Mind Control Remastered, Taylor Made Book Test, & Blistered

I generally like to fast track reviews of the good stuff and
take my time with the other stuff. But, this time, I've had
much stuff cross my desk that I want to forcefully throw
back at someone along with a few well-chosen profanities.
However, as most know, I'm way too nice to be violent. I do
call them like I see them, though. And I'll call the three
items below as items to avoid.

If you want the good stuff that's been newly added, though,
there's plenty of it that I just added to the site. We'll
start with Alain Nu, who has a new book called Nu Secrets &
Realities. John Riggs is feverishly producing a series of
DVDs covering quite a few really cool ideas, routines,
props, etc. The series is entitled "Gods with Feet of Clay"
and the first three volumes are available now. All of these
are part of my Friends of the Marketplace series.

Jay Sankey's material is definitely creative. Like David
Regal, Jay is a very creative magician to keep an eye on.
Though they both treat mentalism as a type of magic, their
ideas are certainly great and shouldn't be overlooked. In
any case, Sankey's line of products is now available to me.
I've added one terrific effect (Just Imagine), one
incredible utility item (Gemini Pouch), and two DVDs (22
Blows to the Head, Extremely Mental).

Kenton Knepper has a new book out called Mystery by
Association and a new effect called A Cut Above, which is a
new look at an old principle. The book has been added and
the effect will be up early next week.

Finally, John Archer's Collard, a very cool version of the
Koran Medallion, will be available from me next week. I'm
also getting Marc Oberon's Bang On to check out at the same
time.

Don't forget to check the website regularly as I'm adding
news, comments, and products constantly.

***** TRIO AND THE MEMORY PILL ACT
I'm absolutely surprised that there isn't more talk about
these two new publications by one of mentalism's most
revered creators. I suppose everyone wants to keep his
material secret or underground. I can certainly understand
that, but come on. Let's fete the gentleman and make sure
that this generation of mentalists knows who he is. TRIO is
a book comprised of three complete knock-out mentalism acts.
And THE MEMORY PILL ACT, one of Bascom Jones' favorites, is
a complete act, as well. Getting paid to do any one of
these acts will more than cover the cost of both. Step on
over to the Marketplace of the Mind and check them out, if
you haven't already. And, if you have and have not ordered
them, do so. I know that you'll be glad you did.

Incidentally, the price will be going up very soon on THE
MEMORY PILL ACT. Those who purchase TMPA at its $19.95
price will be receiving an e-mail about how to obtain the
next e-book, the second volume of The Private Files of Jack
Kent Tillar, before anyone else and a special sale price.

***** PRODUCT UPDATE
Ne Plus Ultra, Harvey Berg's incredible new booktest, is
still available, but my distributor doesn't have many copies
left. After they're gone, they may not be easy to get as
only a certain number were made. If you're interested in it,
I'd get it now.

Devin Knight's Blindsight has been selling extremely well.
I've had a hard time keeping them in stock and so has my
distributor. But I have just secured a small batch of them.
Now would be a good time to get one of those, if you haven't
yet.

***** MARKETPACE MEMBERSHIP CLUB
The first issue of Jheff's Journal of the Mind features
Greg Arce. The issue features some of Greg's most
creative work. To get it, you need to buy a membership
in the Marketplace of the Mind. For the $37 cost
you get a subscription to the 2007 issues of
Jheff's Journal of the Mind, an all-new e-zine for
mentalists, and an additional 5% discount off merchandise
from the Marketplace of the Mind. There will also be
specials and other stuff throughout the year. Check out the
free preview edition of the Bonus #0 issue featuring Jack
Kent Tillar. Go to the website and click on the banner at
the top. Or use the link below.

Check it out here:
www.marketplaceofthemind.com/jmmc.html

***** THE FRIENDS OF THE MARKETPLACE
Don't forget to check out the new Friends of the Marketplace
section. This is for those creators who are producing
wonderful products that I don't carry. This is because, to
save overhead, I order as needed from my distributor, and
these creators aren't mass distributing it. If you'd like
me to review your product and help you sell it, then you'll
find details about the Friends of the Marketplace program on
the website. There's a button on the left hand side for you
to click on.

Brand new to the section is Alain Nu's NU SECRETS &
REALITIES and John Riggs' first three volumes of his DVD
series, GODS WITH FEET OF CLAY. If you know the work of
these two highly revered performers, you know that I don't
need to say too much more. You'll be buying them within
minutes of reading that they're available, unless you
already did, of course.

You'll also find Millard Longman's incredible new peek
method,ACIDUS GLOBUS; Alan Strydom's very nice and powerful
routine, CREATING IMPACT; and Enrique Enriquez'The
Invisible Tarot, a wonderful reading system for Tarot cards.
Also,you'll find Reflections, an impressive new prop from
Outlaw Products, who also produced the wonderful Homicide,
Manhattanville, Sinister, and Kioku. You'll also find
links to some other wonderful products. There's the new
version of Nick Morton's A Dangerous Love, which is a
unique book test; Josh Quinn's Ascension, which is a
diabolical reading system using supermarket horoscope
books; Millard Longman's Acidus Novus DVD, a masters
course on one of mentalism's most important techniques;
Bryn Reynold's powerful casino card effect, Double Down,
and his serial number divination gem, simply entitled $.

Remember, I don't make a dime on this stuff. I do this
because I think the stuff is very good and worth it.

http://www.jheff.com/friendsofthemarketplace.html


Until next time. -- Jheff

*********
BILL ABBOTT
MIND CONTROL REMASTERED
JMOM Price: n/a
Suggested Retail Price: $25

THE BLURB:
An Impromptu Classic Gets The Full Treatment.

Imagine. You place three objects in a row on a table. A set
of keys, a credit card, and a watch. You hand a willing
participant a pen and ask them to write down the object they
seem most drawn to. The participant makes an ABSOLUTELY FREE
CHOICE of any object. They can even change their mind. You
then reveal an indelible prediction left in full view from
the very beginning that reveals their chosen object!

Mind Control is...

A totally free choice! No forcing involved.
Guaranteed that you will always be correct.
Easy and convenient to carry with you everywhere.
Performed with common objects supplied by you and your
audience.
Self contained and performable anytime, anywhere and without
a moments notice.
A prediction that is in full view of the audience from the
beginning.
So easy to learn you will be performing it almost as soon as
you open the package.
Mind Control can be presented as a stunning demonstration of
linguistics, psychology and neurology to convince anyone you
actually possess the power to control their minds!
Mind Control is the one you will have with you ALWAYS!

The New Mind Control DVD Contains...

Information revealed for the very first time. Bill Abbott
explains how to perform Mind Control using three, five and
six objects PLUS The Mind Control Deluxe Routine where the
number of objects is increased to TEN. This makes the
predicted outcome decidedly more impossible. There is an
in-depth examination on performing Mind Control one-on-one,
at a house party and on stage in front of a large audience.
Professional tips and presentation ideas from other
performers that use Mind Control on a regular basis are
provided as well. Finally, Bill Abbott supplies you with
recommended resources and effects to enhance your Mind
Control performances and how to customize the effect to suit
your own personal style.

Comes complete with everything you need to perform.

MY COMMENTS:
This is good example of what happens when a magician, who
apparently knows little about mentalism, "creates" (or
re-creates) a mentalism "classic." When this first version
of this came out, I blasted this as a ripoff. Bill Abbott
had taken an obviously classic plot and added little to it
that any mentalist with any experience wouldn't do anyway.
Oh, you know the effect. Three items, such as colored
cards, are placed on the table. One is freely chosen and
the spectator then is shown a prediction indicating that the
mentalist knew exactly which item was going to be chosen.
What Bill Abbott has done has affixed the revelation on
everyday items that men carry around with them. Huh?!
Having the prediction engraved on a keychain or a pen seems
somewhat hokey, especially since this is supposed to an
impromptu piece. Even though the props were nice, the
original title (Bill Abbott's Mind Control) and packaging,
as I recall, indicating that Bill Abbott created this
routine. Which is preposterous. That's like me coming up
with a slight variation of the Stebbins stack and releasing
it as my own. Oh, right. Someone else just did that.

Anyhow, Bill Abbott has now remastered this package and
included a DVD containing additional ideas. The cover now
says "Bill Abott Presents Mind Control" and, on the back,
"An Impromptu Classic Gets the Full Treatment." So, with
this edition, the advertising does not claim that Mr. Abbott
is the creator. Unfortunately, the DVD opens with him
saying that he's the creator. It contains ideas from other
performers, all of which are names you won't recognize.
Also, he claims that he wanted to do a Berglass inspired
effect without verbal control, yet when he adds more than
three items that's exactly what he uses to get it down to
three. I'll also note that Bill Abbott uses some cute
"magical" trick editing to eliminate items and make them
vanish during the explanations section.

Let's make this even clearer. I can't recommend this to
experienced mentalists as there's nothing new here. And I
can't recommend this to novice mentalists as Docc Hilford's
E'Voque and Deddy Corbuzier's Free Will (two sources that
Bill Abbott recommends) are better to start with.

Need more suggestions? Here's one: Imagine having ten
items tossed out on a table. The participant selects one
and a single piece of paper taken from a wallet names the
chosen object. There is no verbal control whatsoever.
There are no revelations engraved on pens or keychains.
How, you ask? The Stealth Assassin Wallet and the Versadex
Wallet will do that for you. Vernet has some classic
mentalist tools that are less expensive and will do that,
too.

Obviously, I can't recommend this.

*********
DAVID TAYLOR
TAYLOR MADE BOOK TEST
JMOM Price: n/a
Suggested Retail Price: $25

THE BLURB:
Finally a book test that you can perform with almost ANY
book from a thriving, up and coming mentalist! On this DVD
David Taylor shares with you the inner workings of this
fantastic piece of mentalism. David has honed the routine
over many performances in his professional act and once you
learn the principle you will be able to apply it to almost
any book, in any language very easily. The one-time setup of
the book is easy to do and will only take you around twenty
minutes.

Effect #1 - The Taylor Made Book test

Imagine a dictionary containing many thousands of words,
with your head turned away from the, you riffle down the
pages of the book and your spectator calls STOP at ANY
point. With your head still turned your spectator notes the
word at the top of their selected page. The book is now
handed to the spectator to hold and now without ever
touching the book again and with no fishing you divine their
thought of word with 100% accuracy!

Remember - there is absolutely NO FORCE of neither the page
nor the word! This word will be different every time and can
be repeated instantly. Armed with this knowledge, you will
be able to present a high impact, no-nonsense piece of
mentalism that will blow your audiences away!

Effect #2 - Secret Santa

For the first time, David shares with you his fantastic
Secret Santa routine! Imagine being able to have a spectator
choose any item from a catalogue, a loved one's name and an
amount of money to spend on that person and then one-by-one
you can reveal EXACTLY each thing that they are thinking of!
This effect can be performed in a multitude of situations
and is a well-constructed, direct, multi-phased routine that
you will love to perform and once again there is absolutely
NO FORCE of item, name or value!

As a bonus, we have also included an explanation of "The Hoy
Book Test" which is a totally impromptu, ungaffed book test
that is used by top mentalists all around the world!

Running Time Approximately 21 min

MY COMMENTS:
Avoid this. It's a major ripoff. And I'm being all too
kind.

This really reminds me of an anecdote that Harlan Ellison
tells in his book, HARLAN ELLISON'S WATCHING, a collection
of essays on the media. It involves a big name producer who
has a meeting with a TV executive about a brand new idea for
a movie. Harlan doesn't name this big name producer, but
assures readers the person was a big name at that time and
should've known better. In any case, here's the idea that
the producer had: "Let's do The Wiz [with] white [people]."

Now, if that doesn't bring a giggle due to the pathetic
absurdity of that suggestion, then it's probably a
generational or cultural thing. Ask a parent or an older
person, or even a film fan. But if you don't understand,
let's just say we're taking a refined technique and claiming
that by reverting it back to its original version, and
claiming it's original, when in fact it's not at all.

Unfortunately, I have to be somewhat vague here. The
principle is the Flashback principal that Larry Becker made
famous. David Taylor has decided to use a handwritten
"something" instead of having it secretly hidden and printed
inside the book. This way you can use any book. This is
the problem. That's the original idea that Danny Tong had.
Larry Becker simply worked that something into a specially
printed book. Okay, the placement of this secret
"something" in the book may be a different, but the routine
and methodology are nearly identical. And neither Danny, nor
Larry, are credited on this DVD.

As I said, it's a big step backwards. This is NOT David
Taylor's idea. He didn't create it, as the DVD alleges.
Had he researched it, he would've discovered that. But, even
worse, Peter Nardi, the publisher of this DVD, should've
known better. I think it should be obvious why.

I'll say this again: Avoid this. It's a major ripoff. And
I'm being all too kind.

*********
PRECISION MAGIC
BLISTERED
JMOM Price: n/a
Suggested Retail Price: $25

THE BLURB:
This trick can be performed on the fly and completely
surrounded. Have a spectator select a card and then replace
the card into the pack. After the pack has been shuffled,
the spectator is instructed to write the name of their card
onto a small piece of paper. A lighter is ignited and the
paper is burned. In the process of the burning the Magician
realizes he has burnt his fingers. Turning the hand towards
the spectators, they are absolutely stunned to see the
blisters, one on each finger that was holding the paper.
What’s more shocking than just the two blisters is that they
are in the shape of the chosen card.

Comes complete with gimmick key chain and instructions.

MY COMMENTS:
Okay, the first mistake is not crediting Jack Kent Tillar
and ripping off his classic Blister effect from Tarbell #7.
The second mistake was not crediting Jason Polter and
ripping off his recently released Third Degree Burn, which
in itself was a ripoff of Tillar's effect even though it's a
creative and interesting version. With this, you get an
oddly shaped key chain, the ability to force one of 4 cards
(which means you need a deck of cards to do this), and
skimpy instructions printed on one side of a 2" by 8" inch
strip of paper. The instructions, by the way, are quite
vague to anyone who isn't aware of Third Degree Burn. From
what I've seen so frar, Precision Magic looks like another
Magic Makers (the infamous magic/mentalism ripoff outfit).
You've been warned.

*********

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