"The problem with getting a real street education is that you have to go through a lot of hard knocks and pain for the degree. Jim Rose has remedied that dilemma for the masses by contributing monthly to Punk Globe Magazine ." It is Jim Roses opinion that the psychology of being street wise is crucial to protecting ones self, furthering careers and in some cases just fun to know.

The contents of this article could be dangerous. Misuse of the material can cheapen an art form or at the very least make you look stupid. More importantly, misuse of this information may result in jail time or death. Do not attempt any of these tricks without the direct supervision of a responsible professional. I know more about snake oil than any person alive. I’ve been selling it for most of my life. Quite simply, snake oil is my lifeblood. Magic, circus stunts, hypnotism, hustles, mind-reading; any and every graft known to man. If there’s a con, I know about it. Snake oil, ladies and gentlemen, is the art of the gyp, hoodwink, shuck, sandbag. Identify a weakness or susceptibility and manipulate to your personal advantage. The term originates from traveling “salesmen” in the 19th century who peddled a concoction, usually giving it an exotic name like snake oil, promising to cure all ills. Of course, it was a big scam and eventually the term snake oil came to represent any deceptive product or enterprise.Growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, life’s calculations, misdirections, and manipulations became a fascination of mine. During this semi-lawless era reminiscent of the Wild West, slicksters, con-artists, and hucksters roamed the terrain looking for easy marks. Phoenix has now, I’ve been told, become quite civilized and the days of flim-flam are long gone. Don’t believe it. The art of selling snake oil is constantly being reinvented, bastardized and ultimately improved in a perpetual, strangely perverse evolution. Just like me. My introduction to the swindle of snake oil began during my formative teenage years. Working at the state fair, I was initiated into the world of eccentrics with a school-of-hard-knocks education in street smarts. In the late eighties, this education allowed me to found the Jim Rose Circus, touring the planet non-stop for fifteen years. During this odyssey of the odd, I became part of a living eclectic encyclopedia.

Give a calendar to an audience member and tell him to choose any month. Then with a pen ask him to circle any three days in a row. Tell him to add the three dates and give you the total. Right away you are able to guess which days he circled.

Secret: When the volunteer tells you the total, divide it by 3. The number you get is the second date of the three consecutive ones he circled.

Hand a calendar to a volunteer, and while you’re turning your back, ask him his favorite day of the week. Let’s say it’s Monday, tell him to go to any month and to circle three Mondays in a row. Ask him to add the three dates and to tell you the total. You’ll then be able to guess the Mondays he chose.

Secret: To be able to call the right dates, mentally divide the total he gives you by 3. The result you get is the second Monday circled. To obtain the other two, subtract 7 to your result to get the first Monday, and add 7 to it to get the third Monday. For example: The Mondays circled are the 4th, 11th and 18th. The total is 33. Divide 33 by 3 = 11. That is the middle Monday. 11 - 7 = 4 which is the first Monday circled; 11 + 7 = 18 which is the third Monday.

Here is a different version where you ask the volunteer to circle four consecutive Mondays. Tell him to add the four numbers and to give you the total. Again you can guess right away which ones he circled.

Secret: Subtract 14 from the total and divide the result by 4. The number you get is the second date circled. Then subtract 7 to get the first Monday, add 7 to get the third, and then add 14 to get the fourth Monday. Let’s say the number given you is 58: 58 - 14 = 44; 44 divided by 4 equals 11. 11th is the second Monday; 11 - 7 = 4; 4th is the first Monday; 11 + 7 = 18; 18th is the third Monday; 11 + 14 = 28; 28th is the fourth Monday. Secret: Subtract 14 from the total and divide the result by 4. The number you get is the second date to add the three dates and to tell you the total. You’ll then be able to guess the Mondays he chose. Secret: To be able to call the right dates, mentally divide the total he gives you by 3. The result you get is the second Monday circled. To obtain the other two, subtract 7 to your result to get the first Monday, and add 7 to it to get the third Monday. For example: The Mondays circled are the 4th, 11th and 18th. The total is 33. Divide 33 by 3 = 11. That is the middle Monday. 11 - 7 = 4 which is the first Monday circled; 11 + 7 = 18 which is the third Monday.

Here is a different version where you ask the volunteer to circle four consecutive Mondays. Tell him to add the four numbers and to give you the total. Again you can guess right away which ones he circled.

Secret: Subtract 14 from the total and divide the result by 4. The number you get is the second date circled. Then subtract 7 to get the first Monday, add 7 to get the third, and then add 14 to get the fourth Monday.

Let’s say the number given you is 58: 58 - 14 = 44; 44 divided by 4 equals 11. 11th is the second Monday; 11 - 7 = 4; 4th is the first Monday; 11 + 7 = 18; 18th is the third Monday; 11 + 14 = 28; 28th is the fourth Monday.

The performer says that he can read minds. He presents a phone book to a member of the audience and asks him to go to any page he likes and not to show it to him. Then the performer writes a number on a blackboard which he doesn’t show to anyone. When he’s ready, he asks the volunteer the page number he’s chosen. It’s the same one he’s just written on the blackboard. For more effect the phone book is passed to another person. Again the performer guesses the same page number.

Secret: The performer is working with an assistant sitting in the audience. He chooses the first audience member sitting on the assistant’s left side. When the phone book is passed around for the second time, it goes to the person sitting on the assistant’s right side. In both cases, the assistant leans over and is able to see the page number which he communicates to the performer with a system they both know.

You send your assistant to a different room. During his absence, the audience is required to choose an object in the room. Once done, call him back. Without a word and the help of a wand, point to the objects until he calls the one selected.

Secret: When you point to the chosen object, move your index finger a little to alert your assistant.

In this stunt the performer is supposedly able to answer questions before looking at them. He asks ten members of the audience to each write a question and their name on a piece of paper that they fold and put into a basket. The performer takes one at a time and brings it to his forehead and “telepathically” answers each question before reading it. He then verifies with the volunteers if his or her question has been properly answered.

Secret: This trick works by staying one question ahead of the audience. The performer reaches into the basket and takes the first piece of paper that he brings to his forehead. After a deep ”concentration,” he seems to have difficulty to understand the question. He unfolds it, and says with surprise that no wonder he couldn’t read it, it’s written in an illegible scribble. Secretly he glances at the question.He then crumples the paper and puts it in his pocket. Having seen the first question, it is now easy for him to do the whole act. He proceeds by taking a second folded paper out of the basket, holds it to his forehead, but instead of answering it, he actually answers the first one that he just put in his pocket. When he opens it to “verify” that he answered it right, he glances at the question that he will answer when he holds the next one to his forehead. He proceeds until all questions are answered. He then crumples the paper and puts it in his

Be sure to read more of "Jim Rose Circus Scam, Fraud, Rip Off, and Con Artists Beware" in next month's Punk Globe Magazine...

Copyright 2005 by Jim Rose
www.JimRoseCircus.com