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The Furtive Glance by Liam Montier
PDF: $10.00 from http://www.magic-notes.com/thenotes/detail.php?product_id=31

Overview
This is an interesting collection of three magic effects from the mind of Liam Montier, the creator of Henry Sugar. (See here for the topic). After the success and great reactions I get when performing Henry Sugar I have I was very keen to see Liam’s latest work, and I wasn’t in the least disappointed.

In saying that these effects won’t be for everyone. They are not your standard "pick a card, any card" effects they fit into that strange genre magic called “bizarre”, and relies on the ability of the magician to set the required atmosphere, and to recant a story. If you are not put off by this, then you are in for a real treat, as within these pages there is the recipe to send spine chilling tingles up anyone’s back.

1: Astral Vision

The Effect
Picture the scene. You are seated at the table and a discussion is taking place on the subject of Psychic Phenomena. Every one is relating their own tales of telepathy and mind over matter, when you interject into the conversation the subject of "Astral Vision", That is to say, projecting your "subconscious being" elsewhere to witness something remotely.

Taking out an old deck of cards and a vial of strange looking liquid, you offer to demonstrate an example of "Astral Vision".

You ask one of the other people present to take the cards and to give them a good shuffle. The cards are placed back on the table and you ask the “lucky volunteer” to cut the cards. Everything seems very fair.

The top card is placed by the spectator into his shirt pocket. No one has seen the card.

You ask the volunteer to find your pulse as you explain that projecting yourself in this way is very dangerous as it is your inner self that projected. Your very essence. Your life force.

You swallow the foul looking liquid and immediately start breathing deeply, apparently falling into a trance. Eventually your breathing and pulse slow down until they stop, but not for long. The breathing and pulse restart and you awake.

It’s a three, a three of diamonds? [pause] and yes, there’s something else… it’s metal, small… a 5p coin?

The amazed participant removes the two items from his pocket. The three of diamonds and the five pence piece…

As Derren would say, "Spooky".

My Thoughts
Beautiful, and what’s more very easy. It involves a force (no kidding), but as far as I know this is a new one that Liam came up with himself, and I have to admit that it is a beauty. One of the fairest forces where the spectator gets to do all the work making it look so very clean. To be perfectly honest the force itself is worthwhile even if you like nothing else in the manuscript.

Keeping in with the theme of the other two effects, there is also no reason that you couldn’t do this with a Tarot deck…

2: Pyromancy

The Effect
Pyromancy, fortune telling with fire, has been around for thousands of years, although it is rarely seen today.

The lights are turned out and two candles are lit. The scene is set. The mage blows out one of the candles and holds the other one (the lit one) above it. At first nothing happens, however this is repeated a few times until eventually the flame from the top candle shoots down and lights the candle underneath it. WOW!

“That is good. Very good. The fire is now ready to reveal your fate…”

The spectator is directed to pick up the Tarot cards and pass them one at a time over the flames of the candles. Eventually one of the cards are engulfed in a momentary flash of fire!

The card is turned over, and burnt into the face is the name of the volunteer.

My Thoughts
The effect is designed to follow up any other effect where a spectator chooses a Tarot card and is subsequently given a reading. Ideally the Tarot card used for Pyromancy would be same card that was selected for the previous effect.

To some extent on my first reading, I felt that Liam glossed over the importance of the previous effect a little, but in fact it is all there.

If I was having my cards read, I think that this would scare the pants off me. It is certainly a very visual convincer that there is more to the Tarot than meets the eye.

Effect 3: Cruel Hand of Fate

The Effect
I shall copy this verbatim from the manuscript itself, as Liam covers it very nicely.

“How many of you here have heard of Marcus Blacke? He was an occultist expert, and the author of many books on witchcraft, cartomancy, astrology, and so on, who died in 1996.”

“However, for an expert in his field, he had one embarrassing phobia… he was petrified of tarot cards.”

“Eventually, however, he had to research their meanings and study them, to form part of a forthcoming book, so he summoned up the courage.”

“According to the story, his plan was to select a tarot card, and place it, sight unseen, into a sealed envelope. He scribbled the date onto the envelope, and continued with his day, the idea being that he could record the day’s events, and then check if the tarot reading was accurate when he arrived home.”

From a box, the performer removes a deck of tarot cards and a brown envelope. The spectator shuffles the tarot, and then cuts them placing one of the cards into an envelope.

“However, on the day of the experiment, Marcus was killed. Since then, this envelope has sat in the folds of his wallet, with the date of his death crudely scribbled on it in pencil. Just hold your hand out for me.”

The envelope is laid onto a spectators’ hand.

“Close your eyes, and imagine a date in your head. Name it out loud for me.”

The envelope is turned over, and has the same date scribbled on the other side.

“And had he been able to check the results of his little experiment, he’d have found that the tarot predicted his sudden end quite nicely…”

For the first time, the spectators’ tarot card is tipped out of the envelope… It’s the Death card.

“Perhaps a lesson to us all that these things are to be taken seriously?”

My Thoughts
This is another real piece of atmospheric mood magic. If played correctly, then I think this would send chills to the most hardy of us.

For me personally I am not sure that this one that I would use very often., but at the right time for the right people it could be a killer (excuse the pun).

On the other hand though this effect, and indeed the other two effects in the manuscript has made me think much more about the importance of storing telling with magic. Something that I feel can be is all too often missed nowadays.

[u]Bottom Line[/u]
If you think of a cross between Eugene Berger, Peter Marucci and Luke Jermay you may have a better idea of what these effects are all about.

For $10 you can’t go wrong and in the right setting for the right people I can guarantee that this manuscript will leave any spectators with a lasting impression.

For me the bottom line is that it is a good investment. Not just for the effects, but for the way it has made me re-evaluate my presentation.

In the UK the best place I have found for buying a whole range of Tarot Cards is Clive Bond’s wonderful Card Collection.

Bananafish Elite user Simon Shaw, Suffolk, England 415 Posts	Posted: Jul 1, 2004 01:13 pm 0 The Furtive Glance by Liam Montier PDF: $10.00 from http://www.magic-notes.com/thenotes/detail.php?product_id=31 Overview This is an interesting collection of three magic effects from the mind of Liam Montier, the creator of Henry Sugar. (See here for the topic). After the success and great reactions I get when performing Henry Sugar I have I was very keen to see Liam’s latest work, and I wasn’t in the least disappointed. In saying that these effects won’t be for everyone. They are not your standard "pick a card, any card" effects they fit into that strange genre magic called “bizarre”, and relies on the ability of the magician to set the required atmosphere, and to recant a story. If you are not put off by this, then you are in for a real treat, as within these pages there is the recipe to send spine chilling tingles up anyone’s back. 1: Astral Vision The Effect Picture the scene. You are seated at the table and a discussion is taking place on the subject of Psychic Phenomena. Every one is relating their own tales of telepathy and mind over matter, when you interject into the conversation the subject of "Astral Vision", That is to say, projecting your "subconscious being" elsewhere to witness something remotely. Taking out an old deck of cards and a vial of strange looking liquid, you offer to demonstrate an example of "Astral Vision". You ask one of the other people present to take the cards and to give them a good shuffle. The cards are placed back on the table and you ask the “lucky volunteer” to cut the cards. Everything seems very fair. The top card is placed by the spectator into his shirt pocket. No one has seen the card. You ask the volunteer to find your pulse as you explain that projecting yourself in this way is very dangerous as it is your inner self that projected. Your very essence. Your life force. You swallow the foul looking liquid and immediately start breathing deeply, apparently falling into a trance. Eventually your breathing and pulse slow down until they stop, but not for long. The breathing and pulse restart and you awake. It’s a three, a three of diamonds? [pause] and yes, there’s something else… it’s metal, small… a 5p coin? The amazed participant removes the two items from his pocket. The three of diamonds and the five pence piece… As Derren would say, "Spooky". My Thoughts Beautiful, and what’s more very easy. It involves a force (no kidding), but as far as I know this is a new one that Liam came up with himself, and I have to admit that it is a beauty. One of the fairest forces where the spectator gets to do all the work making it look so very clean. To be perfectly honest the force itself is worthwhile even if you like nothing else in the manuscript. Keeping in with the theme of the other two effects, there is also no reason that you couldn’t do this with a Tarot deck… 2: Pyromancy The Effect Pyromancy, fortune telling with fire, has been around for thousands of years, although it is rarely seen today. The lights are turned out and two candles are lit. The scene is set. The mage blows out one of the candles and holds the other one (the lit one) above it. At first nothing happens, however this is repeated a few times until eventually the flame from the top candle shoots down and lights the candle underneath it. WOW! “That is good. Very good. The fire is now ready to reveal your fate…” The spectator is directed to pick up the Tarot cards and pass them one at a time over the flames of the candles. Eventually one of the cards are engulfed in a momentary flash of fire! The card is turned over, and burnt into the face is the name of the volunteer. My Thoughts The effect is designed to follow up any other effect where a spectator chooses a Tarot card and is subsequently given a reading. Ideally the Tarot card used for Pyromancy would be same card that was selected for the previous effect. To some extent on my first reading, I felt that Liam glossed over the importance of the previous effect a little, but in fact it is all there. If I was having my cards read, I think that this would scare the pants off me. It is certainly a very visual convincer that there is more to the Tarot than meets the eye. Effect 3: Cruel Hand of Fate *The Effect* I shall copy this verbatim from the manuscript itself, as Liam covers it very nicely. “How many of you here have heard of Marcus Blacke? He was an occultist expert, and the author of many books on witchcraft, cartomancy, astrology, and so on, who died in 1996.” “However, for an expert in his field, he had one embarrassing phobia… he was petrified of tarot cards.” “Eventually, however, he had to research their meanings and study them, to form part of a forthcoming book, so he summoned up the courage.” “According to the story, his plan was to select a tarot card, and place it, sight unseen, into a sealed envelope. He scribbled the date onto the envelope, and continued with his day, the idea being that he could record the day’s events, and then check if the tarot reading was accurate when he arrived home.” From a box, the performer removes a deck of tarot cards and a brown envelope. The spectator shuffles the tarot, and then cuts them placing one of the cards into an envelope. “However, on the day of the experiment, Marcus was killed. Since then, this envelope has sat in the folds of his wallet, with the date of his death crudely scribbled on it in pencil. Just hold your hand out for me.” The envelope is laid onto a spectators’ hand. “Close your eyes, and imagine a date in your head. Name it out loud for me.” The envelope is turned over, and has the same date scribbled on the other side. “And had he been able to check the results of his little experiment, he’d have found that the tarot predicted his sudden end quite nicely…” For the first time, the spectators’ tarot card is tipped out of the envelope… It’s the Death card. “Perhaps a lesson to us all that these things are to be taken seriously?” My Thoughts This is another real piece of atmospheric mood magic. If played correctly, then I think this would send chills to the most hardy of us. For me personally I am not sure that this one that I would use very often., but at the right time for the right people it could be a killer (excuse the pun). On the other hand though this effect, and indeed the other two effects in the manuscript has made me think much more about the importance of storing telling with magic. Something that I feel can be is all too often missed nowadays. [u]Bottom Line[/u] If you think of a cross between Eugene Berger, Peter Marucci and Luke Jermay you may have a better idea of what these effects are all about. For $10 you can’t go wrong and in the right setting for the right people I can guarantee that this manuscript will leave any spectators with a lasting impression. For me the bottom line is that it is a good investment. Not just for the effects, but for the way it has made me re-evaluate my presentation. In the UK the best place I have found for buying a whole range of Tarot Cards is Clive Bond’s wonderful Card Collection. UK Magic Societies by region UK Magic Shops by region
montz Special user 576 Posts	Posted: Jul 1, 2004 04:42 pm 0 Banafish, Thank you for the review!!! Anyone else, please feel free to post comments or suggestions. Cheers, Liam.
Bananafish Elite user Simon Shaw, Suffolk, England 415 Posts	Posted: Jul 2, 2004 08:21 am 0 Just out of interest Liam, I know you have only just come out with this, but do you have any more pieces of work in the pipelines? UK Magic Societies by region UK Magic Shops by region
Svengali Regular user USA 138 Posts	Posted: Jul 2, 2004 08:34 am 0 Liam is about to publish a new book to be called Equinox.More information may be found on his web site http://www.liammontier.com The new web site http://www.magic-notes.com is great!
montz Special user 576 Posts	Posted: Jul 4, 2004 10:45 pm 0 Wow, took the words right out my mouth! Haha, thanx Svengarli! Equinox is almost finished, but to be honest, it may be sometime before it's around... I want it to be printed, and possibly to lecture with it... and all that takes time! But thanks for the interest guyz! :o) Liam.
Nicholas Special user I predict that I now have 900 Posts	Posted: Jul 7, 2004 12:13 am 0 Just recently finished The Furtive Glance. For a change, here are three effects offered...and I will use all three. That's 2 more usable effects for the price than I usually get out of a purchase. Methods are easy with nice presentations and interesting, creative twists along the way. Keep it coming!
montz Special user 576 Posts	Posted: Jul 18, 2004 08:05 pm 0 Hey Nicholas, glad you like the effects! Cheers matey, Liam.
montz Special user 576 Posts	Posted: Nov 3, 2004 08:58 am 0 Just to let you guys know, I have some hard copies available now - Printed on watermarked paper and comb bound. If your after a set, let me know. Cheers all, Liam.
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