A Look Back at 2005 and A Look Ahead at Higher Postal Rates

2005 is almost at an end. The newsworthy people and events
(at least so far as the U.S. is concerned) that made up this
year include tsunamis, Hurricane Katrina, Michael Jackson,
Richard Pryor, Jamie Foxx, Terry Schiavo, Peter Jennings,
the London bombings, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Jennifer
Aniston and Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Johnny
Carson, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, "Deep Throat,"
Rosa Parks, the White Sox and the U.S. Supreme Court.

But what about the notable, or best, mentalism products of
2005? Some were rather obvious, but my take on deciding
what goes on the list was to simply pretend as if a
mentalist said to me, "I didn't get anything released in
2005. What important stuff that was released should I get?"
Of course, I'm limiting myself to only those products which
I offer on my site.

My answer is the following sixteen items:

HARDCOVER BOOKS:
Barrie Richardson's Act Two
Barry Wiley's Indescribable Phenomenon
Chuck Hickok's Mentalism Inc Volume 2
Max Maven's Prism
Steve Cohen's Win the Crowd

SOFTCOVER BOOKS/BOOKLETS:
Docc Hilford's Cellular Mitosis
Docc Hilford's E'Voque
Docc Hilford's Nostrum Necromancy
Kenton Knepper's Perfected Prediction
Richard Osterlind's Principles of Magic

UTILITY ITEMS:
Anthony Blake & David Harber's ESP Chips
Magic Dream's Ultimate Marked Deck

EFFECTS:
Al Smith's Economicon
Rick Maue's The Final Picture

VIDEOS:
Richard Osterlind's Mind Mysteries Too
Magic Box's Submodalities The ESP DVD

Due to the versatility of Economicon, it could be considered
a utility item. The Final Picture's value is not
necessarily in the routine, but Rick Maue's wonderful
examination of the evolution of the effect and his detailed
thinking behind its creation. There were many fine effects
produced, but most effects are limited by the styles and
preferences of the performer. The effects above, including
ones described in the booklet, can fit just about any
mentalist's style with a little bit of thought. I consider
the following to be excellent products, but if they don't
suit your style, or you don't know how to suit it to your
style, then they're pretty much worthless to you.
Otherwise, they can be strong stuff for your act.

RUNNERS-UP:
Paul Harris' Deep Astonishment II
Larry Becker & Lee Earle's Double Feature
Rodrigo Romano's Gilligan's Prediction
Jon Allen's Silent Treatment

Needless to say, if you don't have the stuff above, you may
want to seriously consider adding it to your collection.
And, to find out why I liked this stuff, read the comments
on my site. Now, if I had to pick one mentalist item to
recommend that I don't catalog and is not on the list, it
would have to be Stuart Cumberland's e-book that covers his
version of Annemann's One-Man Mental Act. (I'm eagerly
awaiting the DVD companion set that he recently produced and
sold).

I'm sure I'll be getting e-mails about stuff that I completely
forgot about or overlooked, for some reason or another. So
let me know and I'll address some of those comments in a
later newsletter.


BICYCLE CARDS EXPLANATION . . . ?
A good friend gave me a reason that he was told as to why
Bicycle is letting folks like Royal Magic and Magic Dream
print marked cards. Allegedly, Canadian casinos used
Bicycle cards and were pretty finicky about letting the U.S.
Playing Card Co., manufacturer of Bicycle playing cards,
print up special cards. Recently, though, the Canadian
casinos switched to using the Bee backed cards, also
manufactured by U.S. Playing Card Co. and which Las Vegas
casinos use. And that means that the U.S. Playing Card Co
has relaxed their restrictions. I'm not sure if this
correct or not, but that's what I heard.

POSTAL RATES INCREASE
For those that don't know, the U.S. Postal Service will
raise their rates effective January 8, 2006. First-class
letters will go from 37 cents to 39 cents and the cheapest
priority mail goes from $3.85 to $4.05. And, yes,
everything else is going up, too. I apologize for that but,
on the other hand, this is the first major across-the-board
increase since 2002. (I know that all you U.S. readers will
be stocking up on those 2 cent stamps!)

IMPORTANT HOLIDAY SEASON SCHEDULE
I will be out of the office from Christmas until New Year's.
Any orders placed later this week or next will not go out
until the first week in January. I will still have access
to e-mail so you can still order and ask questions.

PRODUCT NEWS
Kreskin has just released a DVD on how to perform mental
feats. I don't really have high hopes that I'll be
recommending it, but there may something in there that some
may find useful. Perhaps that will be the value of having a
recording of Kreskin's performance. I'll be getting it
later this week, but my comments may not be up until after
the first of the year.

I want to wish everyone a very happy holiday season, a Merry
Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and any other
holiday that falls during this period.

Until next time. -- Jheff

NEW COMMENTS AND PRODUCTS ON THE WEBSITE:
TRANCE THIS
ULTIMATE MARKED DECK