Breaking Down the PATEO Force

The PATEO force is truly fascinating. It’s one of those techniques in magic that you either love or hate. Some magicians use it for absolutely anything, while others avoid it for their entire lives.

P.A.T.E.O. stands for "Pick Any Two and Eliminate One." The force was created by Roy Baker and is used mainly in mentalism routines.

In short, the force works like this: there are five envelopes on the table. The performer and participant alternate during the process: each time, one points to two envelopes, and the other chooses which one of the two to eliminate. In the end, the final envelope remaining is the one containing the forced message.

How does it work? First of all, the envelopes are marked, so the performer knows which one is the target. When the performer is the one pointing to two envelopes, they make sure not to point to the target.

When the participant points: if they point to two envelopes that do not include the target, the performer can eliminate either one; if one of the two is the target, the performer eliminates the other.

The force can be done with any number of items. When their starting number is odd, the performer must begin the process. When the number of items is even, the participant begins. This ensures that when you reach the final two items, the performer will be the one choosing which to eliminate.

That’s the force.

If you didn’t know it and you’re thinking, “But why not use the equivoque force on the final choice to make it feel more random?”—it’s an option, but not very effective when you consider that the final choice is part of a long series of choices, and handling it differently risks clashing with the rest of the process.

Moreover, focusing too much on the final choice may cause you to lose sight of the larger process. We magicians, for methodological reasons, see a red flag in the final choice, but the audience experiences a sequence of choices that is longer and began much earlier.

To get the most out of this force, we therefore need to work on everything that comprises it, beyond just the last choice.

Love It or Hate It

A disclaimer: because it's a process-based force, many magicians simply don’t like it. And if you’re among them, that’s totally fine. But perhaps the tips in this edition might just tempt you to give it another shot.

If, on the other hand, you absolutely love this technique, it’s still worth keeping its weaknesses in mind.

Sure, in theory, a force based on the participant’s free choices is a dream—you get strong audience participation, and the spectator walks away believing they had complete freedom.