Reviews of products by Al Mann
2 ★★★★★ reviews
1 ★★★★★ reviews
Non-Verbal Transmission
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Darius Acuna (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 05 December, 2024)
First of all, it's a good method. The first time I saw something like it, or perhaps it was this same method, I had an inkling of what it may be. It's a very good, albeit cumbersome, idea that will absolutely work.
I removed 2 stars because the ad copy skips over a crucial moment, which could have easily been included in its writing and still retain the secret. I spent hours attempting to recreate the system in my head and came up with almost the exact same thing on a whim. Upon reading the material, I do not feel so bad at my lack of ingenuity. It was everything I expected, and as such, is not wholely unsatisfactory.
This was not a waste of munny. For what you get, it's clear and solid system, but I firmly believe this is not the most superior one, as purported. For what you learn, it's a good start for coding, and builds a foundation for the kind of effort required for such a performance, if you so choose to pursue it. Thank you for this release.
Autobend Silverware
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Joe Libby
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 03 August, 2024)
Devin used to make and sell this very visual effect. But this ebook has very clear directions so you can make your own autobend spoon (or fork) for a few dollars. The effect will take a little practice, but it is not difficult, and Devin includes a lot of information on handling and presentation. Thanks to the phenomenon Uri Geller created, people expect magicians and mentalists to bend spoons, so this should play well in all kinds of venues. Highly recommended.
Psycho-Mentisis
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gregg Webb (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 29 January, 2024)
Slightly bizarre. Be aware that Al Mann's manuscripts have a very low production value, and the ideas may seem to not be practical at first read, you may find some things of interest after all. There are some items that need to be made and then worked with to get the knack, such as a switching device made of a wallet with a magnet. Paper clips seem to link, and end up really linked, due to a magnetized chain of paper clips switched for paper clips that really are linked. A similar thing with safety pins. He mixes in Jerry Andrus's idea also. A similar thing with nails that bend and some that just seem to bend but are really switched with sleight-of-hand. Then there are some really odd things with bringing bugs back to life. Finally, a dancing doll that is probably workable if you get the required strange magnets...possibly at a hobby store. The real bonus is that Bob McAllister's wonderful levitation Walking On Air, which Bob used to perform everywhere and anywhere, is explained here, except for a few technical improvements and the ability to get all the parts on Canal Street which is where Bob got all his from. All the tricks read as terrible ideas, but if you can figure out what he's actually talking about...you could revive Metal Bending and Bob McAllister's Walking On Air if you study this and read the Ads for Bob's version. Some may dislike the book and a few and far between readers may like it, or parts of it.
Autobend Silverware
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Andrew Baroch (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 29 September, 2023)
By far the best spoon-bending information on LYBRARY.COM: how to easily acquire some special gaffes and how to present. Gaffes needed are on Amazon for peanuts.
I found out THIS SPOON BENDING PDF. WAS THE BEST METAL BENDING offering on this site by reading the hardback book, "Bend it Like Geller." The technique and handlings explained here for $8 are explained in MORE detail than in the $45 book. You owe me! You owe me! :)
Al Mann's Sensational Boiler Escape: A Psychic Dematerialization
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Don Jarrard (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 23 November, 2022)
This is t.v. special material. The cost to make this is too much. You need permission to do it on t.v. but otherwise, it could really boost ratings. The secret was used by Houdini as I have seen in his books. Highly recommended as this could eventually be performed again someday.
How To Move A Mountain
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Don Jarrard (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 15 August, 2022)
Incredible. Now I can move any of the 160 islands in Lake Lanier. It is the largest in Georgia. Created in 1956 by the army. It has the distinction of the most dangerous as 700 people died in it. Great history to go with the trick. I study history so this secret should have been obvious.
Al Mann on Mentalism
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Christian Fisanick (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 28 October, 2017)
I'm not as effusive as the preceding reviewer. While this is an interesting enough listen--and you get a couple of great ideas for headline predictions and Q&A--the problem I have is that Mann is pretty insufferable. I lost count how many times he mentioned that he had written 93 things on mentalism. I'm not alone in my opinion. Richard Osterlind, who always comes across as a real gentleman, mentioned on one of his DVD or books, I forget, that he got the idea that Mann didn't like him and also that if you showed Mann something, he thought that it was now his to call his own. So there you have it--good for one listen and a couple of ideas. A marginal recommendation.
How To Move A Mountain
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Ronald M Levy (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 07 November, 2016)
Understanding how this effect is accomplished will add to your cleverness as a magician. This is clearly written and is a good read.
Secret of Touching Cobras - Without Getting Bitten
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Tor Ravengael (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 07 April, 2015)
Part of the method involved here is sickeningly cruel beyond belief. It involves causing injury and pain to the animal over and over over again. I'm not being dramatic. The book clearly describes it as "injury," and that's exactly what it is. It's just plain sadistic. Although the description states that the book is for educational and informational purposes only, he nonetheless tells you where you can buy a cobra, and the text is littered with phrases starting with "if you are going to..." and suggestions on what to feed your cobra. Yes, your cobra. The one that you didn't purchase and don't have because the book is for educational and informational purposes only. But if you do have a cobra, here's how you can repeatedly torture it.
Autobend Silverware
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Tim W.
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Thursday 08 November, 2012)
I've been wanting to do some metal bending for quite some time. I have the Liquid Metal DVD but never got around to ordering a supply of forks to begin the painful work of learning a bending routine. Then this caught my eye. I'm thinking...$8...how good can it be. So I downloaded. Wow. This is really a visual bend!
I read the reviews and Autobend Silverware and it got good reviews. Apparently, a previous release of the product contained a pre-made spoon gimmick. The PDF download for $8 does NOT have a gimmick. The manuscript provides detailed instructions on how to make your own gimmick. I was able to get some cheap but sturdy spoons to bend from Dollar General and the other "material." Within 30 minutes of leaving the house, I had my first first gimmick made. Within another 30 minutes of practicing I had revised a second gimmick to enhance the illusion of melting. Now am I confident I am ready to perform. It is really that easy.
Unlike some other famous fork routines, the bend really happens in front of the spectator. It can be a slow bend or a fast bend. The bending movement is surreal looking. It is self working. Like all self-working tricks, it still takes a little practice to get a smooth routine and handling figured out. You can hand out the pieces of the spoon after it melts apart. There is a little something that you need to ditch to be completely clean but you should be able to figure that out. By the end of the night, I was bending like a pro. This is one of those routines that you can do in front of the mirror and amaze yourself.
The total cost of the materials to make 6 bending spoons and a lifetime supply of the other material cost me about $8. So for a total of $16 clams I got a killer routine. Unlike Liquid Metal, where you are going to destroy dozens of forks to become proficient, with Autobend Silverware you reuse the gimmicked spoon. You can give out the pieces if you'd like but I don't see the need.
I haven't even read through the manuscript yet. It looks like there are a lot of routine ideas and handling for swapping out the gimmick. Highly recommended.
Al Mann on Mentalism
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Grandpa Chet Cox (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 02 August, 2010)
For thirty bucks, you get detailed descriptions of one of the most impossible headline prediction effects (which, by itself, sold for more than $30 a couple of years ago), plus other prediction methods, PLUS other mentalism effects which were and are ahead of their time.
And that's not even the best part of these audio files!
Al had so much to say, so MUCH good advice for the performer and creator, that it's amazing it didn't take the entire day to relate. His conversational style makes this a pleasant listen, and you WILL want to listen more than once -- at least once, you'll want to take copious notes.
This is VERY underpriced.
The Lexicon Phenomena
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Charles Stylesmith
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 10 April, 2007)
$80 for the instructions and a bit of hard labor.
BUT...
You'll have the most astounding audience knockout of your act!!!