Name: Gh*st
Available from: Lebanon Circle
Maker: Prof. BC and Lebanon Circle
Examinable: Yes. The book can be read cover to cover. It is a painstakingly accurate reproduction of a rare first edition of M. R. J@mes' first collection of short stories. There are no repeated pages, banks or long and short pages to be discovered.
Difficulty out of 10: 7/10 (see below)
Rating out of 10: 10/10
They say:
An authentic facsimile reproduction of M. R. J@mes' Ghost-Stories of an Antiqu@ry. This is the size, colour, font, &c. of the original 1904 publication. A near-exact replica of a very rare volume selling on the open market today for over $2,000 (1,400 GBP). Open it up. All of James' stories are there. No repeated pages. Read it. Each story is just as you remember it, beginning to end. For all intents and purposes, this is the 1904 first edition of James' heralded book. But there is more.
The book comes with an ambrotype: a 3" (77 mm) square glass photograph of M.R. J@mes trimmed in copper (gone green with age).
...
A spectator is allowed to open the precious book to any page (no force, no suggestions, no control, no peeks, no stooges, a genuine free choice that can happen across the room from the performer). With no fishing, no conversation, no words at all, the performer takes out an erasable marker pen and writes a word directly on the glass photograph and holds it in full view of the audience (no switches, no TTs, he actually does write the word to be revealed). The spec begins to read and the performer says, 'Please read that phrase again'. As she does, he shows the word he has written on the glass. It is the word from the very phrase the spec is reading. But he is not finished.
Again and again, the spec turns to new pages. The audience may believe there is collusion, they are invited to tell the spec to turn so many pages (any number of pages they wish, again an honestly free choice). Nevertheless, the performer writes a word on the glass (always a different word) and it proves to be at the spot on the page where the spectator reads. It can happen dozens of times, and the spectator never reads the same word twice. The book never repeats. There is nothing to see or discover. The book may be read from cover-to-cover without revealing the method.
I say:
Anyone familiar with the good professor's previous book tests (Darkspell and Phantoms, in collaboration with Outlaw Effects), will have extremely high expectations of this effect. It will not disappoint.
Gh*st builds on the strong foundation laid by Phantoms. Once again we have a book with a strong back story. The ageing is stunningly beautiful. If you are unsure how much work has gone into making this look authentic, take a look at a genuine first edition HERE and compare it to the pictures on the Lebanon Circle site.
The glass photograph, or @mbrotype, that comes with the book is a wonderful idea. It is also produced with great care and aged to perfection. Prof BC's performance manual stresses that this, not the book, should become the focus of the routine, which is an amazing piece of built-in misdirection.
On to the working. Every page can produce four revelations for the performer and there are more than 30 different words or phrases to be revealed throughout the book. BUT the effect is designed so that this routine isn't about simply revealing a word in a spectator's mind (although you can present it that way if you wish). Gh*st is constructed so that these haunted artefacts, the book and the @mbrotype, become a means of contacting the spirit world. Through these items questions can be answered, a story can be revealed, a full seance can be held.
The method is beautifully simple and although some memory work is required, it is not too taxing. You will be able to learn all you need to learn in a weekend. Prof BC's performance manual is an incredible mine of ideas with dozens of suggested ways to get 'in' without pumping for information and dozens more ways to navigate the book once you are 'in'. It also includes several full routines with suggested scripting, some of which relate to specific stories in the book.
And this is where the challenge lies (hence my difficulty rating of 7 above). The memory work is pretty easy, but doing justice to these props requires work and strong performance. Sustaining tension and building a story from the string of revelations takes quick on-the-fly thinking and nerve.
I have so far only performed this once in earnest. I had practised 'ins', revelations and navigation quite extensively with Mrs Cult, but only once has the opportunity presented itself to perform a full Gh*st routine to a dinner party audience. The reaction was wonderful, but quite different to the reactions my demonstrations of mind reading usually create. There was a genuinely chilling atmosphere in the room as the @mbrotype revealed one last spooky tale from J@mes, one told from beyond the grave.
Just letting people look at the @mbrotype and telling the tale of how you came to own these items will generate intrigue, and once the unnatural properties of the @mbrotype are manifest, your spectators are hooked. It is also worth noting that the revelations, the words you can reveal from the pages of the book, are evocative and creepy, lending themselves beautifully to weaving a spooky narrative.
It is obviously true of magic and mentalism that the real magic lies in performers and the performances they give, rather than the props they carry or the effects they perform. But some props are so painstakingly beautiful in their look and feel, and so ingeniously clever in their working that I believe they can inspire us to new heights of performance. Gh*st is one of those rare props.
This effect isn't for everyone. I think it would be of limited interest in a short and snappy set or as part of a psychological 'mind control' demo. But where you have the opportunity for a more sedate, spooky and atmospheric presentation, Gh*st is hard to beat.
Only 100 of these beautiful items will ever be produced and as far as I know more than half of those have already sold so don't sleep on this. £150 is a considerable price tag. This isn't a purchase to be made lightly. But if spooky, story-telling magic is your thing, you will not want to miss this and I believe you will find it is worth every penny. I do not give the 10/10 rating lightly, this is the best magic purchase I have ever made bar none.
Also, just a quick note about dealing with Prof BC and Dan at Lebanon Circle - both have been incredibly responsive to my communications and it has been a pleasure corresponding with them about this remarkable effect.
