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Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
My review for MindPlay
MindPlay: I have been highly awaiting MindPlay since I had first heard about it, though I had nothing more to go on than a couple of recommendations and some very vague information. This routine has been safely guarded and kept on the hush, with only some highly renowned performers being let in on it. It has recieved some glowing comments and recommendations from those in the know, such as from Joshua Jay, Peter Duffie, Joel Givens and Jon Racherbaumer. So is the praise well deserved? Well the wait is finally over and MindPlay has been released. MindPlay is a limited release of 250 signed copies Performer/creator- Christopher Williams Format- A4 Booklet Available- Direct from Christopher Williams, contact him on either chris@magicman13.co.uk or chudsblainejnr13@hotmail.com, or alternatively shoot him a PM The Booklet: I want to start by giving my opinion about the booklet itself. The booklet is A4 in size and is made up of spiral bound high quality paper, with some great cover work. There are balck and white + colour photos within, and everything is clear and well written. From what I understand, this has all come at a cost to Christopher Williams, and I must say that everything was worth it and he did a great job. The effct/routine: This is a Thought of card, poker themed routine with a magic/mentalism twist and a kicker ending. No knowledge of poker is needed on the part of the specs, and this can play to 4-5 participants. I can't go into specifics as that would be disrespectful to the creator as he would like this to stay between those who purchase it and himself, and I can understand why. It's always good to have a poker themed effect/routine at this time as it's something that has become very widespread and popular, meaning people can relate to it and be more involved. Not only that, but effects that happen in the mind of the participants are always strong, and so this has that going for it aswell, which also means even if those your performing for have absolutely no clue about poker, they will still be able to get totally involved in your performance and enjoy being apart of it. I can't really add anything to this, I know you still don't know the actual happenings in the effect, but you know that it consists of thought of cards and has a poker theme, which will hopefully let you know if this will be of interest to you and something you can use. The Teaching: Everything is very well written and explained and, along with the pictures, means that anybody can learn this. Everything is thoroughly covered and you are left with no questions. Excellent. The Good: Involves multiple participants meaning more interactivity with them Basically self-working Appeal to fans of poker (which there is a lot) Appeal to those who like magic of the mind Nothing written down No fishing Can be performed walk around/table hopping, stage, on the streets, basically anywhere There's no way a spec will be able to backtrack this The Bad- There really is nothing I can find that's a negative with this, I really can't, it's just that good. Oh wait, there is one... those who don't get this while they can never will (this is a plus for me, but a bad thing for those who don't take the chance while they can) Difficulty: Well it's basically self-working meaning you can concentrate on the performance and really playing up the effect. Basically if you get this, you'll be able to perform this. Extras: Christopher Williams teaches his false injog shuffle Plus you get extra ideas and performance tips Overall: All truth be told I feel this is one of the greatest effects ever, I absolutely love it. The routining is exceptional and the effect has been honed to perfection. This is definitely made for the real world and will be something that you'll really use. If you want an incredibly clean, open for presentation, powerful real world routine then this is it. Fantastic. Final note: Please don't think I'm just hyping Christopher Williams effects, I don't know him personally and have never met him, I got this purely on trust from his previous releases and the help ive recieved from him with other effects, that and his posts here on the Café. I realise ive written great reviews for both Impervious (my opinion best CIB) and Thought of Cards Across Project (best handling of that plot taking into account it's totally impromptu etc), but I truly think they deserve the praise I was giving them, as does this. He is obviously a fantastic creator and is on a roll at the moment with all these great releases. I hope you take my review seriously as MindPlay is truly deserving of all that ive said. |
Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
WOW! Thanks again for another fabulous review, glad you like my Magic! Especially this release!
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caigy Inner circle England 1199 Posts |
Well what can I say that Y2John hasn't already said.
I received mine at 8.30 this morning and was performing it to gasps of astonishment by noon. Having performed magic for over 15 years, I have always avoided card magic, due to having two left hands and always falling foul of Sir Isacc Newton's theory of gravity. About eight months ago I purchased Aldo Colombini's Impromptu Card Magic DVD and am slowly but surely becoming hooked. After reading a preview of 'Mindplay' here on the Café, I decided to PM Christopher Williams to explain my limited card handling skills and to ask him if his forthcoming effect would be achievable with just the basics. What a helpful guy he is, not just with regards to his honesty concerning his own effect but encouraging and enthusiastic about the whole art of Magic in general. This routine is not only basically self working, it is also very baffling, has a nice rhythm and pace to it, with a great kicker ending. I also have never met the creator of 'Mindplay' but would encourage anyone to take note of the positive comments from the likes of Peter Duffie and Joshua Jay and get this one whilst it is still available. Paul Mc.
Exclusive Worldwide Producer and Supplier of the Grismer Lock.
Top Class, Individually Crafted Performance Pieces, For The Discerning Psychological Entertainer www.psychicmentality.com |
jonxodus Veteran user San Diego, CA 320 Posts |
Cant wait to receive mine as well, although mine has not shipped yet as far as I know=(
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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Yours went out today Jon, thanks again!
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Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
To those who are interested in this but are unsure due to the secrecy of how the effect plays out, the cost or the fact you already do a poker style routine.
Ive spent a lot more money on things ive never used, and this is something you WILL use. I know you'd be taking a risk as you don't really know the effect, but those who do will be rewarded. Also where some releases are limited to get quick sales etc, this is limited because it really is too good to become widespread. Im also basically 100% positve MindPlay can co-exist with any of your current poker themed routines. |
Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
So anyone else purchase/recieve this?
Im looking forward to seeing others views. |
samdan Special user 519 Posts |
I just ordered it and can't wait for it to arrive. I love card tricks that don't involve sleights. As a hobbyist doing magic for friends and family, using an ordinary deck of cards and doing great tricks gets the best reactions b/c they seem impossible.
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Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
I think you'll gonna love this, it's extremely clever and is a great routine.
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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Thanks guys so far for the great feedback, I am proud that everyone who has bought this has loved it. There are lots of people who have emailed me and told me how much they liked it, but I won't repost here as it could seem like I made it up, so I will wait for them to post if they want. There is now a button on my site to pay for it, took a while to get it up, but there are no payment buttons up!!!!!
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Jaybs Special user 560 Posts |
I received Mindplay yesterday and Y2John’s review was dead on. I admit, I was hesitant at first to order this since there really wasn’t a clear description of the effect. However, after reading the compliments it received from working pros like Joshua Jay and John Bannon, I decided to take the plunge; boy was it worth it!
This presentation of the effect does revolve around a poker theme, but the good thing is that your audience doesn’t have to know much about poker to understand it. The booklet is very well written which makes for easy reading/understanding. There are also pictures included to assist the reader. The effect is structured nicely and is easy to follow. Mindplay is not technically demanding which allows the magician to concentrate on the presentation. It can be done impromptu, which Chris briefly goes over in the booklet. There are no gaffed cards, and everything can be examined at the end. There are no angles to worry about, and I really can’t imagine spectators being able to reconstruct the workings of Mindplay. Overall, I’m really glad that I was fortunate enough to get one of the 250 copies of Mindplay. Hopefully, Chris never decides to reprint more than the original 250 because I don’t want too many magicians performing this (Aren’t I selfish?). I'm excited to try this out at my next gig, once I’m happy with my presentation. I’ll let you all know how it plays out. You can order Mindplay for £25.00 at http://www.magicman13.co.uk/. Thanks Chris for sharing this gem with the magic community! |
Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
What exactly is the effect?
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
Yay another review
I hope it stays as 250 also |
Waters Inner circle 2508 Posts |
I don't know what to say....
I got this today (and read it a few times thorough) and it's utterly brilliant. It has a zen-like simplicity with a powerful punch. All I can add is: "buy it while you can". I genuinely hope Christopher does not release this in any other form, it's really that good. An aside: I perform almost exclusively mentalism and a "casino-night" style show (with sleight of hand and some effects regarding "tells" and "body language"). This is a perfect fit. It really is so good it may have to be a "closer". This can be played as magic, psychological influence or a demonstration of "tells", but it will always end with an exclamation point! Great work Christopher! The praise is well deserved for this simple, but astounding leap forward. I wish you the best. With Regards, Sean |
Johnny4781 New user 33 Posts |
Hi guys, I recently posted my auction for MindPlay on eBay. I must be honest, I simply never got around to even getting into it... we've had several health issues in my family, 2 deaths & my own prostate cancer... magic has been taking a back seat in my life & I'm getting rid of things I either never got around to looking at & things that just aren't "me"... so I'm listing a lot of stuff on eBay, including MindPlay. If you're interested, here's the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie......15391444 Thanks for reading! Johnny |
Andi Peters Inner circle 1330 Posts |
I think the poker hand ending spoils the effect. It's much stronger as pure mind reading imho.
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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-05-17 13:22, Johnny4781 wrote: Sorry it wasn't something you had time to get through Johnny, and sorry to hear about the family aggrievances! This is still one of my favourite effects to perform, and am glad of all the high praise it always received. I realise some people were not too keen on the price, but it is a routine I have performed many many times over the years, and is the first project where I was in control of everything. It was a lot of time in writing, editing, photos, cover design etc. I also paid for all printing and putting it together professionally, on high quality print stock. Also put into consideration was the fact it is a full fledged professional card routine from my reportoire that was also show cased for the Grosvenor Casino 2008 UK poker tour! If anyone has any queries, please don't hesitate to get in contact either via PM or email chris@magicman13.co.uk and I will only be too happy to help Many thanks Chris |
Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-05-17 13:24, Andi Peters wrote: Interesting...but thanks for sharing your opinion. I have found it is this which is the fooler! As the spectators believe they have handled everything, and shuffled everything etc. That being said, you don't have to show it if you don't want Thanks |
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