Back in 2001 Brad Burt produced David Eldridge's booklet, Mind Control. In the booklet are David's thoughts on Equivoque, or The Magician's Choice Force. Brad said, "(the effects David has created using Equivoque) are subtle and maximally deceptive, and deliver a kind of pure effect that can be the highlight of a professional show."
David Devlin has now reproduced this booklet in e-book format. In it are detailed explanations of how Equivoque works and techniques that make it deceptive. There are routines to get you started, including a routine in which a spectator blindly sets a wristwatch to a random time. Neither the performer, nor the spectator sees the time set on the watch, which is kept under a cloth. The spectator now randomly selects three Tarot cards. He then arranges these cards so they create a "time". The watch is removed from under the cloth (no switch), and the time on the watch matches exactly!
This is a technique that every magician and mentalist should acquire, and this ebook is a treasure trove of information!
1st edition 2001, 23 pages.
word count: 7254 which is equivalent to 29 standard pages of text
Reviewed by Christian Fisanick (confirmed purchase)
★★★★★ Date Added: Friday 27 May, 2016Although it is as old as dirt, there isn't a lot of literature on equivoque, an essential, but often poorly handled, mentalism technique. You have Max Maven's seminal work, Docc Hilford's "E'Voque," and this pamphlet, which is not bad, but incomplete. Mark Elsdon, who is more proficient in equivoque than just about anyone around, keeps promising an encyclopedic, definitive work, but so far, it hasn't turned up. If it were me, I'd get UK mentalist Stephen Long's download video "The Art of Equivoque." It's very short, but it's to the point, cheaper than "Mind Control," and Long is a good, humorous lecturer. My equivoque technique is tried-and-true, but he gave me some new subtleties. Check it out.
Reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
★★★★★ Date Added: Wednesday 19 December, 2012Good But! Overall this is a good booklet - but for the price I was a little disappointed. There are some good points but the explanations are a little light in substance and the author tends to contradict himself. I am glad to have it on my shelf but you definately need other resources and that is the rub - there is very little information - I would recommend Max Maven's "Voice Control". This would have been a great book at half the price. Also the watch routine is good but you need to have a gimmick watch that is no longer available. But he does use the routine as an example of the magician's force. If you like the routine it can be duplicated with other methods.