1973. In 1974 Richard playedin his own television show for 14 continuous weeks.

Richard looks and acts like a Mentalist and better yet hethinks like one. He has the inventive mind of a genious. Back in1978 Richard was unable to understand the Tear and Read method aswritten by Al Baker due to incorrect illustrations. So Richardinvented his own method which he called The Ultimate Center Tearand which I published in "The Apodosis" and which was immediatelyadopted for use by Mentalists of the Hollywood Magic Castle.

Richard also invented the blacka streamline version of Dunninger's Qbeat. In fact he invents practicallyshows.

board that he uses for doing& A act, which is hard toevery prop he uses in his

John Gardner, author of the modern James Bond mysteries andfriend and admirer of Richard Osterlind has just published a JamesBond novel titled "SeaFire" which he dedicated to Richard.Richard in turn made a book test out of it.

ON METAL BENDING

Richard Osterlind in one of the giants in metal bending. Hehas spent a lot of thought on the pseudo-science of psychic metalbending. He is credited with bending an iron spike on stage.Richard knows a great deal about the technique of psychic metalbending that he appears to stand alone in the field.

THE SPOON BEND

Richard is at his best when he springs some spoon bending onhis audience when least expected. Forget about body, table andchair bends. Richard secretly bends the spoons while he holds

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them in his bare hands anG right in front of the spectator's eyes!

If he sees a table of young people noisely talking andignoring his show, Richard just walks to the table and bends theirspoons right before their eyes. That shuts them up, says Richard.

THE METHOD: Richard picks up aspoon with his left hand andimmediately bends it while hemisdirects the audience by picking upa second spoon with his right handand handing it to a spectator. Fig. 9shows a tea spoon that has just beenpicked up and held ready foe bending.The handle of the spoon is anchored atthe base of the little finger (arrowin Fig. 9) and then the little fingeris cur led over it. PresSure is thenapplied with the tip of the thumb tothe base or the tip of the spoon.

Fig. 9

Richard has discovered several spots on a spoon that help inthe bending. The tip of the bowl of the spoon, the base of thebowl, the neck and the tip of the handle.

Amazingly after the spoon is bentit can be shown to the audience casuallyand your audience CAN NOT SEE the bend!This is one of Richards pet moves. Itis the angle, says he. Please note Fig.10. This shows the same spoon fromdifferent angles. Fig. lOA shows aside view of the spoon with a veryperceptive bend, while Fig. lOB showsthe top view and the spoon appears to benormal. The hand also assists in hidingbends.

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Fig. 10

After this the bend in the spoon is exposed slowly. Rightafter it is shown Richard manages to bend the spoon some more andthe spoon is shown a second time with the exagerated bend for themystification of the audience.

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THE REMOTE PSYCHIC FORCE

Fig. 11 shows how the REMOTEPSYCHIC FORCE IS displayed to theaudience. This is Richard's inventionand truly the picture does not dojustice to how actually Richard presentsthe act.

He pretends very dramatically toexert great power with his right handtowards the left hand. The hands nevermeet yet the spoon bends!

THE ?SYCHIC TOUCHby Al Mann

In the effect that follows,place of the Devil's Flask. Sodramatics.

the breaking spoon takesyou are free to apply

thethe

In Effect an examined spoon bends and breaks while thepsychic holds it motionless between two fingertips!

Sounds impossible, doesn't it. Yet it is easy to do providedsome practice and dicipline of the fingers is learnt and applied.

PREPARATION: You must prepare some spoons, preferably teaspoons. Bend the spoons back and forth close to the neck untilthese are ready to break.

FORCING THE SPOON. Prepare about 20 spoons (this isoptional, you can sell the effect with only one prepared spoon)and place these bowl down into a glass or deep dish. Three of thespoons are not gimmicked and are placed bowl up among the otherspoons. These unprepared spoons are passed out to the audience. -Another person is asked to point to anyone of the spoons in theglass (all of which are gimmicked) and this spoon is used for thetest.

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Fig. 12

THE PRESENTATION. Take the prepared spoon and show it to theaudience. Drop it on the table lightly to show that it is solidand in one piece. Knock the spoon on the table in front of thespectators all around the room and let them see that the spoon issolid and in one piece. Do that on several tables or on themicrophone if you are on stage or platform. - - That, Gentlemen,is the extent of the examination of the spoons. The preparedspoons which are ready to break should not be placed in the handsof the audience, but all looks fair. Three ungimmicked spoonshave been passed out while another spoon was chosen by theaudience from many.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, withyour help I am going to make thisspoon bend like a pretzel rightbefore your eyes with the power ofour thoughts alone. So everybodyplease concentrate your thoughts inbending this spoon. Watch mecarefully." (the audience does notbelive you nohow) As you say that,you are holding the spoon betweenthe left thumbtip and the tip of thefirst finger as shown in Fig. 12.

You must show the spoon to the audience all around so thatthey can see that only two fingers hold the spoon. This is whatthe audience will later remember so hold the spoon openly and makesure that the other three fingertips are not touching the spoon.

Please note that at this time the audience in expecting thatthe spoon is going to bend so they will watch your hands but yourfingers never close around the spoon.

After you have shown the spoon allaround and as you walk back to centerstage hold the spoon high in the air andat the same time you place the middlefinger against the spoon as shown by thearrow in Fig. 13. Please note that thefirst and middle fingers are separatedfor about 3/4 inch. Now you can applypressure with the tip of your thumbagainst the spoon at the break and itwill break in two and fall to the floor. Fig. 13

DICIPLINE. You must train your fingers not to betraypracticing the move several times. The only way you canmove correctly is to stiffen your first and middle fingersthey do not move. ONLY THE THUMB MOVES.

you bydo the

so that

If you apply pressure to the spoon with the tip of your thumband the spoon does not break, you must turm the spoon over and

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apply pressure from that side. You may need to turn the spoonover several times BUT the important thing is to remember toconcentrate in keeping the first and second fingers stiff andmotionless.

A Day Wi th Toni Forster, (1984)

It was a bitter cold winter day in Munich. The Bavarianwinds were howling outside as I played the guest in the home ofToni Forster, leading Mentalist in Germany. Toni had just boughtthis beautiful home. In fact it was not yet finished. Thecarpenter and his son were busy putting the finishing touches bycoating the inside walls with 3/4 inch thick panels. Thefireplace which kept the house warm was finished with thick greenglass blocks. Only a few pieces of furniture had been moved in.

Fig. 15

As I layed on a rug on my stomach readingsome of Toni's Magic books (written in German), heshoved a whiskey glass that had a spoon in ittowards me. I picked up the spoon and it broke inhalf in my hand and fell to the floor. WH-H-H-HAT?What kind of satanic magic is this. The spoonwas whole and now it broke in half at my touch!

Toni explained. There was a strongmagnet under the whiskey glass! A break inthe spoon's handle next to the bowl, wasexpertly machined so that the edge of thebreak had a groove in the shape of a 'V.'While the edge of the break on the other halfof the handle was machined in the shape of aninverted'V.' Fig. 15. One piece fitted wellinto the other when the spoon was heldstraight up, or almost straight up.

Fig. 14

The circle in Fig. 15 shows an enlarged side view of thebroken spoon's handle.

The whiskey glass held the spoon up in an almost verticalposition while the hidden magnet under the glass gave the extrapull to keep the spoon from falling apart. Get it?

For the show, say that you have one of these gimmicked spoonsplus you also have a spoon that is almost ready to break, plus youhave other whiskey glasses with straight spoons. Ask the VIP topick up one of the straight spoons while you pick up the one thatis almost ready to break. You tell the spectator to do as you do.

"I am going to show you how these spoons can be made to breakby psy power." you say. You rub your spoon and ask the VIP todo the same. Your spoon breaks but the VIP's does not. "Let metry th~t one you say as you hand the gimmicked broken spoon to theVIP whlch falls apart as you put it in his hands. "There." yousay, "You are now a psychic spoon breaker."

P HOT 0 G RAP H S

Top - Al Mann (left) and Peter Reiss of Munich,poundering a mystery. At the Atlanta Convention 1994.

Center At the horne of Axel Hellstrom (thene?rew) in Dusseldorf, Germany, 1984. 1. to r. AxelHellstrum, his wife, Al Mann and MrS. Lutz

Bottom LeftOsterlind 1994.

Steve Shaw (left) and Richard

Bottom Right Al Mann and Toni Forster in Toni'shorne in Munich, 1984.

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