|
|
Go to page [Previous] 1~2~3~4~5~6~7 [Next] | ||||||||||
CinChiller Elite user Germany 404 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-06-10 13:37, kissdadookie wrote: I will go one step further. Don´t trust any review shown on any sellers page. And even here on this place you see, that you can´t "trust" any review. If somebody wants to sell a product, why should he publish a negative review? I gave a negative review of a book, I bought at amazon and it also never got posted. They all play the same game and you have to descide whom you want to trust or not. I don´t know who magicpimp is and because of his less posts I don´t know his taste, so I never would make a desission just because of his opinion - whatever he is from the penguin stuff, a close friend of Luke Jermay or just an "honest" magician.
The Gaff Book Collection - the right tool for your booktest.
Music for mentalism and psychic entertainment. Visit: http://stores.lulu.com/dankworth01 |
|||||||||
edh Inner circle 4698 Posts |
Quote:
Everyone keeps going back to his track record, but how many of you were actually effected by it? I hadn't heard anything about it until recently and this is a Penguin video, so there aren't going to be any issues in the first place. Jeff if you were one of those effected by him it wouldn't matter if it was just you or a thousand other customers would it? We keep going back to his track record because that is the only gage we have on his future track record. Until he makes good on his past track record his future track record remains in question. Finally Jeff, take a look at the above posts for those "non-issues" with Penguin.
Magic is a vanishing art.
|
|||||||||
tian_ci Elite user Knoxville, TN 477 Posts |
Jheff seemed to like it.
http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/Emot......nce.html I know this might sound empty, but haven't any of learned not to place massive preorders on items? That's the one consistent theme played out here on the Café. Preorder hot new magic effect.... and it doesn't live up to it's expectation. |
|||||||||
Dan McLean Inner circle Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur 1261 Posts |
Actually my involvement in the whole "pre-order" bit happened more by accident. I originally ordered the download, which, as others will attest to, did not work. Since I already had my ante in the game, I raised it to the pre-order DVD. In retropsect this was not one of my brighter decisions.
Later, like Tony, I received an email from the Penguin Red Queen explaining that "shipped" didn't really mean "shipped", "black" was really "white", "up" was really "down" and why don't I just relax, have some tea with the Mad Hatter and stop whinning. |
|||||||||
waltsal Loyal user 278 Posts |
My download did not work, either, even with the Media update. I got a message saying, licensed and approved. Just click Play. But Play could not be clicked. So I'll wait for the DVD which was supposed to ship almost two weeks ago. Hope springs eternal.
|
|||||||||
bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
Folks,
Any in depth reviews on this? Is it worth the purchase? Thanks Chris |
|||||||||
Aaron Little Loyal user Lexington KY 263 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-07-13 11:01, waltsal wrote: That is the same problem I was having. I called customer service and they sent me the link below in an email. After following the link I rebooted my PC and everything worked fine. http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75378 Penguin did have to reset my license as I had used up all three trying to get it to work before I called them. |
|||||||||
waltsal Loyal user 278 Posts |
The EI DVD and booklet arrived today.
|
|||||||||
waltsal Loyal user 278 Posts |
The long wait is over.
Luke Jermay's widely-anticipated EI DVD has shipped. Was it worth the wait? Yes. Was it worth the $30? Yes. And much, much more. There are immediately a few things you will notice from your first introduction to Jermay on this comprehensive DVD. 1. The fad of tatoos has crossed the Atlantic. 2. Jermay is passionate and professional about what he does. 3. That magic presented as magic is viewed by an audience as trickery; that magic presented as psychic will be viewed as actual psychic ability-- and Jermay has no use for those who present it as the latter. This will miff those who object to debunking psychics-for-profit; and please those who--like Houdini-- find the practice equivalent to stealing. EI is a three-phase routine using seven cards on which are printed what Jermay considers to be those most frequently "divined" by those calling themselves "psychics": Travel, Health, Education, Sex, Careers, Ambition and Money. A spectator is asked to select one while the performer closes his eyes. The method of revealing the selection is a simple one every magician knows who has studied the art for more than a day. But--as you quickly learn-- the method is not the madness. Jermay proves that repeatedly in this DVD. In the second phase, a second spectator is guided to divine a card selected by the first spectator. Jermay goes into some detail on the technique, which is not 100 percent certain, and then follows up with a couple of workable outs. I have some reservations about using the technique because it effectively makes a stooge out of the second spectator and a purist may want to avoid any suspicion of a stooge; nonetheless, in the performance it is effective. The third phase involves divining three things about the spectator based on his selection of one of the cards. Nearly everyone on the Café can figure out the method immediately-- but you would be unwise to dismiss the effect on that basis. Since the method is a classic in mental magic, it has obviously stood the test of time. This is a valuable product for anyone who does or wants to do mentalism. Remember all those cold reading books you bought, spending a fortune on each one? EI --at least on pre-orders-- comes with a small booklet that gives an excellent overview of cold reading and throws in another routine to practice it on. Jermay discusses valuable details-- how to let the spectator fill in specific information during the reading; how to deconstruct the method so it cannot be reconstructed by the audience; theatrical positions; how to place revelations in the most effective order ; how a negative revelation can be handled to make it stronger than the usual flattering comments; when and how to make the best guesses; and even a hint at how to tell whether the person is right or left handed that you probably had not thought of. In some of the performances, the producers have inserted captions telling the viewer what Jermay is doing out of sight of the spectator's views. This is a useful technique that saves fast forwarding and reversing the disk to remind you of the method. Failure is also something Jermay discusses frankly. His view is that an occasional failure is part of growing as a performer and should not be feared. Mentalism is not something that can be practiced in front of a mirror, he reminds us-- it can only be perfected through actual performances. He considers EI to be a structure, or foundation, on which to build psychic entertainment. And along the way he tips worthwhile advice on glimpses, including the Gypsy glimpse. He proves the point by showing actual performances at the Magic Castle, at another theater and--most surprisingly-- at a new age bookstore in Las Vegas where he gives readings to three people who claim they are psychics, even though he tells them up front he has no psychic abilities. Their reactions and his performances are a great study in the art of mentalism. Let it be said that Jermay makes no bones about so-called professional psychics. Of John Edwards and others who have been on television and in the headlines, he says straight out: "They are scumbags." Of one female psychic, he says: "I hate her. I despise everything she stands for. She preys on grief and vulnerability to make money out of it." This is sure to start a whole new brouhaha on the blogs. You can pick your sides but I stand with Jermay on this because I have seen in person how such trickery can be used to take advantage of people and many of you have undoubtedly had the same experience. There is an ethical side to this and Jermay stands for the side that says magic should not be used to hurt people. You will learn a lot about cold reading and the effective presentation of mental magic from this DVD and you will get to see it performed several times by a professional. I suggest you watch all the performances. You will learn a great deal about giving readings. His final message--if you are willing to wade through all the performances--is this: "It is about caring about what you do." Can't argue with that. |
|||||||||
Tony Iacoviello Eternal Order 13151 Posts |
I'm waiting to see for myself.
Expect an honest review of this from a reader's (as well as an educated mentalist) point of view. But based on what has been said before and what you have said here, it is may not be pretty. When and if it ever arrives. Tony Iacoviello |
|||||||||
Dan McLean Inner circle Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur 1261 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-07-14 20:30, Tony Iacoviello wrote: I will welcome that review, Tony. I'm also still waiting for it to be "shipped". |
|||||||||
Tony Iacoviello Eternal Order 13151 Posts |
Review of Emotional Intelligence [E.I.] by Luke Jermay
I have mixed feelings on this as a product and will try to review this without any emotional attachment (so to speak). The routine itself is a well thought out 3 phase routine utilizing well known and popular methodology. The methods used for the first and third phases are rock solid and should not fail unless the performer is careless. The second phase involves the interaction of a second participant and requires a bit more management to accomplish. The primary method for the emotion selection/identification, (which is a misnomer as there are no emotions at all in the primary method), is very popular right now, and can play very strong. The method for the revelation for the third phase is also very strong when done correctly. There is an alternative method taught and used for the final set of demonstrations. This one does involve actual emotions, and although it is not Luke’s preferred method, it is another very strong, tried and true concept. Instruction: Luke goes over every detail and adds many fine tips for use with the routine. The Cold Reading set of instruction on the DVD was almost entirely a waste of time to even view. It was mostly a rehash of nonsensical doublespeak which may or may not fit his idea of what readings are, but in the experience of this reader, it is hogwash! There were a few valid points mixed in towards the end of the segment. Additionally, there has been much talk of terms and language used by Luke about readers, he reiterates during the instruction portion that readers “as a whole” those who do it for entertainment as well as those who do it as a vocation are “scumbags, liars, and cheats.” Performances: The first performance demonstrates the full 3 phase routine in a platform venue. (And yes, the scumbags and liars comments are part of the performance as well as a comment towards a young lady saying if she had been a psychic, she would have been escorted from the theater). The first phase went over very well and was strong, the second phase had problems but Luke showed why he is where he is with his handling of the situation and bringing it to a successful conclusion. The third phase was very sloppy, and in this case, sloppy in all aspects of this phase. The second performance at the Onyx Theater was more intimate. (Liars, cheats, and scumbags made their reappearance in his dialog.) The performance went over well until the third phase where the wrong emotion/item was named, he was able to work his way around that. The third performance took place in the Onyx as well, he questioned his audience on psychics and ended up making the following statement to a spectator, “My belief system belittles no one else’s, I understand why they need that…” The comments on psychics here were limited to certain name personalities. The performance went over well. The 4th performance took place at the Magic Castle. “Scumbags” was back. Again there was an issue in the second phase, but Luke handled it well. The third phase also had issues, but they too were covered well. The last set of performances took place at the Psychic Eye book store. There were no derogatory comments made whatsoever. Luke, played the role of a reader using “feelings”, “people reading skills” and “psychology”. (So I guess that puts him in the Scumbags, liars, and cheat’s camp as he did just what he railed against earlier in word and in deed.) Here he used his secondary method. The first performance went well, he did just the first phase. His “cold reading” was fair. The second performance, he missed the emotion again, but he did explain later what had happened. Unfortunately his explanation does not match up with the reality of the situation. The third and final performance utilized the first and third phases. The first phase went over well, there were a few missteps due to chance, and they were handled well. The last phase was, like most other performances of this phase, very sloppy. In short: The routine is modular and can be strong if performed well, there is nothing new as far as method goes but there are a lot of nice touches explained. There were issues in almost every performance dealing with technical issues that should not have occurred. They were worked around which is a great lesson to show, but it does not appear that these performance errors were intentional. Key word: “sloppy.” The performance dialog in all but the “reader friendly” groups was insulting and infuriating. Hypocritically, he played the part of what he criticized and called “not even human” in the last 3 segments of the DVD. The cold reading portion is essentially useless drivel. The DVD was put together well. I have not read the "free bonus" book yet, but upon glancing through it, it does appear well written and worth the price being charged for it. I did not get a lollypop. Tony Iacoviello |
|||||||||
Dan McLean Inner circle Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur 1261 Posts |
Well I lived to read it. A well balanced rational review on a fairly hot button topic. I find myself in total agreement. Well done.
. . . There was supposed to be a lollypop?!?! Drat! |
|||||||||
parmenion Inner circle Switzerland/Zürich 3988 Posts |
The best revie I have ever read !
Please Tony does more review !
“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.”
<BR>Oscar Wilde experimentaliste <br> <BR>Artist pickpocket Professional <BR> <BR>Looking for the best book test in French? send me a PM! |
|||||||||
Jerskin Inner circle 2497 Posts |
Just got it, am looking forward to it. I saw Luke at the Castle a few weeks ago & he was great!
GrEg oTtO
MUNDUS VULT DECIPI |
|||||||||
Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
Tony, thanks for taking the tiem to write your review. I agree, we'd love to see more reviews from you!
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
|||||||||
Martello Loyal user Catskill Mountains 280 Posts |
I started watching the DVD yesterday but had a great deal of difficulty understanding what Luke was saying. This is due to the fact that I have a high frequency hearing loss and the British dialect which makes listening extremely difficult for me. Without captioning, I never watch British movies. I certainly don't expect a DVD to be captioned but it is a problem.
|
|||||||||
parmenion Inner circle Switzerland/Zürich 3988 Posts |
E.I is very easy to do and if you want to work/improve your cold reading technique this routine is great.
I agree with Tony the cold reading segment is useless. I mean you don't learn anything very significant in this segment. Perhaps the companion booklet is more interesting ?
“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.”
<BR>Oscar Wilde experimentaliste <br> <BR>Artist pickpocket Professional <BR> <BR>Looking for the best book test in French? send me a PM! |
|||||||||
Garrette Special user 926 Posts |
My first post in ages and ages here, and then I didn’t do many, but I had a run in with Penguin over this, so here goes.
First, reference Penguinmagic: They do allow negative reviews, and I have seen plenty of them. They did not, however, allow my negative review of Emotional Intelligence. When I emailed asking why, I received a response giving their reasons (basically that my review was not really of the product but was personally directed at Jermay). They also, to their great credit, offered me a refund. I declined the refund based on a long history of predominantly happy purchases from them, but I pointed out that their take on my review was incorrect and that everything I said was specifically about the product, even if it was harsh. A final response from Penguin agreed that perhaps they should have allowed my review but it’s a judgment call so the decision stood. I let the matter drop there and am still a happy Penguinmagic customer. --- Now about the product itself. I won’t describe the effect or packaging as that has been done already. Instead, I’ll go right into the issues: 1. Jermay needs a proofreader and an editor. As has been said, the cold reading booklet was not only crap from a content perspective, it was very poorly written and punctuated with several typos. It was better than his book “3510,” which was abysmally produced, but that isn’t saying much. In addition, his explanations are unnecessarily long-winded. When detail is called for, by all means, take the time necessary, but Jermay spent minutes and minutes and minutes explaining the most basic methods. It was as if he were speaking off the top of his head when he should have scripted it. (The master of this is Michael Ammar; other magicians should take note). 2. Misleading salesmanship. I know, I know; magic is rife with overhyped effects, but this took the cake. The description that is now on Penguinmagic is honest and fine, but the description that was up during the pre-order period was far less detailed and led the customer to believe that the effect was much more free form. 3. The presentation was poor. I’m a fan of the style Jermay uses—it is similar to my own style—but he did not pull it off well at all. The audience and participants in his video were only marginally excited over what he did, and his long build up about how he dislikes psychics and mediums failed to engage them. 4. I really like his style of making at least one specific guess with a spectator, looking for that miracle hit, and I also like his discussion of letting the spectators turn a miss into a hit (referring to writing down the month but also writing down another month and crossing it out). It’s not unique or original to him, but his emphasis of it is good. 5. Bad, bad, bad, bad, Luke Jermay. In the video he is adamant in saying that other magicians are wrong when they say cold reading should focus on the positive; Jermay uses negatives and finds them more powerful and convincing. Okay, fine; I tend to agree, though I go for a mix of both. But in the cold reading booklet, he says exactly the opposite and insists on focusing on the positives. What credibility do we give someone who contradicts himself within the same effect on so fundamental an issue? Typos are one thing, but this is another. 6. The methods are absolutely basic. Actually, I don’t mind that at all; I am not a fan of difficulty for difficulty’s sake, but if one is going to stick with ease of method, one needs to make something unique and powerful out of it. All the praise to the contrary aside, this is neither of those. In short: Not a $30 value. $10 maybe, but not $30. That’s it. I’m hardly a professional on the same level as Jermay, and I’m not a regular here, so discounting my review is understandable. Just my take on it. |
|||||||||
mindcontroller Regular user Inside your Head! 173 Posts |
Travel, Health, Education, Sex, Careers, Ambition and Money = THE SCAM!
Which basically sums up Luke's "Limited Edition" releases and customer service skills. I have the new DVD, think it's great, I got it from a Legit Shop, I think Luke's work is great, it's just well don't ever by anything direct from him unless you enjoy throwing your money away and having your emails ignored as he is appalling with his Customer Service skills, shame is, he knows it too. I tried to view his webpage today from the UK and my Virgin Media Firewall blocked the page stating the following, which possibly means they know something we don't lol, although last time I got to his webpage it was down and "Parked". "Virgin Broadband PCguard Warning - Fraudulent Web Site Detected You are attempting to connect to a known fraudulent web site. URL: searchportal.information.com/?epl=00480049UVsPWVAL...lukejermay.com Do not submit personal information to this web site. We recommend that you delete any emails associated with this URL. |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Dvd, Video tape, Audio tape & Compact discs. » » Review: Emotional Intelligence [E.I.] by Luke Jermay (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page [Previous] 1~2~3~4~5~6~7 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.1 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |