Mentalism in the May Sweeps

It's been a few weeks since the last newsletter. I want to
welcome all the new subscribers and I've gotten quite a bit
during this past month. Since I've started it, quite a few
customers have been unitially confused about the
pay-now-and-pay-for-shipping-later policy. Admittedly,
though I think it's the best way to give you the best
shipping price, it is somewhat of a hassle in that it adds
steps to the ordering process. So, I've decided to make it
easy and configure my shopping cart to automatically figure
out shipping as best it can. My shopping cart system had
not been able to do that satisfactorily in the past, but
recently the company has improved their ability to do so, so
I'm working on using that feature. Unfortunately, it's
still not completely working. For now, anyone from the U.S.
will get the correct USPS Priority Mail charge, but foreign
shipping will still have to be done separately. Hopefully,
soon it will be up and running and I'll change the shipping
FAQ page. If you order something, and the shipping price
looks odd, just let me know.


***** LAST WORDS ON MOVEO
Richard Osterlind and James Cheung had a chat and cleared
things up about the creation of Moveo. In essence, James
apologized for not checking out Richard's Psychic Control
and Richard said that his harsh statements against James
were in direct response to James' words and others who
defended him. Both men agreed that the matter was amicably
settled, although Moveo is definitely off the market.

I did mention in a post on Richard's blog
(www.osterlindmysteries.com) that I hoped that this will
serve as a lesson to those who wish to market new products.
Don’t rush to publish. Ask those who’ve been in the business
for awhile before doing so. Those who are truly professional
(like Richard Osterlind or Max Maven, for example) are ones
you don’t need to be afraid of stealing your ideas. If the
ideas are good, you’ll be told so. If they’re not or they’re
copies of someone else’s ideas, you’ll be told that, too.

Oh, and the flip side to this is that performers themselves
shouldn’t rush to buy the latest products, too. This is a
big problem and a big reason why some internet retailers are
making lots of money. It's also one of the reasons why I
started the Marketplace of the Mind.

***** $: USING NON-U.S. CURRENCIES
Bryn Reynolds' $ continues to get raves and comments. And
many have asked me about whether it's adaptable to non-U.S.
currency. It can and I've updated my comments on $ to
reflect that. I've included them below.

A WORD ON USING NON-U.S. CURRENCIES:
As I played with $, a couple of alternative handlings came
to mind that I liked very much. It also occurred to me that
these handlings would work quite well with non-U.S.
currency. Bear in mind, that Bryn takes advantage of a
little known feature on U.S. bills that one may not be able
to use with non-U.S. currency. Also, you'll have to make up
your own crib sheet, but it's easy to make, as you'll see.
Anyhow, I wrote up these handlings and sent it Bryn. Those
who purchase it now will get a copy of those handlings. If
you purchased it already, contact Bryn and he'll send it to
you.

***** THE TV TRICKSTERS ARE BACK!!
Here in the States, it's sweeps week. That's when
television networks pull out their big shows to attract
viewers and gain big ratings for advertising revenues. And,
as stated above, some of TV's most recent
mentalists/magicians make their return. Here's the schedule
(though please check your local listings):

Monday, May 8th:
David Blaine has a new special on ABC at 8:00 p.m.

Friday, May 12th:
Keith Barry has a special on CBS at 8:00 p.m. It's called
"Extraordinary."

Wednesday, May 31st:
Criss Angel's new season of Mindfreak airs on A&E begins.
Also, the pilot episode for "The Magic Castle After Dark"
will air in conjunction with it.

***** JASON ALEXANDER, THE MENTALIST!
Jason Alexander, Seinfeld's George, performed this week at
the Magic Castle and he performed a mentalism act. Although
he didn't do any original effects, the routines he did were
polished and the presentations were creative and extremely
entertaining. He's definitely a talented performer. But
you probably knew that already.

I will be checking out two PK-type items later this week:
Yigal Mesika's Electronic Touch this week and the
Wizard PK Ring.

And I hate ending on this note, but I just got word that the
legendary Billy McComb passed away. We'll miss that ol'
leprechaun. He was an incomparable and irreplaceable
presence in the performing arts community.


Until next time. -- Jheff

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