I have had the privilege of having a peek couple of months back at what now is The Crusade.

As many, I have been a happy customer with Atlas's offerings and he is a creative performer who is meticulous in his releases.

I am not sure if Atlas and Andrew had new ideas to throw in The Crusade since I last read it, but what I read can be summed up as follows:

"a clean routine in which everything makes sense"

I loved Atlas's justification of the title which to me is the main power of this routine. What I really loved is that this routine gives ACAAN a nice frame of reference. I really like this routine and trust me when I say, Atlas has a gift with routining and structure. To me, the effect in itself is a lesson in routining and scripting. To some, this is a bonus; to others, that is the real crusade!

I understand that I am doing nothing more than hyping this effect further, but I think this effect is worth it. Feel free to take my thoughts and words with a grain of salt. Hopefully future purchasers will chime in with their reviews. I will finally say that this routine is workable in the real world!

Congratulations Atlas and Andrew. I am looking forward to the official release of The Crusade.

I too have been lucky enough to have a preview of this and I love it. The deck can be borrowed and shuffled, the card and the number are merely thought of and never spoken or written down. In fact you neither know the number or the card untill the spectator has dealt to their number and the card is revealed. There is some procedure to get the card and number selected but it is all completely justified and completely fair. The great thing is the mechanics are very easy, no memory work or mathematics, in fact it's almost self working allowing you to focus entirely on presentation.

The manuscript is very well written as you would expect if you are familiar with Atlas' other books. A lot of time is spent on the presentation and scripting explaining the thinking behind each step. There is far more one can learn from this manuscript than just the effect within its pages. This will certainly be my ACAAN of choice from here on.

Mark

Thanks everyone for your excitement and sharing your thoughts on 'The Crusade'!

Tony, to answer your question - I think that in some respects, this book does for the ACAAN plot what 'The Prodigal' did for BAs. There seem to be a lot of people out there (mind readers especially) who don't like the plot. I think this book will change that for many of them.

Ash, thanks for your review - I am so glad that you were one of the first to explore this effect with us. Your feedback has always been helpful and concise, the readers here owe a good deal of thanks to you as well.

Mark, I'm pleased that you liked the draft - I'd love to hear your experience in performing this. And I completely understand where you are coming from when you say it is your ACAAN of choice now. It is such a comfortable fit for what I do that I feel that way too.

Thanks to those of you who have read the draft and given Andrew and me feedback over the last six months. Your help has been extremely appreciated! And while he hasn't chimed in yet on this thread, I'd like to especially thank Greg Arce. With each of my releases to date, he has been kind enough to share his time and his thoughts with me and this was no exception. I was very pleased when he told me that he'd tried this several times and that it "Plays very well."

In fact, I think the full quote is that it "Plays strong and is very easy to do. A real winner. Congrats!!!"

So, anyway, we appreciate all the excitement surrounding this particular release. I've still got a load of notes to write up regarding additional presentations, and then it will go through a few more proof drafts and we will be done. So, to all those who have read it and enjoyed it - there are still a few more ideas up our sleeves!

Best,

Atlas

Any video coming?

I fit the profile when it comes to not getting excited over the ACAAN plot. So many more entertaining presentations than that. However, I really like the writing style here Atlas. Maybe this one will change my mind. The concept of the storyline does intrege me. Looking forward to the release. Being an older member here, I hope there isn't too much mental gymnastics involved.

Having read previous works from Atlas, and from the extract posted above, I have to say Thatvhis work is great to read.
Not just for great methods and presentations, which they are, but a real joy to read.

I look forward to seeing what he has done with this popular plot.
If its a s good as his work on BAs then it is sure to be a winner.

Steve

You hit the nail on the head Steve, I really did enjoy reading the extract. I'll be buying on that alone

Aukt - I will check with Atlas but the last time we discussed the question of a demonstration video are decision was that there would not be one . This is consistent with his previous releases .

Andy

Takeachance there are no mental gymnastics involved whatsoever, neither maths or memory work. Method wise you will be hard pushed to find an easier version of this effect. The method allows you to put all your energy into the presentation.

Mark

That's definately sold it to me. Appreciate the info Mark

Neil

Thank you Mark for answering the question on the mental gymnastics point before I had time to .

Great to read the effect met your expectations and suits your needs

Andy

Hi Nique, I don't know how I missed you earlier on! Thanks for your very kind words!

And thanks Steve - it is very kind of you to say that my books are actually enjoyable reads rather than just instruction manuals. I try to make them pleasant to read.

Now Takeachance, as Mark and Andrew have asserted, there isn't any complicated anything going on. The whole thing is very straightforward. However, having said that, there is an alternative presentation that I call "The Hustle" that is offered that employs some very simple arithmetic (should you choose to use it), but it is a far cry from being difficult or requiring you to think on your feet. You have plenty of time to undertake the one subtraction equation that is required.

And I want to reiterate that there is NO math in the base routine. You can perform the entire effect with ease. The variations are just there to add flavour, should you decide to experiment with them - in fact, there is one variation that takes place entirely in the hands of the participants should you choose to use it. Another doesn't even involve playing cards (for those who are averse to using them within their set).

I hope that helps answer your questions.

Best,

Atlas

Hey guys,

Just my two cents worth.

This routine is a worker.

There is a small procedure, but your presentation covers everything, and your spectators will not have a clue about anything.

this ACAAN is very clean since the card and number are never named out loud, written, or whispered. everything that Atlas put in the ad copy is true.

another ACAAN to add to the books.

I currently perform Asi Winds version, as well as John Borns version, both great, and both have their drawbacks, but the cleanliness of The Crusade is great since a number and card are never named.

How beautiful!

This will be a worker for me.

Thanks Atlas for bringing this out with Andrew.

Great thinking by the way.

Guys, this will be worth at least $30, so go and get one when its out.

I don't endorse any products, but this is really good.

you wont be sorry.

alex

Just a single question, is it easy to do a reverse engineering?
If a magician looks the effect realizes easily the secret?

Entermagic the answer to that question would probably depend on the presentational skill of the performer and the knowledge of the magician watching. Hard to say as I never saw it performed before learning the method but my gut tells me that had Atlas performed this on me his routining and scripting is so good and everything is so well justified I think it would have blown me away.

If I were to perform this before working to hone my presentation to an acceptable level then a knowledgable magician may well be able to reverse engineer the effect. Of course I would say that is true for 99% of the effects I perform. But then my need to fool magicians faded away the moment I started working as a pro. Since then my priority is how the effect plays to laymen.

Mark

Hello Entermagic .

As Mark has already mentioned your question is subjective based upon the knowledge of the magician . To explain via an example , if you are not aware of the Gilbreath principle then an affect using it you can not be simply reversed by watching the effect played out but if you know the principle then whilst your eyes cannot see how the effect is achieved you understand the method behind it .

Crusade follows the same approach .

From a spectator's view point, the effect has been given to numerous performers to road test and as far as I am aware and Atlas can correct me if I am mistaken , no spectator or audience has had an inkling as to the method . More importantly the scripting is designed to to leave the question in the spectators minds...how did he know the thought of number and thought of card , rather than , how did he do it.

Hope this answers your question

Andy

I ask this because often happens that I purchase an effect and immediately I am disappointed because inside the effect description there was a missing part and this part is easy to back track
on the secret also for the audience. Currently I have a method to perform Any Thought of Card at Any Thought of Number (nothing is written down no pre-show stooges or any pre-work of any kind,
there is no force and you don't know card and number until the spectator reveals his card after the counting part, you never touch the cards )
Just a spectator thinks of a number and another one thinks of a card and without you touches the cards, the card will be there. This effect fool also the magician, obvious it has a drawback.
This drawback sometimes makes me to change the entire routine. For the spectator's viewpoint they will see 99% of time an impossible ACAAN 1% of the case another good effect.
The effect is almost selfworking with a borrowed untouched shuffled deck.

Now I'm very curious to see if there is another version where this drawback is not present and it is hard to back track on the secret.

I have seen a lot of ACAAN, but almost everthing have a big weakness or I'm very disappointed because inside the description there is not a full description of the effect.

By the way, I look forward to see what Atlas created

Entermagic if you have a method where a borrowed shuffled deck is used, a spectator merely thinks of a card another merely thinks of a number and you never touch the deck but when the spectator deals down to their thought of number they land on the other spectators thought of card 99% of the time without you touching the deck then I doubt that this version is going to beat your method (assuming that inside your description there wasn't a missing part).

However the method is in many ways the least important part of this manuscript, the scripting and presentation is the real jewel. Atlas and Andy have lifted the plot from puzzle/coincidence into an entertaining demonstration of mentalism. Every action is fully justified and designed to make everything fair and above board. I have only performed this twice for laymen but both times it has been received far better than my standard ACAAN routine.

What I will say is if you are looking for a magician fooling exact copy of the Berglas effect with a revolutionary method then this isn't necessarily going to fit the bill. If you are looking for a new take on this effect that is tailor made for mentalists, very well structured and scripted and plays very well for laymen with a method that allows you to focus entirely on your presentation then look no further.

Call me crazy as I'm going through a divorce, have just been hit with a large dental bill after swallowing a tooth crown (I swallowed a tooth ...... that's going to come back and bite me on the bum) and to add insult to injury the water company have just hit me with a £540 quid bill to reroute my water supply because there is a leak under a neighbours house that they can't repair so we are all having to pay for new pipe work. Despite all that, because I received The Crusade for free, if your needs fall into the latter category rather than magician fooler and you don't think that The Crusade is worth the money that you are charged for it, I will personally refund you.

That's the highest recommendation I can give, I received this for free and because I genuinely believe it is worth every penny of what Atlas/Andy will be charging for it I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. Note this is a one time, one person offer, I don't want to be inundated with people asking me to pay for their copy of The Crusade. I have no vested interest in this project and am not connected to it in any way shape or form beyond being very impressed with the manuscript that Atlas was kind enough to send me to evaluate.

If my current girlfriend finds out I'm offering to give away money that I haven't got I'll be into a second divorce before I've even got the first one finalised lol.

Mark

Wow. What an offer Mark!

I'm pleased that we have inspired all that confidence with a draft version of the effect as well! Without all the extra little bits at the end!

Though, I am confident that the offer is one that will never need to be exercised. Mark has a point - it is all about what you are looking for. I touched on it earlier in the thread, but the ACAAN seems to be an effect that people either like or dislike based upon the specific criteria that they are searching for. I'm pretty confident that this is an approach that every mind reader will both enjoy and employ.

I should also note that it really isn't all that easy to figure out - if you are looking for a magician fooler, there is a handling that introduces another piece of misdirection that will deceive most of them. I ran through this with someone who ought to have been able to work it out, and they were lost...and then insisted that I show it to a few of their guests an hour or two later. As Mark consistently asserts, the presentation goes a long way to making this indecipherable.

I will also reiterate (as this requirement was specifically mentioned above) that in the section at the end, one of the additional presentations is one in which the presenter never touches the cards.

I hope that helps to clarify things further. As always, I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Best,

Atlas

Okay, after reading this entire thread, for now only one question for you Atlas.

Will I be allowed to perform this on TV?

Nuff said, as a mentalist, this looks like the best ACAAN I've read about. (prematurely of course).