Every Imp Everywhere All At Once

“Okay,” you say, “I admit, this is going to sound crazy.

“Have you seen Everything Everywhere All at Once? Did you like it? Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool too. I don’t know if was Academy Award-worthy, but it was fun.

“Do you remember the term ‘verse-jumping’ from the film? Right. It’s short for ‘universe-jumping.’ And it’s where you do some statistically unlikely action and because of that, you’re able to unlock the memories and the skills of yourself in another universe within the multiverse.

“I didn’t quite understand that when I first saw the movie, but I had a physicist explain it to me. Apparently, it’s based on a real-life concept. The idea is this… imagine some alternate universe where you had made a series of different decisions that had led you to become a master of… say… archery. So in that universe where you’re an archery master, there is going to be some action that you did in that lifetime that you did in no other universe. Some action that is completely unique. Something so unusual that you didn’t do it in any of the 43 quintillion other universes. Maybe you put crunchy peanut butter between your toes, or you got a full back tattoo of James Corden, or you licked page 32 of a TV Guide.

“And because that action is completely unique to that one universe, if you were to do that action here, it would link you to your consciousness there. And you would briefly possess the skills you have in that universe.

“Look, this is all very complicated science. I don’t know how it works. But I did discover something cool… there is an underground service—totally illegal—and if you text them and ask them about any particular skill, they will let you know whatever weird action you need to do to ‘universe-jump’ into the consciousness of a version of you that has mastered that skill. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth it. Given that there are essentially infinite universes, there’s one of you somewhere who has mastered any skill you can think of. And for a few minutes you can experience living in that version of yourself.

“I made a list of different skills I would like to know what it feels like to have masteedr. I’m going to have you choose one, and then I’ll figure out what I need to do in order to acquire that skill…”

This Imp might not make a ton of sense if you’re not familiar with the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. But anyone who has seen it will get the general concept pretty easily. And even if they haven’t, you could probably make the concept clear enough just by describing it to them.

So here you have a way to get into any trick that would otherwise be just a demonstration of some impossible skill.

It’s obviously a fantastical, unbelievable premise BUT it makes sense as an overall story. “There is this process that allows you to briefly sync up with other versions of yourself with distinct skills in other universes… I’ve just done what I need to in order to sync up with this other version of me… And now I can memorize a deck of cards in 8 seconds.”

That’s a cohesive fictional story.

This is what I find people respond well to.

If I just come out and say, “I can memorize a deck in 8 seconds.” You—as my friend—might think, “Well, no he can’t. I know him. His memory isn’t that great. So it’s just a trick.”

And I might fool you with that demonstration but it still comes off as just a detached moment of fake impossibility.

It would be as if I showed you a video clip of a person flying. You might think that was a well done video effect. But it probably wouldn’t stick with you in any meaningful way if you didn’t see it in the context of some kind of story.

An Imp’s purpose is to establish a greater context for the magic moment. And this Imp does so in a particularly fun way.

First, there is a direct correlation to a very popular movie.

Second, they get the pleasure of watching you do whatever unique “linking” activity you need to do—giving yourself a mohawk with mayonnaise, or shoving a tennis ball in your mouth, or whatever.

Third, you could use something like a Svengali pad or Digital Force Bag to force the skill you’re going to immediately acquire to further up the impossibility.

Fourth, it’s easier to enjoy this type of demonstration because it eliminates the desperate show-off element that a lot “look what I an do” tricks possess, because you’re not really demonstrating a skill you have. (At least not the you of this universe.)

You can also turn this idea around and have your spectator do something unusual which allows them to briefly acquire some incredible skill as a prelude to any Spectator as Mentalist/Magician effect.