Hi guys,

A friend of mine who goes by the name of Captain Howdy has just finished writing his ebook "Lugenspiel". Lugenspiel allows you to find an object hidden in the audience without the use of a thumper and without the help of an assistant.

Captain Howdy is not a member of the Café, so he asked me to spread the news that he's giving away three free copies to the first three people who drop him a message at captain.howdy@gmx.de

Regards
Florian

Sometimes routines and methods „hit“ you at the right moment.

In my new program there will be a sequence in which I find an object with a pendulum. This will be realized primarily by electronics, a Thumper and with the support of an assistant.
But: What if the electronics don’t work ore there is no helper with you?

I looked for a solution on which I can fall back if necessary. Now yesterday this solution has found me.

In "The Lugenspiel" Captain Howdy describes a brilliant principle with which a object that is hidden in a room or in the audience can be found. You can also find a spectator that is only mentally chosen, only thought of.

The principle allows that one himself can play with it and adapt existing plots. To me some ideas have immediately come while reading the script. Here, unfortunately, I cannot come closer on the method (besides, one must learn nothing, no complicated list or anagramms), because it is basically so simple that you could bang yourself on the forehead because you did not had the idea by yourself.

Purchase absolutely recommend! Great new ploy!

http://www.e-junkie.com/captainhowdy/pro......genspiel

My review will be posted over the weekend

Ok, here's my initial thoughts...

got a freebie, don't work the stage (daaaaaaarling!)...

after the first read through I was a little confused, this was mostly down to me not quite following the concept though...the written english is fine overall and I quite liked his turn of phrase and names used...

anyway - what does it look like?
a man on stage supposedly using CMR or mind/body connection with someone on stage with him, pointing out towards the audience - this is to find a bank note a person sealed inside an envelope...at the same time, the performer is asking questions about a time of day the person is thinking of...the envelope is found (or rather, the person who has the envelope about their person is found) and everything is correct (the time thought of, and if you want, to name the serial number of the note too)...

no stooges, iggy, ins**nt or otherwise...and the routine doesn't use CMR at all...

the thinking is a mixture of old school techniques mixed in with a slightly newer technique (but nothing fancy, no DR, everything is old school at its root)...

you also get a few other examples of how to perform it in different environments...

in my opinion:
there's not enough info as to the whole timing of the routine, or how the dirty work fits within it...its just mentioned what to do, but not when to do it...i think that's important as it helps build the structure of the routine properly...i think if you give an example routine with scripting (like this does) it needs it.

Overall, once I got my head around it, it seems very clever and workable, obviously I've not had chance to test it out in my environments yet...i think it would be better off being slightly expanded, more clear cut and maybe with a couple more examples of how to use it in different settings. And a couple of photos for one of the items that is described in the ebook that you have to make (if you want to do the serial number thing).

So, kinda interesting for sure - certainly not rubbish... for me, it needs more bullet points and step by step instructions to help it along. And maybe explain the workings first before the script, as that will help the reader to understand the entire process. I think if I bought it, I'd be happy enough with it, but again, I don't do stage work so I can only imagine how it would play out - so unfair of me to comment further on it. You could certainly do this at house parties, at tables with objects, its certainly open ended enough. Price? if I had paid £12 or so, I'd have no complaints. If I was purely a social performer and had no intention of wanting to gig at any point, I would probably say spend your money on something else - not because I think this is bad, far from it - its just I can imagine certain people whinging after reading it

its good, it didn't set my tail on fire or anything, I think if I had any control over it - I'd maybe share the mixture of methods with a couple of people and ask for contributions and make it into a nice little booklet instead, with a range of settings and presentational ideas.

summary:
its a weird mix of CMR, truth/liar and a little Kreskin-esque around the edges. Its good, and in my opinion should probably be expanded upon. I'm pleased to have read it and will work on a presentation myself, if it gets anywhere useful and workable, I'll drop captain howdy a line and he can mock it ruthlessly!

Hi Iain,
I agree. I think the principle is pretty clever and versatile but the ebook is a little vague at some points.
I just talked to Howdy about this and he said he will rework the entire ebook to include more details and make it easier to understand.

Florian

Hi all,
I have read it all and I have to say that IAIN has just told quite everything.

The idea is not new but I like the way it has been developed... with a little effort it could be a huge base to develop other routines because while you have understand the principle, which is very easy, you can apply it to a lot of different use... from stage to close-up.

Considering what has come out in the last time, the price of this piece of magic is align to the price of similar products.

I like it a lot... and I would like to suggest it to everyone because with a little of immagination it could be adapted to a whole world of new effects.

I hope this could help.

Hi guys,

its me, nico haupt, the guy that wrote the lugenspiel. it was not able to stay anonym so... to communicate in a proper way I just say hello.

the reviews that I got from people (via mail) where good in the way, that the principle and the routines are cool and clever! but the booklet did't describe it well. the principle is good enough to use it as a pro (i am a pro) so I reworked the book, included pictures, deeper descriptions... I only want to release quality stuff, stuff that I really use and in the future I will kick out some review copies before I launch a product. so excuse me.

i added a great bonus routine where you play a wich hand completely propless and 100% correct with your spectator.

the other guys that purchased the first version of it will off cause get a free update.

feel free to leave some comment!

and from marc paul, because there are some similarities to a routine he came up with: "... but you have also moved it forward and added other ideas of your own so I’m very happy for you to publish your PDF!"

have a nice day and stay tuned for more to come.

If you like Marc Paul's works, you will love this!

Will also be posting a thorough review when I have moment to read through this.

Hi there. I´ve read the Booklet yesterday because it was advised to me by a colleague. I am not into mentalism, but for a while now I´ve been looking for one strong mentalism effect for my show. The effect needed to be accomplished by CMR, because I used to study psychology, which I mention in my show, and that way I could make this pseudo method seem plausible.

So I bought the booklet and I have to say that I like it a lot. It´s nicely written. I like the authors sense of humor and his way of explaining things. I could understand the method easily even though I have little knowledge about mentalism. It is easy to perform but it plays very big in front of the audience. I´ll give a try. Nicely done Captan Howdy (appreciate the reference by the way)!

So, I've had a read through and some time to think about it.

The method will work, certainly. As long as you are clear with your instructions with the volunteer. It will allow you to, pretty sure fire, deliver what seems to be a muscle reading demonstration. The book is clear enough - I understand how it works and how to do the routine and I'm sure, after reading the instructions, I could do it.

My only real hang up is why?

What I see in this book is someone taking a straight forward thing (Muscle Reading), and complicating it by adding in unrelated elements (The divination of the thought of information). However, I could see this working out theatrically - it does add some extra elements to the concept of muscle reading, and extends the amount of time the demonstration would take otherwise. As long as everything was explained clearly and everyone was following along properly.

However, I do not know if this is something I feel is a valuable addition to the concept of muscle reading. CMR is pure mind reading - literally. While effective and possibly theatrically valuable, I don't know if I would ever use this concept.

I don't really see this as a demonstration of muscle reading. It's more about reading body language and detecting lies.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the which hand routine yet. I think it's pretty darn clever!
But then again... I'm a friend of Howdy so don't believe a thing I say ;-)

Somehow the people don't get it. the muscle reading routine is just an example. in the book you will find different applications for the principle. amongst other things the best which hand routine - hands down.

i should have release this routine alone maybe. anyway...

Nico and runeflax are right - there are other routines in the eBook. The which hand routine is clever, and similar to (I believe) Colin Cloud's routine where he divines a freely thought of celebrity. Different, though, in that using Colin's method is a force, and Lugenspiel is coming at it from the other direction so to speak.

I do want to be clear - I do not think this is a bad method or premise. As long as the volunteer understands what they are supposed to do, this is a reliable method and a flexible tool to create a wide variety of routines. It could be applied to the routines given in the book, or anything where a truth/lie situation could be used as a premise.

Thanx chris. btw: the which hand routine runs without a gimmick. no electronics, no nothing. just straight WH, virtually endlessly repeatable with a surprise at the end.

I really enjoyed reading the manuscript. It's really clever and it reminds me of things I've seen by Michael Weber and Marc Paul.
It's always important to have some things in your arsenal that can save your life when something goes wrong. I love it when methods are simple but still killing.
I'm sure that I will try it in the future for my paying audiences. Well done Nico!

I didn't find anything new in this.

As said... the concept is not new but its application it is completely new, maybe similar in certain way to other things but with its unique touch that make it something that has never been on the market before...

Clearly it is not my task to rave about my own product(s) but in this case I have to admit that first off all comments like "nothing new" are coming somewhere from "i don't get it" or " who is this guy".

at least the which hand routine is -as far as I and others concern- a complete new approach to the topic. its gimmickless, 100% surefire and can be performed everywhere.

The routine goes as fallows:

you play soccer with the spectator (this presentations fits the style well and... well, I live in germany. off cause you can choose your own topic and presentation). the spectator hides a billet in one of his two hands. the hand defines the direction he is shooting in a penalty. the spectator is the soccer player at the 11m mark, the mentalist is the goalkeeper and he tries to anticipate the direction. he is 100% right. everytime. and at the end you have a surprise that kills.

In order to promote the book I give a 50% discount till washington gmt april 26. 6pm.

thanx and leave a comment!

Before I forget,

this is, what Millard Longman thinks about the book:

"Hi Nico,

I got it! I read it! I like it!

Very clever and a certain crowd pleaser!

Thank you,

Millard"