Reviews of products by Michael Paul
1 ★★★★★ reviews
First Impression(s)
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Etienne Lorenceau (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 30 May, 2013)
The idea of the author is fundamentally brilliant and it works. Patrons will show the card to several people and may even try and use it for a while for their own profit.
Now it seems to me that the author is pushing his great idea in the wishful thinking zone when he suggests not to mention the Tel number to lead the prospects into getting into the performer's website. This shows, in my opinion, that he doesn't fully knows how people rich enough to hire a magician, operate in their daily life. A wealthy patron receives many cards almost daily and gives it to his assistant to enter in his computer. If the phone number is not on there, he will not spend the time to look for it in the website. He'll ask his assistant to look for the number but will resent having had to do this.
Driving the patron to look into the website is a good idea in itself but it should be done differently and during the time that the prospect is still under the charm of "first impression" (and that will not last for ever: at best a couple of days).
Therefore I would suggest that the tel number should be on the card but that some of the questions raised by the card get their "detailed personal answers' on to the website. If the prospect has to enter his email to access the website, then it's simple to have the website automatically directing him to some right brain left brain cold reading pages -and have a random selection of several pages for each brain side so that if he shows the site to a friend after showing him the business card, they don't get the same description (keeping a tag however for the same person always getting the same comment). Detailed cold reading description can be copied from books on the subject.
Now this positive criticism shouldn't deter smart magicians from purchasing the book as the fundamental idea remains totally proper and valid.
It can be just used as such or open many cold reading possibilities like Kenton Knepper's "Completely Cold" which, by the way could easily be programmed on a web site instead of pre-entering cold reading pages.
Now the First Impression commercial aim could be completed by including a justified exchange of business card and asking the patron's birthday (or wedding day) to be written on his card. Then the magician gets an info where HE can call the patron a few week in advance from his birthday, referring to his own First Impression business card, and suggest a gig
A fantastic commercial and magical idea that should be pushed further either by the author or by the reader.
A book definitely worth purchasing
Attacking ACAAN
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Paul Philavong (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 21 November, 2011)
There are 4 Tricks in this booklet, neither one of them will give you the satisfaction that you came very close to the Berglas Effect.
Trick #1 - Psychometry Cards - Not ACAAN by a long shot but has a good potential to be a classic of magic.
Trick #2 - T Minus 1 - It is an ACAAN but at the end you, the magician, will never get the full satifaction of feeling like being the "hero" of the show.
Trick #3 - ACAAN OCD - Not an ACAAN because the cards are not shown from the get go, and when they finally make their appearance, they are uncased and it involves sleight of hands.
Trick #4 - Almost ACAAN - The world "Almost" in the title should give you a hint. This method involves additional props.
My last word on this booklet: if you are seriously seeking for something close to the "original and acclaimed" Berglas effect, you will be disappointed. I was.