May 26, 2007
Here's what's in this edition of
Jheff's Marketplace of the Mind Newsletter
*** GOLD DRAGON TATTOO by Fred Darevil
*** PALMISTRY QUICKIES by Alan Strydom
*** DOUBLE COINCIDENCE by Devin Knight & Al Mann
*** MAURICE FOGEL: IN SEARCH OF THE SENSATIONAL pre-order
*** IMPORTANT NEW POSTAGE INFORMATION
To make a purchase of any item in the JMOM newsletter,
please go to
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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.
*********
Time to play catch up. Again! Time has really flew by.
There's been the finales of several TV shows, like Heroes &
24 (We waited all year for THOSE endings?!); Moral Majority
founder Jerry Falwell dropped dead (no comment); Rosie and
Elizabeth had a big feud on air leading to Rosie immediately
dropping out of The View tv show (Yeah, who cares, but, hey,
that WAS a pretty funny "catfight"!); Reggie the alligator
was finally caught after 18 months (hey, that lake he was
dumped in is 5 minutes away from me, so it's big news!); and
Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 bowed in
theatres (once again proving that studios think movies ought
to have big special effects and stories that have so much in
them they don't make sense anymore).
Okay, now let's move on to more important things: mentalism!
I realize I'm a little behind and should have sent out a
newsletter regarding some stuff that I put up on the website
over the last few weeks. So you'll get a separate e-mail
this weekend regarding Ron Martin's TAROT READER'S NOTEBOOK,
Tom Jorgenson's BRAZEN BLINDFOLD, and some very cool Maurice
Fogel items.
I also have two new books to be added soon: Caleb Strange's
GARDEN OF THE STRANGE and Larry Kuhn's THE BIGGER BOOK OF
BOO. Both can be categorized as bizarre magick books.
Another book to be added is R.T. Spark's CIPHER SPEAKS,
which deals with a unique two-person code system.
*** MAURICE FOGEL: IN SEARCH OF THE SENSATIONAL
This book is not due out until about June 21 (according to
Hermetic Press' website), but I'm taking pre-orders now for
it. If you're a Marketplace Member, then log in to the
Marketplace Members' page and you'll find an additional
pre-order discount on this book. I haven't seen it yet, but
anything mentalism related by Hermetic Press has always been
a must-have. Why should this be any different?
*** CELLULAR I.D.
I'm also taking pre-orders on Larry Becker & Lee Earle's new
effect, which should be out soon. For details about this
effect, which uses cellphones and business cards, go to the
website and you'll find more information.
*** IMPORTANT NEW POSTAGE INFORMATION
In Mid-May, the United States Postal Service raised their
rates and changed policies. The major change, though,
occurs with non-U.S., Mexico or Canada orders. The small
Global Priority Mail envelopes are no longer being used by
USPS. And Global Priority mail prices have gone way up.
The price for shipping in a larger envelope by me is now $13
(I use to charge $11). It can be cheaper through regular
airmail, and if the weight isn't much (under 2 lbs, I
think), I will use that. If it doesn't fit in the large
Priority Mail envelope, or it's pretty heavy, it could get
rather costly. I'm still trying to figure it all out,
because, as usual, the USPS doesn't have a user friendly
quick-start rate manual. For now, though, disregard the
postal information on the site. I'll try to have it updated
by this week.
***** 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 second volume of The Private Files of
Jack Kent Tillar will be out soon. Those who purchase TMPA
will be receiving an e-mail about how to obtain the next
e-book before anyone else and at a special sale price.
***** MARKETPACE MEMBERSHIP CLUB
The next issue of Jheff's Journal of the Mind spotlights
Maurice Fogel, the subject of the new book by Christopher
Woodward and Richard Mark entitled Maurice Fogel: In Search
of the Sensational. That issue should be out next week as
I'm a little behind. 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 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 Ron Martin's THE TAROT READER'S
NOTEBOOK, a must-have for Tarot readers; Alan Strydom's
Palmistry Quickies, a must-have for palm readers; 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.
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
*********
FRED DAREVIL
GOLD DRAGON TATTOO
JMOM Price: $23.50
Suggested Retail Price: $26
THE BLURB:
"Concentrate on this place on your body and the tattoo
design you freely chose… and you can close your eyes to
better imagine the apparatus approaching your skin, buzzing,
charged with the ink which soon will pass by the needle to
penetrate your skin. You feel heat…maybe a little pain… this
blue color, then red, no… pink… that occurs in your back. It
is at the bottom of your back that now appears a charming
dolphin!"
A spectator freely chooses a tattoo design among 25 printed
on glossy business cards coming from the Gold Dragon Tattoo,
a shop in Los Angeles. Then he looks secretly for the place
on his body where this design would be drawn if the
experience was real. With no hesitation, no question, the
mentalist reveals both pieces of thought-of information!
• Free choice
• Spectator shuffles the cards
• No stooge
• No pre-show
• No sleight
• No question or pumping
• Direct and immediate revelation of informations
• No preparation
• No gimmicked cards
• Nothing added or taken away
• Do it again and again to the same spectators
• Perfect for table-hopping and cocktails parties
• Bicycle size, practical for storage
• Real glossy business cards printed by a professionnal.
Here’s what others are saying:
"It's a fine effect Fred. Well designed and manufactured.
Easy to understand and simple to perform. What else could a
close-up worker want?"
-- Larry Becker
"What a wonderful effect to carry around! What I really like
is how the story helps you sneak in the method. If you are a
story teller then this if for you. You can definitely weave
a tale here as you mystify them by looking into their mind
and telling them about their design. Great job!"
-- Greg Arce
"A real killer! Thanks for sharing this gem with us!".
-- John Fiks - Masters of Magic
MY COMMENTS:
Fred Darevil, a marvelously creative mentalist based in
France, has produced this incredibly original and memorable
close-up piece of mentalism. It's based on a well-known
principle, but it's woven into the presentation so that the
shortcomings of this principle are cleverly justified. No
memorization is needed, but the routine flows better if you
do use it. Otherwise, a very simple calculation (no more
difficult than 10-6=4)is all that the performer secretly
needs to do. Also, Fred does provide his handling, but
other handlings are possible.
The ten cards themselves are the size of playing cards,
elegantly made and without rounded corners. Remember, these
are supposed to be business cards for a tattoo shop. This,
of course, also serves as a wonderful reason to be able to
pull out these strange cards, as well as a reason for having
them on you.
There are a few considerations. The first is if you feel
that the subject of tattoos is one that doesn't suit you.
Obviously, if this is the case, then this effect wouldn't
suit you at all. Another is that this is a close-up
effect. But that's about it.
You get the cards and three pages of instructions (8.5" x
5.5", stapled) folded and inserted in a cover. All of this
comes in a polybag. There is also a login and password for
a special site devoted to ideas in using the Gold Dragon
Tattoo. This is a lot of fun to perform, extremely unique
and memorable to laymen, especially women, and highly
recommended.
*********
ALAN STRYDOM
PALMISTRY QUICKIES
Suggested Retail Price: $17
Available at:
http://www.mindillusions.co.za/palmquickie.htm
THE BLURB
PALMISTRY QUICKIES
for walk around & other time restrictive situations
PALMISTRY QUICKIES addresses the problem of too long a
reading in those situations where you just don't have
the time!
-walk around at restaurants, conventions, private parties,
shopping malls (you name it! it works!)
-psychic home parties
-psychic fairs
-lunch or dinner meetings
Never done a reading before? Tempted?
Get to the heart of the reading safely and easily within
seconds (ok, minutes at most), and leave them wanting more!
PALMISTRY QUICKIES is not a full system that will take you
months to learn...
it is a straight-to-the-point system not often found in any
Palmistry book,
that gives you the control of how far you want your reading
to go.
So what do you get?
-A simple device to use as a memory prompt
-A 17 page manuscript explaining all you need to know to use
this system
-Some good advice on expanding your readings as you learn
more
All the hard work done by me to make your life simpler
- so even if you're a pro psychic entertainer or reader you
will find something of value here
EVEN IF YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE ONLY A MAGICIAN OR
MENTALIST - BUT WOULD LIKE TO ADD READINGS TO YOUR
ROUTINES - THIS IS FOR YOU!
"I gave your book (Palmistry Quickies) a quick read (pun
intended) and love it! This is a godsend for party workers!
I have done many parties where I did only walk around
palmistry and you hit the problem and the solution right on
the head! Great job!"
-- Millard Longman
MY COMMENTS:
Alan Strydom has created a solution for those readers who
want to do a quick, meaningful reading. The solution also
doubles as a very creative piece of advertising. Though you
don't really need to know anything about palmistry in order
to use this, it's actually recommended that you familiarize
yourself with the basics of palmistry first. Alan's
inspirations are Loren Tindall's PALMISTRY READINGS PACKAGE
and Julian 'Bev' Moore's SPEED LEARNING PALM READINGS. Both
of these are referenced in the e-book, if you're interested
in obtaining them.
What Alan has done is taken Loren and Julian's leads and
made a completely different type of reading that's short,
quick, and gives clients the information they most want. One
can certainly build on Alan's basic reading and make it
longer. Incidentally, you will need to do some basic
desktop publishing (Microsoft Word) to make this work and
Alan provides the files you need. This 17-page e-book is
definitely a must-have for anyone who does palm readings or
is interested in palm readings.
*********
DEVIN KNIGHT & AL MANN
DOUBLE COINCIDENCE
JMOM Price: $81
Suggested Retail Price: $89.95
THE BLURB:
Mentalist tells the audience that before the show, he gave a
lady a dictionary, a red crayon and an envelope. He asked
her to secretly circle a word and to seal the dictionary in
the envelope. She was instructed to tell nobody the word,
nor let anyone tamper with the envelope. He says this
envelope is still in the audience.
When it’s time to perform this effect, the Mentalist calls
two people on stage.
The sealed envelope with dictionary is then retrieved by one
of the spectators who holds on to it in full view. The
Mentalist picks up a 300 page book and turning his head
away, riffles the pages to have one spectator select a page
from it. The book is opened at that place and given to
spectator. It’s obvious to the audience that the Mentalist
hasn’t had a chance to glimpse the pages of the open book.
NO PAGE NUMBER IS CALLED OUT AT ANY TIME.
With his back still turned, the Mentalist asks the spectator
to silently read the first few lines on the left page.
Immediately, with no fishing, the performer describes what
the person just read.
This is pretty amazing, but the Mentalist is ready for more,
much more. He asks the person to read the first sentence on
the right page. He tells the person to choose any object
from the sentence and form a picture of it in his mind. The
person has more than one choice of objects he could think
of.
The Mentalist proceeds to accurately describe the object the
person is thinking of. He even gives a description of it
(the same image the person has in their mind) even though no
description may exist in the book. Again he does this with
NO FISHING. The spectator is asked what he was thinking of
and it is seen the performer was 100% correct.
Now, for the big finale. The spectator is asked to call out
any word on that line. The sealed envelope is opened and the
other spectator (not the performer) removes the dictionary.
There is note stuck on the dictionary; that note tells which
page number has the circled word on it.
The spectator opens the dictionary to that page (and yes, he
can riffle the dictionary to check that this is the only
circled page) and shows the audience the circled word.
Before the word is read aloud, the Mentalist states wouldn't
it be a marvelous coincidence if the only circled word on
the dictionary was the word just called out by the first
person. The word is read and seen to be the same word just
called out! An unbelievable coincidence.
NO SECRET CUEING
NO FORCE OF THE WORD, ANY WORD CAN BE CALLED FROM THE LINE
NO STOOGES OR INSTANT STOOGES OF ANY KIND SPECTATORS ON
STAGE ARE COMPLETELY FOOLED NO DUPLICATE PAGES IN THE NOVEL
Comes complete with 300 Page Novel, Erasable Board, Marker,
Dictionary and secret gimmick.
"Double Coincidence is the type of quality mentalism that I
used to buy when I first started out. The effect is strong
and the method is clever and surefire. The props are top
notch! I highly recommend Double Coincidence!"
- Richard Osterlind
"Double Coincidence is a sequence of effects artfully
blended into a unique piece of theatre. Many of the
principles employed in this routine have been under explored
or overlooked... until NOW!"
- Paolo Cavalli
"This is a true show stopper! I called Devin and told him
the only 'problem' I have with his book test Double
Coincidence is that it is TOO strong and I won't be able to
follow it with anything I am currently performing!"
- Jerome Finley
MY COMMENTS:
When Devin Knight released his Chess Gambit (based on an Al
Mann idea), I thought it was a really great effect, but it
centered around chess and chess pieces. Now, there's
nothing wrong with the chess theme, but I remembered
thinking that the same principle could probably be applied
to a book test. Well, Devin has done just that and the
clever principle behind Chess Gambit (at least the one
involving finding only one circled passage in the book) is
what makes up the third, and most ingenious, phase. If
you're familiar with Bob Farmer's powerful Deja Voodoo, this
is what this phase most closely resembles, although the
methodology is totally different.
As is the case with most of Devin Knight's work, he provides
various alternative handlings for different situations
within the detailed instructions, which includes photo
illustrations and some very good general observations about
book tests. To perform the effect as described above, you
must have a large audience (probably around 50 at minimum).
There is some pre-show work, although it's not what you
think based on the blurb above. And it takes less than a
minute. Trust me. I don't like doing pre-show work and I'm
comfortable with this technique.
As I said, though, you don't have to do the routine exactly
that way. You can certainly just have the two books sitting
on the table. You can also leave out another subtle bit
which requires you to use a common mentalism gimmick (which
is not included in the package). As I wrote above, Devin
Knight discusses many different variations that you can use
to suit your performing style and venue. And there is
certainly room to add your own touches to this routine.
The two books included in the package are completely
ordinary. One book is "The Hard Road to Gettysburg" and the
other is a dictionary, both in trade paperback size. The
dictionary was selected because the page number is in the
top center and easy to see. Though it is ordinary, the
dictionary has been specially prepared. My only major gripe
here is that Devin Knight should have tipped the method used
to create the red circle in the book. He says it's not
crayon, nor a marker. I'd love to be able to create my own
set of books, especially if these books wear out. On the
other hand, a book about Gettysburg (at least, for those
performing this in the U.S.), will not go out of date
because it's about an important historical event.
Besides the two books, you also get a small whiteboard, a
whiteboard marker, something to make the effect work (which
can be found in any office supply store), and the 30-page
instruction manual (8.5." x 11", stapled). Like the
Wizard's Manual from Docc Hilford, this is very powerful.
It's one of the strongest routines that I've seen produced
from Devin Knight.
*********
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