April 24, 2007
Here's what's in this edition of
Jheff's Marketplace of the Mind Newsletter
*** THE DELPHI PORTAL by Loren Tindall
*** THE MAGICK YEARS by Gene Nielsen
To make a purchase of any item in the JMOM newsletter,
please go to http://www.MarketplaceoftheMind.com
and use the shopping cart. If you're unable to do
this, you may respond to this e-mail.
To make sure you've not been missing any newsletters, check
out my blog, which is accessible from the main page. All of
the recent past newsletters are archived there.
*********
Hopefully, your checkbook will forgive me after this week.
I plan on sending out lots of e-mails and update the website
with lots of great stuff that I need to get around to
commenting on or adding to my site. As I reported in the
last newsletter, I'm working on adding the Gene Nielsen
catalog from Loren Tindall's The Pro Shop
(www.mevproshop.com) but that may take longer than I
expected to put them all up. This issue features the first
item in that line as well as Loren's beautiful The Delphi
Portal.
***** ALAIN NU WORKSHOP
I sent out a special letter about Alain Nu's exclusive metal
bending workshop. And, as I suspected, the remaining seats
were snapped up within hours. I certainly envy the lucky
few that got seats and are able to attend.
***** BOB CASSIDY UPDATE
Most mentalists know how invaluable Bob Cassidy is to the
art. Unfortunately, he's not a businessman and purchasing
things from him is, well, an experience. For those who want
his material, but not his service, there is hope. Many of
his e-books will now be available through www.Lybrary.com.
Also, Meir Yedid will be releasing his Black Box DVD this
week and it features many of Bob's favorite switches and
billet moves, among other juicy tidbits. It will be
available through my site.
***** TRIO AND THE MEMORY PILL ACT
The creator of the classic Blister effect, Jack Kent Tillar,
has a new book destined to be a mentalism classic. TRIO is
a book comprised of three complete knock-out mentalism acts.
And THE MEMORY PILL ACT, one of Bascom Jones' favorites, is
a complete act, as well. Getting paid to do any one of
these acts will more than cover the cost of both. Step on
over to the Marketplace of the Mind and check them out, if
you haven't already. And, if you have and have not ordered
them, do so. I know that you'll be glad you did.
Incidentally, the price will be going up on May 1 for THE
MEMORY PILL ACT. Those who purchase TMPA at its $19.95
price will be receiving an e-mail about how to obtain the
next e-book, the second volume of The Private Files of Jack
Kent Tillar, before anyone else and a special sale price.
***** MARKETPACE MEMBERSHIP CLUB
The second issue of Jheff's Journal of the Mind features
John Riggs. The issue features some killer stuff that you
don't want to miss. To get it, you need to buy a membership
in the Marketplace of the Mind. For the $37 cost
you get a subscription to the 2007 issues of
Jheff's Journal of the Mind, an all-new e-zine for
mentalists, and an additional 5% discount off merchandise
from the Marketplace of the Mind. There will also be
specials and other stuff throughout the year. Check out the
free preview edition of the Bonus #0 issue featuring Jack
Kent Tillar. Go to the website and click on the banner at
the top. Or use the link below.
Check it out here:
www.marketplaceofthemind.com/jmmc.html
***** THE FRIENDS OF THE MARKETPLACE
Don't forget to check out the new Friends of the Marketplace
section. This is for those creators who are producing
wonderful products that I don't carry. This is because, to
save overhead, I order as needed from my distributor, and
these creators aren't mass distributing it. If you'd like
me to review your product and help you sell it, then you'll
find details about the Friends of the Marketplace program on
the website. There's a button on the left hand side for you
to click on.
Brand new to the section are Loren Tindall's beautiful new
THE DELPHI PORTAL, which is a must-have prop for anyone who
is a reader, and Gene Nielsen's THE MAGICK YEARS, a jam-
packed e-book filled with over 70 professional and varied
routines.
You'll also find John Rigg's John Riggs' first three
volumes of his DVD series, GODS WITH FEET OF CLAY. This
is definitely a series that you don't want to miss. And
then there's Millard Longman's incredible new peek
method,ACIDUS GLOBUS; Alan Strydom's very nice and powerful
routine, CREATING IMPACT; and Enrique Enriquez' The
Invisible Tarot, a wonderful reading system for Tarot cards.
Also,you'll find Reflections, an impressive new prop from
Outlaw Products, who also produced the wonderful Homicide,
Manhattanville, Sinister, and Kioku. You'll also find
links to some other wonderful products. There's the new
version of Nick Morton's A Dangerous Love, which is a
unique book test; Josh Quinn's Ascension, which is a
diabolical reading system using supermarket horoscope
books; Millard Longman's Acidus Novus DVD, a masters
course on one of mentalism's most important techniques;
Bryn Reynold's powerful casino card effect, Double Down,
and his serial number divination gem, simply entitled $.
Remember, I don't make a dime on this stuff. I do this
because I think the stuff is very good and worth it.
http://www.jheff.com/friendsofthemarketplace.html
Until next time. -- Jheff
*********
DOCC HILFORD
LITTLE BLACK BOOK TEST
JMOM Price:$41
Suggested Retail Price: $45
THE BLURB:
Book tests are as popular with mentalists as cut and
restored rope tricks are with magicians. Finally, here is
one that stands out from the rest.
Effect
The mentalist shows a little black book filled with nearly
100 different names and addresses of women. The mentalist
gives it to a woman in the audience. She opens the book to
any page and chooses one of the names on the pages. She
shows it to a man and he also chooses a name from the open
book.
The mentalist hands a sealed envelope to the woman to be
explained later.
The mentalist starts with a single letter. He identifies a
random letter and moves swiftly. Without fumbling or
pumping, He correctly identifies the addresses, names, and
phone numbers chosen by both parties! He even gives the
zodiac signs.
Finally, The mentalist explains that he met with the same
girl as chosen by the woman! In the envelope are three
souvenirs from the previous night out, a cocktail napkin
with lipstick print, a swizzle stick from a swanky night
club and a matchbook cover. On the cover is written the same
number as was selected by the woman!
A BONUS EFFECT
Later in the show, if the mentalist desires, he can know the
zodiac sign of the woman who helped him. A simple, yet
clever ploy allows for this information to be given without
anyone knowing, all while the first effect is taking place.
The method based on two old principles, the first letter cue
and specialty identifiers combined with a breakthrough
system know as the grid means you can know everything
without touching the book. It can be examined by anyone and
there's never a force.
LITTLE BLACK BOOK TEST
Has these important features:
Uses an ordinary address book.
The book can be closely examined.
Small enough to be carried in your pocket.
Large enough for a full stage show.
Can be performed stand-up.
Is equally effective close-up.
Several participants can choose names at the same time.
Many different revelations are possible.
Never any forcing.
Performer knows everything chosen.
Performer never touches book.
A sensational ending!
No memorizing needed, yet...everything can easily be
memorized.
All names, addresses and phone numbers are different.
Comes with an address book.
MY COMMENTS:
Once again, I urge you not to take Docc Hilford's blurbs too
seriously. This is not to say that this blurb is
inaccurate. But some points may be misleading to some
people.
Basically, as the blurb suggests, this is a book test using
a little black address book. What's nice about this is that
it's portable. You can do it close-up or you can do it as
part of a parlour or stage routine. Since it would seem
natural to carry one, a mentalist can easily justify using
it in an impromptu routine to carry around in the pocket.
Now, let's talk about that line "No memorizing needed,
yet...everything can easily be memorized." As you might
have guessed, that means that there is a crib used. Now I'm
not going to explain the workings of that, since that's the
heart of the method, except to say that it's very clever.
Two small pieces of information yield everything you need
to know.
Well, almost everything. With the crib, you can get the
first name of the lady plus the phone number and zodiac
sign. With a little extra memorization, you can get
additional information, such as the web provider on the
e-mail address (aol.com, yahoo.com, etc.) It's still fairly
easy, though.
Docc details the workings and the routine in a 24-page, 5.5"
by 8.5" saddle-stitched booklet. I was a bit surprised at
the glaring typos in this booklet (one section is labeled
"PRATICE"), but they certainly don't prevent one's
understanding of the material. They're just distracting.
A few more points: The address book does not come
pre-filled. It's a one-time preparation that you must do
that yourself. This way, it will look authentic and you can
customize the book for names and street names that you'd
prefer. Finally, for those in non-English speaking
countries, you can certainly use a small address book and
adapt Docc's routine.
As I feel about most of Docc's material, I recommend this.
*********
ASTOR
ESP BOXES
JMOM Price: available by request only
Suggested Retail Price: $45
THE BLURB:
The magician asks the spectator to choose one of five boxes
in a bag. The spectator opens his chosen box and puts
something inside (for example a folded banknote). The
spectator puts the chosen box back into the bag and mixes it
with the other boxes. The magician digs into the bag and
pulls out the chosen box. The boxes and the bag can be
examined in the end. The trick does not require sleight of
hand.
Dimensions Approximately 1" x 2.5" (2.54cm x 6.35cm)
MY COMMENTS:
Though well-made, this is something that I can't recommend.
The problem is with the boxes and the method. The boxes
look like very odd lipstick containers and definitely
suspicious. I can't believe that a good percentage of
participants would not suspect something's up with the boxes
and they'd be right. The methodology requires some very
specific lighting conditions. This also means that if the
lighting is not quite right, the effect may not work or the
method will be unwittingly exposed. The price is fair,
considering it is imported, but there are far better methods
that can be done with ordinary materials. You don't need to
purchase this to accomplish this type of effect.
*********
JEFF PIERCE
ISOLATION
JMOM Price: available by request only
Suggested Retail Price: $25
THE BLURB:
A freely selected card, picked from a small group of cards
is placed face down on the table. A number is selected by
another spectator. The magician counts down in the deck to
that randomly selected number, and that card is shown to
match the card selected by the first spectator.
The kicker is revealed when the deck is spread face up on
the table and all the rest of the cards are totally blank!
MY COMMENTS:
Some people may remember Dean Dill's classic effect,
Blizzard. In this effect, a card is freely named. There
are no forces or limitations. The performer pulls out four
cards and claims the chosen card is among them. The
participant eliminates three cards and reveals the fourth to
be the chosen card. The kicker is that the other three
cards are blank-faced. In fact, when the rest of the deck
is turned over the entire deck is blank. The method
required an incredibly bold sleight, which wasn't difficult
at all, that has fooled the best minds in mentalism and
magic.
I bring this up because Jeff Pierce has apparently
reinvented the wheel and made it square. Granted, he may be
original in using this particular combination of principles
(one of which is a great force found in Larry Becker's
Stunners), but I don't feel that he has improved on
Blizzard. First, the spectator must choose among five cards
using a procedure that seems contrived when compared to
Blizzard. Then, the number chosen isn't exactly a free
choice. They must choose within a very limited range. This
range can be altered, but it's still not a limited range
that you offer the participant.
Admittedly, the any-card-at-any-number type plot is
different from Blizzard. However, you can still do similar
presentations with Blizzard. For instance, after the
participant locates their card among the four you stick the
four cards back in the deck without revealing the blank
faces. Then you can deal cards off the bottom until the
participant feels that the chosen card has been reached and
says stop.
As is, the effect is creative and original and I respect the
solid thinking that went into this, but in comparison,
there's just far too much work and lots of concessions made
that Blizzard doesn't have. I really have a hard time
recommending this to anyone for any reason, other than
academic reasons. So I'll pass on cataloging this. (By the
way, Blizzard, like the Invisible Deck, can certainly be
presented as a mental demonstration.)
*********
To make a purchase of any item in the JMOM newsletter,
please go to http://www.MarketplaceoftheMind.com
and use the shopping cart. If you're unable to do
this, you may respond to this e-mail.
This e-mail is copyrighted by Jheff Poncher. No part of
this newsletter may be reprinted or distributed without
the express permission of the author.
You received this e-mail because you have subscribed. If
you wish to unsubscribe, then send me an e-mail at
Jheffsmind@aol.com and it will be done.
