Reviews: Read What Others Are Saying: page 70
169 ★★★★★ reviews
120 ★★★★★ reviews
78 ★★★★★ reviews
122 ★★★★★ reviews
Watch-ing
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Alfonso Bartolacci (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 17 September, 2012)
I am really disappointed...big giants of mentalism ( ? ) that write in the review.."mixture of subtleties", "manipulating people's mind", "mind control"...where happened all tihis stuff in this routine ? Two steps of recycled thought, old material about old force about old plot, nothing about presentation, nothing about what to say or how to justify the movements....only a trick...try just to have a spectator that FEEL the difference of the stem pressume the first and the second time.....where is "manipulating people's memory"? Which row of which page contains such incredible psycological subtleties? But please.........!!!!!
Cups and Balls in 18th Century France
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Gillian Wilson (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 28 August, 2012)
This is perhaps the best book ever written on cups & balls. McWeeney certainly has done a masterful job of researching. His writing is fluid and easy to understand - even for the beginner. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about this intriguing artform.
S.C-A.R-E.D
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Howard Port (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 10 August, 2012)
This effect is quite easy to do and it is an absolute stunner. You can put all your efforts into presentation. I bought this pdf shortly after seeing the very positive review in the 8/12 Linking Ring of the DVD version of the same effect. Perhaps you can learn more handlings from the DVD (it appears to have a few extra ways of using the basic ideas) but this manuscript is crystal clear. For less than 1/4 of the price of the DVD, you can be doing SCARED in a few hours.
3 Coins 4 Your Thoughts
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 31 July, 2012)
I am new to giving readings and this does assume some basic understanding of the concepts of scripting a reading. I found this booklet to be extremely helpful in establishing a frame work from which to work and really enjoyed reading it. I am on my third read now and look forward to actually performing this. Highly recommended if you are interested in this sort of thing.
S.C-A.R-E.D
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 23 July, 2012)
Wow! Just got this and started playing around with the method - it looks great! The movement is completely under your control and the angles are excellent. For $8.00 this is a bargain. Easy to prep and no threads to play around with so lighting is not an issue Two methods are given as well as different presentations submitted by other users. 24 pages of well written and easy to follow instructions.
Spell-Binder Magazine
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 22 July, 2012)
I just purchased this download and already have my money's worth of great ideas and I have only read the first couple of issues. At over 700 pages this is going to take some time to get through. It has been said the way to keep a secret is to put it in print. Some of the best minds in the 80's contributed to this magazine - I am looking forward to savoring every page.
Duplo: drawing duplication
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 21 July, 2012)
All I can say is WOW! An old classic reworked - Bravo!
Another winner for Lybrary.com and Mr Prager - I also have his Cliff download - check it out also. I will definately be purchasing more of Mr Prager's material
Fundamentals
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Chet Cox (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 15 July, 2012)
My only complaint is that the rating system here at Lybrary.com only goes up to "good." This should be rated "outstanding" at the very least.
There are only two books you NEED to read to become a good mentalist. This is one of them. Add Osterlind's "the Principles of Mentalism" to Cassidy's "Fundamentals" and you have available to you the best advice gleaned from the best experience of two lifetimes.
If I had to pick just ONE to start with, it would be "Fundamentals." (But don't cheat yourself. Get both.)
Within these pages, Bob recommends a different book for those who want to really learn to perform mentalism well. He's wrong, but it wasn't his fault. "Fundamentals" hadn't been published yet - and "Fundamentals" is the first book you want.
Best of luck finding a mentalism book BETTER than this one.
Blackstone Magic Comics
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Chet Cox (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 15 July, 2012)
The art was pretty darned good, and the scripts weren't bad either - ranging from VERY exciting to fairly entertaining. Gibson was one of those writers who was always strong on plot and mood - and with Blackstone, he had the best of all of his fanboy skills in play.
Walter Gibson loved magic. Can't ask for a better protagonist for mysteries starring a magician than Blackstone. - check Walter Gibson loved mysteries. The guy who created the character we know as The Shadow brings that same strong scripting here.
Walter Gibson loved comics. He may have disparaged them from time to time - the pay sucked mop water, and comics were generally frowned upon, especially from the late 1940s through the 1950s. But he never wrote down to his readers, and always gave us his best.
Whether comics, magic books, magic magazines, or pulp adventures, no one has done it better than Walter Gibson. And the many comics that he wrote of Blackstone were among his best!
Lift
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Maurice Sabloff
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 13 July, 2012)
This is a very cool idea. My only complanint is the deseptive video used in the ad. It shows the hand go down and never leave again and that's just not the truth. Shame on you. The effect is good enough to recomend. You don't have to bs the puplic by fake editing.
What I Learned From Making Way Over 250,000 Fun Balloon Creations
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Troy Murphie (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 07 July, 2012)
This ebook does contain some very helpful information from a sincere working professional. Only gripe I have is that it could have been published on a lot less pages if the font was smaller. You'll know what I mean when you purchase it. This ebook is not just for the balloon worker. I found some useful tips that will enhance my style of entertaining children in general. Thankyou Topper!
Orson Welles: The Man Who Was Magic
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 07 July, 2012)
Isabella's Star
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Aire Allegro
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 01 July, 2012)
Simply Genius, Perfect and Amazing!
This is simple to perform and is SO strong. I need not say more.
My Q and A
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Ewen Wilson (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 16 June, 2012)
Well Scott's done it again, I have to say that I completely agree with Scott that how you acquire the information is of paramount importance and in this routine Scott has excelled himself. There are no clever gimmicks, just a very clever combination of tried and trusted methods that result in an extremely clean, innocent and in the hands of a competent mentalist potentially showstopping Q?A. This is extremely well thought out, I bought it last week and ran through it with the necessary bits and pieces in hand and the more I worked with it the more I liked it. Scott's routine has at least a couple of moments built in where the entire audience are involved and has a clever climax to round the routine off.
Well worth the money and a method that I will be using.
Charlie Miller Lecture Notes
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Jovica Blanusa
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Sunday 10 June, 2012)
Great booklet! I hope we will see more of Charlie Miller material!
My Q and A
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Colin White (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 08 June, 2012)
Scott does it again. A must for any mentalist who really wants to entertain their audience. Another fully routined complete act with little preparation which is fully practical
Tarot in Your Pocket
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Colin White (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 08 June, 2012)
Great. This will leave you asking why didn't I think of that. The reason is you are not Scott with his flair for developing simple ideas into full performable routines. This can be developed into a complete act and all you need is a few double sided blank cards and a five minutes once only preparation.
The Corporate Mentalist
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Colin White (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 08 June, 2012)
This is powerful stuff. Wonderfully clear explanations coupled with practical advice. It is a must read for any mentalist hoping to enter the corporate market. This is a shining example of how to routine an act.
Swipeit
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Bradley (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 06 June, 2012)
I purchased the original short manuscript for SwipeIt when it was first released and I have now had the chance to read this new, updated edition.
First of all I found the new technique for the secret move to be great and I love how it looks much cleaner than the original version.
As well many of the contributions are great. I particularly enjoyed Mauricio Jaramillo's contribution "Words" and have been playing around with his principle for a while now. Also "iShiner" and "iThumper" are great ways of using the iPhone as a utility device for different effects.
All in all this is a great ebook and well worth the price. I will be using SwipeIt for Remote Viewing and Ebook tests the next time I get the chance.
Isabella's Star
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by James Braund
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 05 June, 2012)
I posted this elsewhere but thought I should put it here in particular as its being sold here...
I got this when it was at the lower price and I thought it was underpriced then, I'm glad to see the price has risen but is still too cheap in my opinion at $28. What you get is not only the diabolical date divination method but also a full routine complete with some really nice subtelties and a delightful back story to set the scene for the piece.
The routine itself shows all the signs of coming straight from a worker's set list - it has all situations covered and each stage of the process has been boiled down to be as direct as possible and the subtleties selected seem to be the result of actual permforming rather than speculative idealism. So often I have bought an ebook and thought "great but this just won't work in the real world." I'm pleased to say this isn't the case with David and Peter's well crafted routine - motivated, direct and the justification for the methods selected is laid out in the book. As a straight bit of mindreading it plays well right of the box so to speak. I perform storytelling/bizarre type magic informally so needed to swing wildly away from the presentation described in the book in order to fit my style - that is where the true genius of their creation shines brightly.
At the core of Isabella's star is an ORIGINAL method (quite a rarity these days) for divining the actual date a spectator has in their mind. The method is wonderfully direct and relatively simple when you consider similar star sign divinations. I'm sure those who would be most interested in this are like me - they have a stack of sign and date divinations which we read in earnest hoping for something practical and convincing but ultimately fell short in delivering. Many I have read used long fishing sequences and/or required considerable memorising and/or calculation. Izzy's star does not suffer from that hinderance. In fact I prepared a small crib and was able to play around with it amongst friends fairly quickly.
What excited me the most about this, indeed compelled me to sing its praises to anybody who'll listen, was the method. It is possible to remove it from the given routine and apply easily to other effects, even replacing other methods within one's current routines. It doesn't involve endless fishing, outs or guesswork, by its nature it creates little hits on your way to the reveal and to be honest it wasn't too taxing on my simple brain (which is most pleasing!)
I had for some years been searching for a book test that would allow me to force (in order to reveal) a particular date from the huge book - Haydn's Dictionary of Dates. I had played with the idea of an imp pad or c.t, allowing it to be a free choice followed by a reveal but I disliked having the spectator writing anything down. I never found anything that I liked so it remained an idea gathering dust at the back of my mind, until I discovered this gem of a method. It was whilst experimenting with the book of dates that I remembered another smaller book I had bought on impulse and never found a use for - a victorian lady's pocket diary with birthday reminders in the back of it. About 120 names and their birthdays were inscribed in fine script and perfect for the Izzy's Star method transitioning it from the stage to intimate close up. Once you have it in your arsenal the more innovative will undoubtedly find far greater and more complex uses for it but for me it is enough to have my spectator select their date I reveal it with a little help from my spirit guide/genie in a bottle/resident ghost or whatever takes my fancy. I love that I can use my old props and reveal or have the spectator imagine a date of their own choosing, that it's easy to do but so clever that it defies reverse engineering and to be blunt - that it just so direct with no akward wordplay or ambiguity.
I have to thank David and Peter for devising and releasing this and making so many things possible for me now that I had long abandoned. It's a well thought out routine for those inclined to play it as is but the method is simply sublime - congratulations on such innovative thinking. I cannot imagine how on earth you came up with the core modus but I'm glad you did. I really do hope there is more to come from you guys but you have set quite a bar for yourselves - this should become a principle anybody interested in date and star sign related divination needs to be familiar with. Direct, simple and the method itself can be applied to other effects - what more could anyone want? For the price I still think you get a lot of value for money, maybe the price will rise once people start using this (they will) and others catch on to the value of having in their possesion this most devious tool.
Sincerely and fraternally
James
Isabella's Star
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Leonard Coulson
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 29 May, 2012)
Isabella's Star is a beautiful and inspiring routine that allows you to divine anyone's birth date.
This is an exceptional work for several reasons: the methodology is completely new (these guys created a great system to divine a thought of date), it includes a fully structured and complete routine and it also includes a very personal component due to the story provided with it.
The main method behind it is the best date divination I've read so far because it doesn't include fishing and it's completely invisible for the audience. Terrific routine!
The Dark Waltz
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Friday 18 May, 2012)
This was my first book on Bizarre Magic and I loved it. The Esasys were excellent and really got me thinking. Great routines. My only problem was when I sat down to read it I could not put it down. Looking forward to my second read through. Even if you are not into Bizarre (I have one toe in the water) there are lessons to be learned from this book
Routine in Major D
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Skott Hughes (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Wednesday 16 May, 2012)
This is a very clever set of effects (4) that are shown in the great style of card master Juan Tamariz. The video is long and the routine comes in at around 15 to 20 min depending on your presentation.
Taught very clear. The only draw back is 3 a hand poker effect that's shown in the middle isn't shown in the explanation. (I fig. it out though). A real good effect and worth the price.
The Expert at the Card Table
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Monday 14 May, 2012)
Pentalogy
Overall customer rating: ★★★★★reviewed by Phil Reda (confirmed purchase)
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Saturday 12 May, 2012)
Give me more - this is one of the best book purchases I have made - there is so much usable material - Thank You Shane! After reading this book I am looking at all my material from a different perspective. This is what magic is supposed to look like.