20081026

October 26, 2008

Here's what's in this edition of
Jheff's Marketplace of the Mind Newsletter

   *** WORD WORK, VOLUME II - Alain Nu
   *** HANDS OF TIME - Greg Arce
   *** VEGAS MENTALITY - Kevin Burke
   *** SCRATCH & GRIN - Andrew Gerard

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 the website. All of the recent past newsletters are
archived there.

*********

No, you did not miss a newsletter. After I started
preparing the next issue, I got sidetracked with stuff I
wanted to do for Mindvention. (I'll talk about that below.)
And then I got some new material from Greg Arce and Alain Nu
and I always fast-track the Friends of the Marketplace's
stuff. And this is stuff you don't want to miss.

Now, as to Mindvention. I've just gotten word that there are
going to be some very big names in the world of mentalism
dropping by. I'm not at liberty to say who just yet as
these folks are only attendees. However, as a hint, let's
just say that some of these well-known performers will be
involved with Luke Jermay's Master Mentalism class which is
held the few days before Mindvention and others will be
involved with Jeff McBride's mentalism workshop after
Mindvention.

Also, if any readers are going to Mindvention and would like
me to bring some stuff for you (so you can save on
shipping), I'll not only bring them for you, but there will
be a special deal on any special orders to be picked up at
Mindvention. There'll be more details in the next
newsletter, but let me know what you want. I need to know
no later than this weekend (Nov. 2)

Oh, yeah, and there is a big new announcement regarding a
just added lecturer to Mindvention that I CAN tell you
about. See below . . .

Now, let me get back to the topic of the newsletter that
this should have been. The next newsletter definitely will
feature Paul Hallas' Magic from the Overground, the Howard
Adams books, the Tommy Pad, and Hiro Sakai's Recipe. It'll
be in your e-mail box Tuesday. If you can't wait for my
comments on these and some other products which I've
recently added, visit the website.

**** PRODUCT UPDATES
Other new items that will be discussed in upcoming
newsletters and/or added soon to my catalog are Jay Sankey's
SANKEY'S BEST MENTALISM, Juan Tamariz' VERBAL MAGIC, Wayne
Fox's THOUGHT PROCESS and FULL HOUSE, Craig Dickson's CUT TO
THE CHASE, Thom Bleasdale's TOMMY PAD, Hiro Sakai's RECIPE,
Howard Adams OICUFESP and MINDESPA, Tony Eye's THE WRITE
STUFF, Paul Hallas' MAGIC FROM THE OVERGROUND, Aldo
Colombini's TRI-COLOR DIVINATION, Menny Lindenfeld's PSYCHIC
CREDIT CARD, three from Dave Powell (HAUNTED HAND, INVISIBLE
CARD PUNCH, MICROWRITER), Sean Field's EXPLICIT FOOTAGE:
TOME and EXPLICIT FOOTAGE: BENZ, John Sheets' NAILED IT,
Haim Goldenberg's INSIDE THOUGHTS and MY PRECIOUS, and a
bunch of cool stuff from Craig Browning. Some of this stuff
is already on the website with comments. Some of this stuff
I will not catalog.

**** MINDVENTION
Don't forget that November 9-11 is the 2008 Mindvention at
the Palace Station in Las Vegas. Luke Jermay, Marc
Spelmann, Docc Hilford, Christopher Taylor, Paul Vigil, Mark
Strivings, Lior Manor, Rick Maue, Paul Draper, and some guy
who uses his first, deliberately-misspelled first name to
impress people. (Yeah, that's me, of course). And Marc
Salem has just been added to the lineup and he'll be doing
a lecture entitled, "Why I Don't Lecture for Mentalists and
Magicians." It's still not to late to make reservations and
join in the fun. If you're interested, here's the link.
http://www.mindvention.com

***** JOURNAL OF THE MIND 2008 SUBSCRIPTION AVAILABLE NOW!
The new issue of Jheff's Journal of the Mind spotlights
BRYN REYNOLDS, a highly regarded part-time pro who's
produced some very fine material. To get this issue, you
need to subscribe to the Journal of the Mind.

For $47 you get a subscription to the 2008 issues of Jheff's
Journal of the Mind, an all-new e-zine for mentalists.
Plus, you get an additional 5% discount off merchandise from
the Marketplace of the Mind, and many other very cool
features. If you want a taste of what you get, 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.

Recent additions include:

Bob Cassidy's 21ST CENTURY Q&A - A brilliant Q&A routine
combining classic ideas and principles in mentalism.
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/21st_Century_QA.html

Bob Cassidy's THE MAG-EYE MOVE - Bob's brilliant take on
a classic peek move.
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Mag_Eye_Move.html

Ron Martin's PALM READER'S NOTEBOOK - The classic is back
and updated with plenty of impressive extras.
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Palm_Readers_Notebook.html

Dr. Bill's FOURCE - A clever new updating of a classic
force!
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Fource.html

Kenton Knepper's THE GUIDE - Anyone can hypnotize their
audiences with this new tool from the creator of Wonder
Words!
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Guide.html

Jerome Finley's THOUGHT CHANNEL - An incredible new version
of a classic effect that uses no gimmicks and appears like
real minding!
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Thought_Channel.html

Jerome Finley's THOUGHT CHANNEL 2.0
The sequel to one of the most incredible routines to come
out in decades, this manuscript has a no-gimmick version of
pseudo-psychometry that is a must-have for serious
mentalists.
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Thought_Channel_2.html

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

*********
ALAIN NU
WORD WORK 2
Suggested Retail Price: $45
Available at:
http://www.shopofsecrets.com

THE BLURB:
This latest release reveals several original methods,
focusing specifically on Alain Nu’s favorite impromptu work
on this subject. Learning these techniques will enable you
to perform a powerful arsenal of book test effects under the
most challenging conditions.

Spectators can now literally approach you with their own
book, magazine or newspaper, and yet you will still be able
to meet their challenge by presenting one of several
word-test effects, with no extra preparation.

In 1994, Alain discreetly published a treatment of impromptu
book test ideas, some of which have since become well
sought-after underground classics. These have been kept
“under the radar” from the magic mainstream, but now
exclusively under his new Shop Of Secrets banner, Nu has
released his most updated work on all this, most of which
has never been published before.

Most gimmicked book tests sold on the market are costly—
here Alain Nu provides you with enough information to
perform amazing/word test presentations with anyone’s
borrowed book for far less than usual price. Like all
powerful mystery demonstrations, the material learned in
these instructions will take some practice and rehearsal in
order to do well, but it is clear that the benefits here
outweigh the cons.

Highlights include:

1) Ten thought-provoking principle guidelines and
philosophical stances that may make you reconsider your
style of performing book tests altogether.

2) Seven different “complete effects” that explore impromptu
book test / word test possibilities. The integrity of each
is able to stand alone as its own separate presentation.

3) A wide range of unusual methods explored, from using
subtle physical blocking and audience control techniques, to
easy, yet diabolical, principle-based equations.

4) Very detailed explanations along with clear photographs,
making it extremely easy to understand each motivation for
each principle taught.

5) The seventh effect is a “bonus effect” by Alain’s close
friend, Professor Kevin Dunn, which involves poetry. It is
one of Alain’s favorite “performance art” mentalism
routines.

This may be Nu’s LAST manuscript for a good while, as the
direction of his focus seems to be changing once again.

MY COMMENTS:
Frankly, if you have the first volume, you really don't need
me to convince you to get the second part of this series.
You may already have purchased this already. And if you
don't have the first volume, and this one interests you,
you'll want to order both at the same time.

The first volume of this series focuses on Alain's work with
prepared, ordinary books. This 36 page, 8.5" x 11" volume
focuses on his legendary handlings with unprepared books.
There are some great techniques to use impromptu in the
first section. My favorite section is entitled "Parties
Over," which is Alain's ingenious take on a Leo Boudreau
idea and is similar to effects developed by Ty Kralin and
Richard Mark. It involves simply taking any book, calling
out certain interesting words within that book, having the
participant think of one of those words, and revealing that
thought-of word. Nothing's written down. The bonus effect
by Kevin Dunn is a beautiful extension of this idea.

It certainly isn't necessary to get the first volume in
order to get this, but it is highly recommended to do so.
Alain does review his ten basic principles of how book tests
should be handled in the beginning of the book. But this
second volume is like the second half to one set. And, as I
said, above if you have already have the first volume, I'm
sure you'll order this one within seconds of finishing what
I say, if you haven't already. As with the first volume,
this is highly recommended, unless, of course, you're
allergic to book tests of any kind.

*********
GREG ARCE
HANDS OF TIME
Suggested Retail Price: $15
Available by Paypal:
http://www.Paypal.com
Send payment to greg@wizmicro.com

THE BLURB:
(There is no sales blurb at the time of this writing.)

PLEASE NOTE: To order, use the Paypal link and make sure you
put your name and address in the comments box.

MY COMMENTS:
This is a 21-page e-book that contains three effects. The
first effect, which is the title effect, involves asking a
participant to think of a time that you've predicted. The
participants writes nothing, nor chooses from a selection of
times. The mentalist simply asks for a time, the
participant give it, and the prediction matches. The
methodology here is not new, but Greg adds some wonderful
finesses to this that make it a beautiful and powerful
effect.

The second effect, Sus-Pen-Dulum, is a totally non-gaffed
psychokinetic pen that happens in a participant's hands. In
other hands, a non-gimmicked pen held in the participant's
hands will drop on command. The third effect is Citrus
Blister and it's a diabolical version of Jack Kent Tillar's
famous Blister effect that unfortunately didn't make it into
Jack's The Blister Book. As usual for Greg, he has
underpriced this slim volume of effects and given the
mentalism community a bargain. I recommend you grab it
before he realizes his error and charges much more.

THE BLURB:
(There is no sales blurb at the time of this writing.)

PLEASE NOTE: To order, use the Paypal link and make sure you
put your name and address in the comments box.

*********
KEVIN BURKE
VEGAS MENTALITY
JMOM Price: $23
Suggested Retail Price: $25

THE BLURB:
Display a sealed prediction, and set it aside.
YOU NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN!

Show a rainbow deck made of canceled casino cards from
dozens of actual Las Vegas casinos. Fan the faces toward the
spectator and allow them to choose any card they see-say the
Nine of Hearts.

When the spectator opens the prediction, it is found to
precisely match the casino depicted on the back of the
chosen card!

A follow-up effect may be performed with a different result.

"I did it on TV, and it KILLED!"
– Mac King

"It's the Jekyll AND Hyde of card predictions."
– David Parr, Author of Brain Food and The Magic Mirror

Comes complete with deck and instructions.

MY COMMENTS:
Imagine a Pop-Eyed Popper deck using casino cards and that's
what this is. What makes this different is the use of the
casino cards. Along with being able to predict the name of
the card, you can turn the deck over and predict the name of
the casino that's on the back of the card. This package
comes polybagged with the special deck of cards and one
folded sheet of instructions. I think that even those who
don't like doing playing card effects in mentalism will
acknowledge that using a deck like this makes perfect sense
for a mentalism routine. I don't think I need to say that
this deck is not limited to just the basic use that's
mentioned in the blurb. With a bit of creativity, this
well-thought out product can be a wonderful utility deck for
mentalists (and, okay, magicians, too).