Greetings all, I mentioned this little story to Richard on his blog, and thought that I'd share with the Café as well. Do you know those times when something comes along at just the right time for you to perform a killer routine? That happened to me the other day at work. I work in an office setting and one of my co-workers was celebrating 15 years with the organization. For her recognition gift she chose a gold watch *you can see where I'm going with this* After the boss presented it to her, I grabbed a business card off someone's desk and began to go into Osterlind's fabulous watch routine. Grabbed her gold watch for the second phase and blew everyone away!! Gotta love those opportunities!

Regards,
Brian

Very good ! 100% impromptu ! Congratulations!

Man, I really am going to have to buy the DVD's arn't I. I have most of his books, and love them to pieces, but I have never seen the guy work

Well, you will only be even more amazed when you se Mr. Osterlinds material in action. Highly pragmatic, very ingenious and truely astonishing. And that goes for both his mentalism material and his magic material on the DVD's.

Whats osterlinds blog site?

Access it through http://www.osterlindmysteries.com

Well worth it. And the DVD's are some of the best purchases I've ever made - but there is a ton of useful stuff on there.

Simon

What's the difference between Mr. Osterlind's and Mr. Ted Lesley's routine? I only know the one described in Paramiracles.

Gabor

Gabor, are you talking about the effect where you have a cut out of paper with the time randomly turned to?

Essentially, a time is thought of, and the dial on a borrowed watch to any time. You read the persons mind, and tell them the time they are thinking of. As an afterthought, you turn over the watch - it shows the time they are just thinking of. Very strong, impromptu.

This routine is just one of the effects on a absolutely phenomenal DVD series. Well worth it.

Simon

Thank you, Simon. It sounds very interesting.

Gabor

Mind Mysteries 4DVD set - best mentalism or magic I have ever bought.

Simple as.

Truely wonderful, useable, real-world stuff!

Tom.

Ditto, Tom.

Closely followed by Banachek's series, however.

Simon

I also preform Mr Osterlind watch routine with a fake rolex I have from thailand.

I think this routine along with the radar deck are the best in vol 1.

Any commets?

Have fun

Roi

Yes, both very strong.

For me, the PCT was a highlight, and the magazine test got such a reaction on the DVD!

Actually, the whole act was sensational. Quite hard to pick the best routine!!

Simon

I'm sorry Brian but I feel I have to respond to this. I know you're proud of
seizing the opportunity to perform a very strong routine, however I feel it was
totally inappropriate to perform and steal the spotlight from this lady who has devoted 15 years of her life to your company. I'm sure you weren't asked to perform
and even if you were asked, the best thing you could have done was to refuse.
I would have been full of praise if it went like this-

"I noticed that they gave the lady a wrist watch for her 15 years of service. Since
I know the Osterlind Watch routine, I'll file this incident in the back of my mind.
If the situation (to give a performance) ever presents itself in the future, I'll use her watch in the routine. I'll also will be able to remind everyone the reason she got the watch. Since the routine is about the concept of time, I could very easily work the routine around this lady's achievement."

I think one of the hardest things to learn is when not to perform. I even know professionals that don't get it. All that I ask is that you give it a little thought.

Woodfield

I agree with Woodfield. I think it's great that you're looking for opportunities to perform impromptu, but in this instance, well...this was your co-worker's time to shine (no pun intended), and it sounds like you kind of hijacked the occasion to show your stuff. I hope this post doesn't come across as mean-spirited. I just think there's a time and a place...

Woodfield/Photofinish:

Come on lighten up guys! I DID NOT steal the spotlight from her! It wasn't like here's your watch, and me saying oh can I show you something. It was probably 15 minutes after the actual presentation and most people were heading back to their desks. Just wanted to share a cool moment; no need to be so knit-picky!

Hey, if you didn't steal the spotlight...great. From the way you wrote it -- "I grabbed a card, grabbed her watch," etc. -- it sounded like you did indeed "grab" the attention though. I was trying to be helpful -- not nitpicky. No one likes a show-off magician, and people will ultimately like you and your magic more if you time your presentations appropriately. Just trying to help. Peace out.