This looks fantastic:

https://www.penguinmagic.com/p/15708

Zoom Class Details:
Class Dates: 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28
Day: Saturdays
Time: 11a (PST)
Duration: 1 HOUR
Only 20 Seats Available

Mastering Billets with Marc Paul.

Billet work has long been called "The Cornerstone of Mentalism" and quite rightly so; with just a few pieces of paper, a pen and knowledge of the correct technique you can pretty much do all of the classic effects in mentalism.

This is a four week course that has been specially created to teach you visually deceptive billet technique. Each week is designed to build on previous weeks so that by the end of the course you will have everything that you need to know about the fundamentals of billet work. But Marc won't just be teaching you the moves he'll also show you routines using those moves so that when mastered you can put them straight into your close-up and stage shows.

Week 1

The best size, shape and card for billet work.
The Billet Fold
The classic Annemann Billet Switch.
Modifying the Annemann Switch into a creasing switch
The Secret Read (in the open and concealed)
A complete routine: Marc's Triple Billet Test; a block buster, three-phase routine based on Annemann's Telepathy Plus but with a totally reworked method and NO VISIBLE one-ahead!

Week 2

The Opening & Closing Switches
The Shuttle Pass / Temple Switch
The No Memory Read
A complete routine: Marc's go to, any time, any place mind-reading system. A workhorse system, that easily enables you to read two minds at once. This also features a way of handling information that is too difficult to remember, like 11 digit phone numbers!

Week 3 (With this one technique alone, you can build the reputation of a master mind reader!)

The perfect move for any situation...
The Fold
Justifying the hot area
The Centre Tear (instant access and / or steal using the same technique)
A complete routine: Cassidy's "Name & Place" using a Centre Tear (Yet another amazing routine that you need to know!)

Week 4

Billets and envelopes:
Envelope sizes and type.
The Shaxon Flap
The classic envelope switch and read.
A complete routine: Marc's Double Blind Drawing Duplication, a flexible system that Marc uses almost every show.

Supplies needed for class:

stack of standard size 5 x 3 inch index cards
a few Jokers
a pair of scissors

These are live lectures that are no recorded. Too bad not recorded in case you have to miss a session or two.
Michael

Yes, that is unfortunate to not record the session for that price. I would want to review afterwards given the volume of information provided, and also not have to focus on taking notes during the session (they say notes may be provided but no guarantees). I don’t know how not recording it is being argued as a good thing.

These sound good, but again, they should be recorded for the people that take the classes. Another issue that I see is that the classes, at least the ones that I've looked at are 1 hour in length. In many cases, there is no way that the amount of material that is listed can be covered, at least properly. And as any class goes, there are people that pick things up quickly, and others that don't, which will decrease the amount of material taught.

Good idea, but I don't think it has been thought through very well. There are a couple, including anything from Marc Paul that I would be interested in, but for now I'll probably have to pass.

Robert

You should probably disregard what I’m going to say for two reasons:

1) I, myself, am teaching a course on creativity as part of this new platform.

2) I’m a MASSIVE Marc Paul fan-boy!

I can appreciate the desire to have the sessions recorded. That said, this format is meant to be wholly different from a pre-recorded, non-personal lecture. I for one am INCREDIBLY excited by the opportunity to give individual attention to every person in the class. Furthermore, the fact that the sessions won’t be recorded gives me peace of mind regarding the potential for piracy (an ever present concern for many of us) - that means I won’t shy away from tipping some real gems I imagine most, if not all, of the other instructors feel the same way.

It’s better to think of these courses as true Masterclasses. That is, an exclusive, intimate opportunity to really dig into a subject in way not possible through the lectures that have become standard in the internet age. I doubt I’m alone in my thinking on this, but I plan on taking FULL advantage of the immediate, interactive nature of this platform.

And come on, what’s better than having Marc himself coach you directly on the timing of a b****t s****h?! Worth every penny in my eyes!

But yes, these classes will require a commitment of time and money beyond the standard Penguin Live Lecture or similar offering. If you can’t attend every class during the current schedule, you can always jump in on the course if it’s repeated later on

Best wishes,

Drew

They charge more than my therapist. Oh, Good lord! The fact that these zoom classes will not be recorded will be counterproductive as they will be pirated more quickly. Everyone can record a zoom meeting even if they are not hosting it. So many options.

Please realize you're VERY lucky to have a therapist that charges less than $ 30,- an hour...

It’s a shame they’re not recorded - and with just 20 participants I would think (hope) that piracy wouldn’t really be an issue as it will be easier to identify who it was (I assume).

In any event, this sounds great - I personally won’t be jumping on this time as I have more hours of excellent Marc Paul billet material from his academy and mindvention work that I can put into practice, but will probably cave in if it gets repeated.

Brett Barry’s also looks really good, have to say though that Drew’s 8 week course sounds amazing. Just double checking that I can make all 8weeks (though his hint that there might be the opportunity to infill on missed sessions sounds good), but will most likely be signing up to that later today.

Hope that this is a success and that it’s repeated at a later date- pretty sure that the feedback will make me regret not signing up!

How much! :Wow:

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your interest and comments about my new Mastering Billets Course with Penguin Magic. Just to let you know the 20 students that attend my class WILL be provided with exclusive resource material after each lesson that will include short video/s of the actual moves begin taught. This will enable students to practice the moves in the week between lessons as well as having live access to me during the lessons to address an difficulties or issues they may be having. I hope that helps potential students make a more informed choice.
Hope to see you there.
Marc

Oh, by the way I've just checked...there are currently only 4 places left!

3 left now, couldn’t resist any longer, cheers Marc - looking forward to it!

I’m a huge Marc Paul fan, and the content of this program looks wonderful.

However, I agree with what others have written about the sessions not being recorded. After learning that I decided to pass on this.

Regarding giving students individual attention, with 20 students on a one hour zoom, if the entire session was devoted to helping students there would be a maximum of 3 minutes per student. And that would be be with no content presented. One hour is just not sufficient to cover all of the content listed and work with more than one or two students individually.

I love Marc Paul’s work and thinking, but really do not like the format of this particular program.

The traditional lecture, with the recordings available after, are much more preferred, for me anyway. Like Marc’s Alakazam academy. That was amazing, and so worth the money.

.

Marc might sell the course content on after it's finished, as happened with the Academy lecture, despite a promise not to.

These will not be recorded - even by Penguin. The contract we all signed ensures that the content won’t be available in recorded form at a future date.

Live instruction like this, be it a workshop on creative writing, photography or cooking is rarely (if ever) recorded and typically costs upwards of $500 plus. $30 per hour/class is a steal! Especially with the likes of Marc at the helm!

Best wishes,

Drew

The contract is worthless based on past behaviour.

I can’t speak to the details of the contract with Alakazam - but I won’t hesitate to hold Penguin accountable for breach of contract if they record and then subsequently release my course. I have no concerns about that though because the main players behind the creation of the Penguin Magic School are all upstanding, trustworthy individuals.

Best wishes,

Drew

I definitely don't want to derail this thread as I believe that Marc, whose class this thread is about, is honorable. If he says he's going to supply additional resource material to the students of his class, I'm sure he will and I'm sure it will be worth it. I would hope that other instructors would do the same. I would be more interested if that were the case, or if they were to make downloads of the material that is listed, rather than a live class that can't be accessed afterwards.

I may be an exception, but after attending many lectures over the years, there is no way that I can recall much of what has been taught, within a few hours. Again, I believe anything that Marc teaches would be worth learning and I don't want to derail this thread, but there is another class or two that would make more sense for me if I could have access to the material taught afterwards. But with the amount of material listed to be taught, I just don't see how they can get through that much material in one hour, especially knowing that there are going to be some people that require more time to understand the material.

I would love to hear from some of the other instructors to see if they will also be supplying resource material to the attendees, Dan Harlan. Sorry, just had to get that in there as that is one that I would be interested in.

Good luck with these and I hope they're successful for all involved.

Robert

I agree, I wish the lecturers would provide more information about what they will be providing.
The Bannon one actually listed the effects being taught but has since been removed and I didn’t get a screenshot before then, but I’m curious if all the effects taught are already published, and if someone will get the same value if he/she has most or all of his material already.

Although I don't feel like an old man, I guess I am because I'm about to start a sentence with the phrase...

"In my day..."

Yeah, stories from old men always start off that way, but in this case, it's accurate. I'm in my 50's, and when I was a teenager learning magic, my only resource was a yearly trip to the magic store (the closest one was about 2 hours away), where I would buy books, tricks and a few VHSs. The only way I saw magic performed was TV specials and talk shows. The only live magicians I ever saw were the occasional appearance at my local mall (I actually say the Amazing Randi!).

I think it's easy to take for granted the incredible access we can get to see and learn from great performers and creators. It's unprecedented. I'm exited by the idea of these lectures, and actually think what makes them special is that they won't be recorded. I agree, Marc's Alakazam Academy lecture is amazing and I love that I'm able to rewatch it again and again. But I see these Penguin Magic School sessions as a different beast altogether. A moment in time. A chance to talk with a master. I hope Penguin continues with this idea.