Brain Pains (Reviews of Brain Scan Wallet and Brain Waver)

Here's what's in this edition of
Jheff's Marketplace of the Mind Newsletter

*** BRAIN SCAN WALLET by John T. Sheets
*** BRAIN WAVER by Bill Goldman


*********
Well, I'm certainly glad I don't have celebrity parents who
think it's cool to give their kids cute names. I suppose
Suri (Tomkat's kid) and Shiloh (Brangelina's kid) aren't as
bad for girls as some others (like Penn Jillette's daughter,
Moxie Crimefighter). And I'm still cringing at Pilot
Inspektor (Jason Lee's son). Yeah, and this is coming from
a guy who spells his name Jheff.

Anyhow, speaking of things to cringe at, the two items
reviewed in this newsletter are two items that I just can't
recommend. One is well-made, but just not a good value.
The other is just . . .well, forgettable.

If you're looking for the good stuff, then check out the
Dracula Book Test, a very easy and diabolical book test
that's not original in technique but incredibly effective;
Docc Hilford's The Jagged Edge, a technique that can briefly
be described as the center tear on steroids, although it
isn't a center tear; and Peter Nardi's Stealth Assassin
wallet, which is the new mentalist's Swiss Army Knife that
will become your new everyday wallet.

But for now, let the brain pains begin.


Until next time. -- Jheff

*********
JOHN T. SHEETS'
BRAIN SCAN WALLET
JMOM Price: n/a
Suggested Retail Price: $150

THE BLURB:
Effect:

After discussing the possibility of thought transference,
the performer, removes a business card from a small wallet.
Folding the card in half, the performer instructs an
audience member to think of something important, anything; a
number, like a date, or the last 4 digits of their phone or
Social Security number. They are then directed to print
those digits on the blank portion of the business card and
refold the card so no one can see inside. The performer
retrieves the card and immediately, with no 'moves' at all,
slips the card into an outside pocket on the wallet. The
card remains folded and in sight throughout the performance.
The performer opens the wallet and peels off a Post-It note
from the pad inside. He closes the wallet and sets it aside
or hands it to an audience member. He concentrates, looking
intently at the spectator, then writes something on the note
paper, folds it and places it on a table or in another
participant's hand. The first spectator is asked to disclose
what they concentrating on. The second participant opens the
note to reveal that the mentalist has received those
thoughts clearly and absolutely accurately!

With the Brain Scan Wallet, you have maximum peeking
security with absolute ease of use. The target card is
folded for security and remains in view throughout the
entire performance...still retrieve the information
perfectly! Throw away those old forcing methods! Forget
about playing cards for the final revelation in Mental
Epic...with the Brain Scan Wallet they can write anything
they want...you can read it immediately with no center tear,
no sleight of hand, and no fear!

Unlimited number of effects are possible. Includes a
complete routine by Mark Strivings!

Add information as well as read it
No special paper
Folded business card stays in view
Repeat as desired
No suspicious peeking moves
No sleight of hand
No angle problems
No magnets
Design Duplication
No threads
Spectator can concentrate on any topic
No Center Tear
No liquids or powders
No set up required
Perform anytime, close up or stage
No himber wallet
Business card is folded and opaque
No electronics
Use your own, regular business card
No forces
Comes complete with Post-It note pad, wallet (made of
highest quality leather, lining, and brass corners) and 9
pages of instructions.

Wallet Dimensions (folded) Approximately 4" x 2 1/2" (10cm x
6.25cm)


MY COMMENTS:
At $150 MSRP, this is more expensive than the currently
marketed Outlaw Wallet or Mark Strivings' SUC Wallet. It's
also slightly cheaper than the Stealth Assassin wallet
which, being four gimmicked wallets in one, has much more
versatility, although it's credit-card sized and not a
business card-sized wallet. This is certainly well made and
it certainly allows you to get a peek easily from a folded
card.

BUT -- and you knew this was coming, right!? -- adding the
fold in the wallet is magician's guilt. It's not necessary.
It's the magician trying to make the conditions more
impossible, when it doesn't have to be. For most laymen,
putting a card face-down in an outside of a wallet is secure
enough. I don't see the extra need to have it folded. But,
if you wanted to do that, the SUC wallet and the Steatlh
Assassin, which incorporates the SUC, can allow you to peek
inside that as well. You just have to modify the handling a
bit, but it's very workable.

Also, the versatility of this wallet is limited. It's a
peek wallet and nothing more. And, currently, when you have
the SUC wallet, which has several functions, and the Stealth
Assassin, which is like the mentalist's swiss army knife,
having limited functionality for such a high price just
doesn't make sense as a product investment. Sure, had the
BSW been priced at $50 or $60, which would be more
comparable to the Outlaw Wallet or the SUC wallet, then I
would probably recommend it. Despite the good workmanship,
I can't bring myself to recommend it, nor even catalog it,
knowing there is better value and more versatile peek
wallets on the market currently.

*********
BILL GOLDMAN'S
BRAIN WAVER
JMOM Price: n/a
Suggested Retail Price: $15

THE BLURB:
Mathematical principles have always existed, waiting to be
discovered. For example, if you take any two digit number
and subtract the sum of the two digits, e.g. 41-5 or 76-13,
you will get an answer divisible by nine.

This principle has been used many times in several tricks.
Sometimes it has even produced something magical. One of
Bill's favorites appears on the internet under the title
"The Flash Mindreader," the creation of Wayne Hoffman,
magician, mind reader and software designer.

Hoffman's creation inspired Randy Malcolm, jet-setting
magician. He called Bill and described an effect similar to
the Flash Mind reader that placed apparently random playing
cards on a numerical list. The card at their number would
than be revealed in a sealed envelope. Sealed and revealed.
That has a nice ring to it. His effect evolved over the
course of a couple of weeks, incorporating a pair of dice
and some wonderful nuances. Bill came into the picture when
he asked Bill to lay out the list for him.

In working on Randy's list, Bill came up with a variation
using words. This took several jumps, and in my effort to
get as far away from the mathematics and then the words,
Bill came up with the following. The results play very big.

MY COMMENTS:
Longtime readers know that I'm not a fan of Bill Goldman's
mental magic. He most notably took a well-known Ned
Rutledge effect and sold his version, entitled Mental Yarn,
without crediting or mentioning Ned Rutledge at all.
Needless to say, that version is clearly inferior to the
original.

Well, Mr. Goldman has done it again. He's taken a well-worn
principle (which is described in the blurb and should be
recognizable to experienced mentalists) and has applied it
to words, which is not a new idea. And Mr. Goldman has
added a principle, but that combination is not a
revolutionary idea either (Becker, Earle, and Himelrick used
it, for example). What you get is an eight page instruction
booklet sandwiched between two covers. That's it. In other
words, your getting something old that someone wants to
convince you is something new. What's worse is that I
believe Mr. Goldman truly thinks that he's created something
new and it's not.

This sells for $15US and is about $10US too much. In fact,
if it's reduced by $10US, it's probably still overpriced.
Save your money.