REWE LAB: Dressed as a Sheep (One Small Change, Big Impact)

Welcome to REWE LAB.

This is where I’ll share ideas I’m working on, new discoveries, and the small tweaks that end up making a huge difference on stage. Think of it like a behind-the-scenes notebook, but open for you to learn from my experiments.

I want to remind myself, and you, that sometimes, it's not about reinventing the wheel. One little improvement can increase the impact of a whole section. Recently, I remembered how a very small change in my show completely transformed a moment. So, I thought: why not share it with you?

Let me introduce you to a principle I call “Dressed as a Sheep.”

Near-Misses Make You More Believable

If you’ve been performing mentalism for a while, you probably already know this. If you’re new... well, this is why you’re here.

When a mentalist fails or almost fails, it feels more credible. Why? Because perfect hits are suspicious. They look like tricks.

Imagine this:
You ask someone to think of a name. They think of Katherine.
You write Katherine on a piece of paper.
You reveal it.
It’s correct, but… the audience expected that. It lands flat. No drama.

Even worse, it might feel like a cheap trick. They were expecting a trick, you delivered a trick. End of story.

Now let’s tweak it:
You hesitate. You struggle.
You read their face, you’re unsure. You don’t want to waste time, so you make take a decision and write Kate.
When they reveal Katherine, you react a bit mad... you should have got it, but you were wrong.
However, the audience sees you wrote Kate and freaks out. Suddenly, they’re on your side.
They try to explain you why you were actually right!
They feel the tension, the humanity.
It wasn’t a trick. It was real.

That’s the power of a near-miss. And it’s so much more interesting.

Dressed as a Sheep: Hidden Success After “Failure”

But now let’s take it one step further.

There’s a dramatic tool I use called “Dressed as a Sheep.”
It’s simple:

You let the audience believe you failed…
Then you reveal you were right all along.

That emotional swing, from “he failed” to “wait, what just happened?”, is gold.

Here’s an example:
You ask someone to think of anything. They choose the name Ollie.
At some point you ask them... you choose something that you know by heart, but is not like you say this to everyone...
You, apparently misunderstanding, write 31110 on a paper. Everyone assumes it's some sort of PinCode.
They say, “No, I was thinking of a name… Ollie.”
It looks like you failed.

Then, after a pause, you slowly reveal that 31110 spells “Ollie” upside down.

That’s the wolf dressed as a sheep.
The audience assumes you failed to later realise you were right all along.

A Simple Close-Up Version You Can Use Today

Let me give you a very practical way to apply this in close-up.

You ask someone to think of a name. Let’s say they think of Chris.

You say:
“I think I know the name you’re thinking of, but if I just tell you, people might think you can say yes just to don't make me look bad. Instead, I’ll hide it among other names and then I will ask you to say it"

You write down five names on a paper:
Caroline, Hugo, Raj, Isabel, Scott.

You show them the paper and ask:
“Do you see your name here?”
They look, scan the list, and say: “No.”

Then you ask:
“What name were you thinking of?”
They say: “Chris.”

That’s when you slowly point out that you said "I will hide it among other names".
Caroline
Hugo
Raj
Isabel
Scott

The first letters spell CHRIS.

It felt like you missed. But you didn’t.
They didn’t see it coming. Yet it was there all along.

One Important Reminder (This Is Key)

Now, before you run off and use this everywhere, please remember:

This is not about lying to your audience.
It’s not about trying to “fool” them in a cheap way. This will lead the audience to lost trust in you.

This works because the audience makes an assumption.
You never told them their name was visible on the list. You simply asked if they saw it.

The mind-bending moment happens when they realise their assumption was wrong.
When they replay the moment in their minds, they see you never lied. You never tricked them.
The answer was always in front of them.

That’s what makes this technique so strong.
Their perspective changes.
And that’s what makes it feel real.

Final Thought

“Dressed as a Sheep” is just a small adjustment in the way you frame things. But the impact? Huge.

It teaches us that sometimes, you don’t need a better method. You just need to let the audience believe something… And then surprise them with the truth. (Good movies and series use this technique all the time)

Let me know if you’ve tried something similar. Or better, go experiment with it and tell me how it went.

See you.

— Manuel

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