talkmagic.co.uk

THE PENTALIST BY STEVE FEARSON

The Effect

A video download that teaches a brilliant impromptu mentalism effect in which the mentalist can easily divine which of three coloured pens is chosen. Simple, direct, and impossible.


Cost

$7.99 at www.emagicsupply.com


Difficulty
(1=easy to do, 2=No sleights, but not so easy, 3=Some sleights used,
4=Advanced sleights used, 5=Suitable for experienced magicians only)

A difficulty rating of 1. This is not hard to do at all.


Review

I didn't know what to think of The Pentalist before I received it. It sounded bland to me at first, and this is coming from someone who does mentalism quite often. However, I was sent a video file explaining the full method.

What you get is two seperate videos... one of a full performance, and the other of the method explanation. The video is clearly from a past project of Steve's... to my understanding, some sort of Party Magic video. Steve shows the full effect to the home viewer, twice. I laughed out loud when the "partygoer" spectator came in to assist Steve during the performance. I won't give away who it is, I'll leave that as a surprise for when you buy the download.

The effect, in performance, is very powerful and nearly foolproof. In fact, it fooled me in performance and, if you only have a cursory mentalism background like I do, it will likely fool you too. It's very direct and impossible, and everything is very clean... there is no peeking, no nail writing, no pencil reading, no guessing, and no suggestion used. The effect is virtually impromptu and can be done with any three different coloured pens. There is a tiny set-up involved, but this set up can be done rather openly and will not be recognized as anything. It's a very subtle set-up and it is hidden in plain sight throughout the entire effect.

The method is quite brilliant. It is based off similar older principles but Steve has created an extremely clever and practical solution that can be done on the fly with completely ordinary objects. Steve explains it very well and includes many details and subtleties for the effect. The explanation is no more than a few minutes long, but that's all it really needs. The method is so amazingly simple, yes so clever, you'll be kicking yourself for not thinking of it first.

Steve covers everything... how to appropriately set the effect up, how to repeat the effect a second time with no reset, and even how to set the effect up in different ways for different groups of people. For example, when performing The Pentalist for other magicians, Steve explains a slightly altered set-up as the standard set-up might be caught by a very observant magician.

The set-up is extremely simple and it will take literally less than 5 seconds to set the pens up. After they are set up, you are pretty much set to go for the rest of the day and it can be repeated over and over with no reset. Again, this is all covered extremely well by Steve Fearson. It's amazing how much comprehensive detail he covers in such a short time.

The effect is very direct, it can be done very quickly or drawn out, and it can be performed effectively in virtually any setting... close-up, walkaround, parlour, and even stage. It's a fantastic effect to have in your arsenal, and all you need is a couple of pens which, naturally can be borrowed. What more could you want in a mentalism effect?


Overall

Based on the sheer cleverness of the method and it's extreme potential, as well as a wealth of uses and possibilities, I give The Pentalist by Steve Fearson a 9/10 in comparison to other impromptu mentalism effects out there. My favourite mentalism piece with pens is still The Million Dollar Mindreader from the Art of Astonishment books, but The Pentalist comes pretty darn close. For $6, you can't possibly go wrong. After all, he could be charging a LOT more for this. I predict that mentalists and magicians alike will love The Pentalist.

The Pentalist is available as a video download at http://emagicsupply.com/112.html

Michael Kras

Are you affiliated with emagic supply at all Michael? I felt as though i should ask. Would you by any chance, have a link to their shop in your signature on another magic forum?

That's not to take away from your review at all. I was just wondering.

I know two very old methods for divining which pen or indeed crayon was chosen. I wonder if this is one of those old things, dressed up as a new thing?

The thing that put me off getting this was that a one in three chance isn't hugely impressive. The other thing that put me off was in the way the marketing was phrased, which could confuse someone into thinking the written word was divined, rather than the colour of the ink.

granted this method can be used with 10 pens, or 20, depending on how good you are, so tyou arent restricted to one in three.

it can be the same colour pen, and you diving which pen is used.

it is a very old method.

it isnt 100% sure. Just 99% sure

im just trying to think how you can use a serious presentation, rather than a (in my opinion) crappy one that Mr Fearson has given

not bad for a fewe quid and an impulse buy, but dont expect anythign new and revolutionary

It gives people the wrong idea of what makes a good effect. Whats wrong with a good old s*****, and then tell them the word and the colour ink?

Not bought it, but i say save your money folks. Put a few more quid towards getting Elliott B's switchcraft instead.

agreed - achieved much more through a peak/billet switch

though obviously with this one you dont have to peek anything

so im thiking that the principle can still be used somewhere along the lines