Dells

I have a new concept for us to think about. I write about it in the upcoming book. But the books are intended to be specific examples of stuff I write about here on the site. So just reading the site alone will give you the groundwork for anything I talk about in the books. I don’t want anyone to feel like because they can’t support at the $25/month level that they’re going to be left out of something.

Today I’m going to introduce you to the concept of Dells, which goes along with other concepts I’ve introduced on this site: Imps, Sponts, Buy-Ins, Reps, etc.

Dells

In nature, a dell is a small, secluded hollow, it can be a grassy valley or a little stream surrounded by trees or something like that.

Dells are often romanticized in stories and folklore. Places where fairies might gather, or lovers will meet for a secret midnight tryst.

A dell creates its own little world—a cool, sheltered space with its own atmosphere that feels separate from the surrounding landscape. Unique plants and animals can thrive there because it’s cut off from the usual wind and sunlight. 

In magic, a ‘Dell’ does something similar. It, too, can create its own “little world” for a trick, giving it meaning and context that’s separate from both the real world, and the typical magic presentation.

“Dell” is the name for the Delivery Method for predictions and revelations. This isn’t some mystical or hard-to-define concept. It’s literally the actual, concrete way the prediction is delivered to the person—that’s what a Dell is.

Prediction have an inherent “sameness” to them. “I wrote down the precise word/number/playing card/emotion/time of day you would think of.”

In one show, over a single night, it might not matter that this all feels the same. But if you’re always doing the same sort of thing for people over months and years of knowing them, it’s likely to grow stale over a short period of time

One way to breathe life into a prediction or revelation trick is to change the Dell.

One of the earliest examples of a Dell on this site is the Creepy Child revelation for Spectator Cuts the Aces, where the cards the spectator cuts to are predicted in a child’s drawing on your refrigerator.

The trick itself could end with you pulling out a piece of paper where you predicted the cards they would cut to, and it would be the same trick technically.

But you see how this Dell—the manner in which the prediction is delivered—is enough to build a story around and create its own little fictional world of a precocious or creepy child who can predict what’s going to happen.

Let’s look at another example. The Hoy Book Test. They’re thinking of a word, and you say, “Are you thinking of lemon?”

What if you change the Dell, and instead you go into a trance-like state and this strange voice comes from deep in your throat. “𝔄𝔯𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫k𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔣 𝔩𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫?”

This is a completely different experience for your audience.

You might be saying, “I don’t get it. Do you just like coming up with new verbiage or something? Your “Dell” thing is just another way of talking about a trick’s premise. The premise is of a creepy child who predicts the cards they’ll cut to. The premise is of a spirit that takes over your body to know what word they’re thinking of. This isn’t anything new.”

You have it backwards. The Dell is solely the delivery method for the prediction or the revelation.

The point I’m making is that once you come up with a new Dell, a premise will naturally grow out of it.

What if you didn’t write down your prediction but…

… it was on an old, unlabeled V/H/S tape you found. Delivered by some guy speaking in a dull monotone, staring into the camera.

… it was carved into a tree behind the school you went to as a child.

… you farted into your phone’s voice memo feature, and then you used a “special app” to slow down your fart by 20,000%, and it’s this low voice saying, You will pick the 9 of Diamonds. “That’s weird, right?” you say, as if you need confirmation.

As I write those ideas, I don’t have premises to go along with them, but it wouldn’t take much thought to expand those different Dells in to greater premises, stories, and worlds.