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How to Create a Higley Gaff

Doug Higley is the originator of the Dark Museum and many different odd works art he uses to trick participants. Some of these works are well known for their mysticism and intrigue. He creates different monsters and oddities like shrunken heads and chupacabras. Higley's most famous gaff is probably the "3 No Evil" trick. This trick is more "mentalism" than magic. It combines story telling with props to make the unreal very real for participants. "3 No Evil" is the story of his findings while on an expedition on an Amazon jungle cruise. The gaff involves showing pictures of shrunken heads and then reading a shaman's prediction about the heads.

Things You'll Need

  • 3 No Evil set
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Instructions

    • 1

      Call up a spectator and formally make him a guest curator of the Dark Museum. Bring out the four cards from the envelope included in the 3 No Evil set. Place the shaman's prediction card aside for now.

    • 2

      Show the guest curator the pictures of the exhibits (shrunken heads) and tell him that the museum has fallen on hard times with only enough funds keep one exhibit. Of the other two, one will be placed in storage and the other will be sold on the black market.

    • 3

      Make the choice of what will happen with the exhibits. You keep one card, the guest curator keeps one card and the envelope (museum) gets the third.

    • 4

      Ask the guest curator if he would like to trade the card. If he does, exchange his card with another. When he is satisfied with his card, bring out and read the shaman's three-part prediction card. The prediction will link him with the shrunken head on the card he chose and tell his future, 66 years in advance.

    • 5

      Let the story telling sell the trick. The intrigue is all in the presentation and imagination. If the guest curator buys the story, the shaman's prediction will mystify them.

Illusions

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