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Sethekk New user 51 Posts |
My quick review after reading through the booklet late last night ! (Sorry for typos, on my phone)
This came through my door yesterday (very quick service) and the method is really strong. Each part of the method is broken down in to smaller chunks so it's easy to follow and gives clear examples for different situations. I'm not left asking any questions like, "what if this happens?", everything is covered in great detail. There is some memory work but nothing crazy difficult. Steve even explains a good system to help memorise it and even a varation where you cut out a lot of the memory work! Overall the effect is exactly as described and with some work you could adapt the end result and make it work in a differentt language. There's no horrible suprises here, Steve has made an incredible effort to dem this on request and be as open about the effect as can be. That shows so much confidence and love for the project, I wish more creators would do this rather than posting a video that cuts half the effect. Thanks for the great work, I'm going to love performing this after abit of practice ! |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
Thanks for the positive thoughts! I'm glad that it arrived quickly and delighted that you like it! Thanks for taking the time to feed back! All the best, Steve
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
Just to keep everyone informed, I have sent a confirmation email to everyone who has ordered from me who has an email address listed on their paypal details (which is almost everyone) to confirm receipt and that the package was posted earlier this week. If you didn't receive the email then pm me and I will sort. All packages up to date have been posted and are on their way to the wonderful people who bought it. Thanks, Steve
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Jacob Smith Inner circle Columbus, OH 1871 Posts |
Lost For Words.
That’s not just a title, that is a statement all in and of itself. You’ve read about it, now you can see and hear about it from yours truly. Let’s dive deep and talk about Steve Wood’s first prolific offering. XX, -Jacob |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
Thanks Jacob. I don't know you very well, but I know how much your opinion is respected and I'm really pleased that you like it. It really means the world to receive such positive feedback from you. Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.
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Last Laugh Inner circle Grass Valley, California 3498 Posts |
I received this a few days ago.
It's very clever and has a nice combination of interesting principles that make it work. The props are good and the book is well written and very clear. The effect is very strong and is very difficult to backtrack. The way the word is revealed, with the numbered cards, is perhaps on the mental magic side of things and it's not my favorite part of the effect. Perhaps it could be presented as cards from some type of word game in order to give them a reason for existing? Maybe a story about someone you used to play this game with? Otherwise I'm not sure why the prediction would be on numbered cards. Another small quibble is that the reveal cards can't be examined afterwards. While it's not a disaster or anything, I feel that the spectator is going to be interested in those cards - after all, they are something unique that the spectator has not seen before. It would be so much stronger if you could just hand them over (or at least strongly imply that they are not ****** *****). The reveal method IS very clever, and as far as I know, new, so I have mixed feelings on it. I may be overthinking this. Sometimes it's hard to know how spectators actually perceive things. Anyway - it's a very strong effect, and I don't mean to sound negative - just trying to find a way to work this into my personal character.
My Mentalism Podcast:
The Mystery Arts Podcast Check out my products! Direct from me (PW: cassidy) On Penguin Magic |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
That's funny - in an earlier version the entire presentation was centred around the game of Scrabble but I felt that it played as too contrived for me. I guess it's personal choice. I'd never say you were overthinking things, but I can only comment from my experience and can say that in what's now hundreds of performances I've never once had a spectator want to examine them. I suppose it's about audience management but I've found that natural psychology is on my side. For me the key is to make the build up look so clean and so fair, and the reveal so quick that it just doesn't occur to people (I'm trying here to address the point but not to say anything that would expose the method) and the proof has been in the performances I've done. Whether you like the reveal is a case of personal choice I guess, but I'd add that the numbering is designed to heighten the effect by proving that the cards could only ever have been in that order and emphasising that point in presentation is key. In any case the reveal cards are not in play long enough for it to be an issue for me and I always move on quickly.
One final thought - sometimes I have put a blank card in second place, then used Peter Turner's Peek A Boo before going into Lost for Words, leaving the spectator's word held tight in their hand. That way at the end it leaves an extra reveal of a freely thought of word that follows the predicted word and I think the melding together of the two effects further kills what you are considering as an issue. (I ask a second participant to deal the words - if you're familiar with Peek A Boo and you are following me then I hope you get why!) Thanks to Last Laugh for taking the time to give your view. I guess it's about personal preference and most tricks come with a compromise. To me this is a very small one but I appreciate that you need to consider a way to make it work for you. I hope you get the opportunity to try it out in performance and see how it plays. As always I'll try to be open in the thread without discussing perceived limitations in a way that leads to exposure, and I'm always happy to talk via dm if anyone wants to discuss any aspect of the trick further. Finally thanks to Last Laugh and everyone else who has purchased. I hope that the combination of principles provides something for everyone and it means a lot that you have invested in my product. Just to let people know (and I don't want this to sound like a sales pitch) I'm down to my last 15 copies of the first run. After that it will be about a week before they are available again. Thanks, Steve. |
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Mark_Chandaue Inner circle Essex UK 4187 Posts |
It’s also worth adding that you could simply replace the reveal cards with double blank business cards hand written. As to why reveal one letter at a time .... suspense.
Mark |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
What I usually do now is to get the participant not to reveal the word first, then make sure I state clearly at the end "Under these circumstances there's no way that I could have known which word you would choose. In fact, I couldn't even know how many letters there would be in your word. Some have 4 letters, others have 8. How many letters does your word have? And there's no way I could have known that?" Then reveal and as soon as they see the first letter and the number a smile (and hopefully a look of incredulity) usually appears. I then casually ask "How am I doing so far?" They know what's coming and if the build up is strong enough at this point they are already sold. When I get to the 5th letter I ask them to reveal their word and then table the last two. That way timing-wise they are reacting to the audience member calling out their word. If you have the trick you'll also know that structure also helps, as an alternative to using what is outlined in the book. And Mark - totally agree on the business cards reveal. That was the original version, and would definitely have been cheaper for me, but playing card stock just handles better and I didn't want to not include them so I have and people will have the option that suits them best. Just trying to give value for money!
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tomd Special user 747 Posts |
Still waiting for mine to arrive. But my thought on this is very simple:
The more weight and presentation you put on the written cards (ideally written by other people), the more likely this will look like a mentalism routine. Imagine walking up to 50 different people with a question that demands a one word answer, and you get them to write that one word down on a piece of paper.. e.g. If you could describe yourself in one word, what would that be? From that, you have a sort of tapestry that a presentation can be formed from, and a tapestry that every time you perform, the person you perform for has the chance to be a part of it for a very long time. There is so much you can take away from this idea alone, can your spec deduce the gender/career path/lifestyle of the person who wrote on one the cards? That's an interesting idea! It almost highlights how mentalism works (if that's the way you want to sell your mentalism). What about a premise where you spent many years reading people, and collecting those thoughts on paper, and you found that the answers they gave were more fascinating then you reading them in the first place? This would be a great way to do the effect, and then do a wallet peek for the next effect. My personal favourite, is giving them the opportunity to choose who gets permanently ejected from the effect, and in turn, they will now become a part of the effect (with their own written answers) until someone else down the line chooses otherwise. If they genuinely believe the answers on the cards, it puts a weight on their decision (which ones they get rid of). They willl have to do their best to visualise the person they see behind the answer, and decide who isn't worthy on remaining a part of the tapestry. Now I have no idea if you can actually get rid of the cards they choose, permanently. If you can, ripping up the pieces of paper would be a dramatic kicker, or burning them. Or with some acting chops, you could choose to give them one of the cards they wanted to get rid of, as you don't have it in you to rip it up (maybe you liked the answer on the card. Or it held some significance to you). Even IF you can't actually get rid of them permanently, you can present it as if you did. The actual effect is (in my opinion), the icing the moulds the cake together. It definitely doesn't have the "purity" of a standard mentalism reveal, but my personal view on this is: this is the first time in a long time I see an effect with more then the standard question will be asked by the spec, after you leave. Normally it's "I wonder how he/she managed to do that?", and with this other questions like "I wonder how long my answers will remain there?", "why didn't he/she want to rip up this card? I wonder why this one means more then some of the others?"... and considering this piece has fooled pretty much everyone Steve has shown it to, you know for a fact they will be baffled. The reveal itself is pretty beautiful. I understand it comes off as a mental effect, but like mark said: the suspense you can pull off with this thing is fantastic. I get bored of the standard "hey, I predicted it, look". Now I was shocked when Steve did it to me, but I saw it coming. I knew that was going to happen before we skyped. So I can't even imagine the shock on a laymens face when you slowly reveal the number, then the letter, then the word. Last laugh I don't actually think I've answered your concerns, as I don't know your character. I've gone off on a tangent about how I view the idea, my bad. But I do believe you are overthinking the reveal, it's powerful. I'd probably make my own cards for the ending, just to keep inline with the "everything has been written down on paper" aspect. |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
Wow. I love the debate that comes with releasing this into the wild. I like the notion of it all being part of a huge 'pay it forward' type experiment where the participant takes someone else's thought away and yes, that would definitely be possible. If the words are presented not just as random words but something that participants were asked to write down that represented something with meaning in their life then it would be like passing a piece of personal philosophy on from one person to another. Almost like a global fortune cookie. I might rewrite a script and try it that way just for kicks. Thanks for your ideas. I'm sorry to hear it hasn't arrived as it went out last week and I know a lot of them have already landed. Keep me informed and hopefully it won't be long.
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
And I do fully understand the points raised by Last Laugh. To me it's not a big problem but I'm really happy that he has taken the time to consider the best way to make it work for him. It would be great if everyone did that and really made routines their own. I don't believe he's overthinking it. I believe he's just thinking about it and that's great.
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Last Laugh Inner circle Grass Valley, California 3498 Posts |
I think it's probably worth mentioning that 95% of stuff I read or watch immediately is tossed into the 'not usable' bin. Maybe 4% gets played with for a while and just 1% makes it into my actual working repertoire. So the face that I'm thinking about how I can make it fit is already better than 95% of what's out there. And me being critical of what I called a weakness is just something I need to do so I can plan for all eventualities.
The effect is clever and strong, I do really like it. I just need to have a way to present it that fits with my character. I may in fact use the supplied cards, I just need to know for myself why I would have them as opposed to just writing it on a pad or a blank card like I do with much of the other stuff. I am leaning towards a word game and a story about something a tad on the sentimental side. I'll update if/when I get there completely with it.
My Mentalism Podcast:
The Mystery Arts Podcast Check out my products! Direct from me (PW: cassidy) On Penguin Magic |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
Nothing wrong with that. I might buy a tshirt with Mr 5% on it. High five!
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backinblack Special user 910 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 20, 2018, swood wrote: mmmh, so if the routine makes it into his actual working repertoire than you are a 1%er? |
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Mark_Chandaue Inner circle Essex UK 4187 Posts |
Last Laugh if my memory serves me correct you are quite an experience reader. Maybe the word cards could be used for a graphology reading. Instead of having them write two words have them write one and give a graphology reading and also a reading based on the word they wrote.
The rest could be presented as influence based on their writing and choice of word. Now that I understand how you think I can influence your decisions so to speak. Mark |
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Last Laugh Inner circle Grass Valley, California 3498 Posts |
I would imagine so, but "The 1%" has a bit of a different connotation (at least here in the states) that he may not want to advertise.
My Mentalism Podcast:
The Mystery Arts Podcast Check out my products! Direct from me (PW: cassidy) On Penguin Magic |
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
I'm blissfully ignorant of what you mean, and even though I could probably guess I have no intention of Googling it to find out! Maybe I'll go with 'Over 95% Good' as a slogan?
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cardbiker Inner circle 1484 Posts |
The only reason I’m holding back is that from Madison’s excellent as usual description it sounds a bit involved and confusing, I would love to see it performed
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swood Loyal user 299 Posts |
I know I've promised the trailer is coming - there's been some issues with that but I'll release it as soon as it's ready. I'm delighted that it's sold well without one so far and word of mouth is carrying it further, but I know that some people will really want to see one and in the current market it's important. If it looks like there will be a further delay then I'll release a performance video instead, and in the meantime if you want to see it then send me a dm - I've demmed it on Skype and Messenger many times and I'll be happy to do that if it helps. Otherwise I appreciate your interest but understand why some people might want to hold back. I can say definitively that it's not part of a hype campaign - just the way things have worked out.
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