talkmagic.co.uk

Chris Rawlins - Roulette
Ebook - MagicSeen (2012)
£10

Difficulty: 3 (Although none of the effects here require complicated sleights, many require a certain degree of boldness and the experience to carry that boldness off)

REVIEW: There are a couple of showstopper effects in this ebook, some handy moves and peeks, a clutch of interesting thoughts, and a couple of things you'll want to try out straight away. It's good value for £10, the presentations are all well thought-out, and everyone should be able to find something of use in it.

For me, the outstanding effects were Credit Guard, Kicker Chirp Top and PI, and one of them I had to run off and try almost immediately. The method was so clever, the peek so subtle that I got excited thinking about using it.

I do, however, have a couple of minor criticisms. One is conceptual. Rawlins is a great exponent of a bold approach to mentalism, but I'm not sure he knows yet why he is being bold. For me, boldness can help achieve things other methods can't, but here it's used to supplement things like a chair test. I'm not sure the effect is enhanced by using a 'bolder' method or that boldness here enhances what the audience experiences. Propless mentalism this is not.

I also think that the photographs in the ebook should have been at a higher resolution, and have been taken by a better photographer. When they are intended to illustrate how to construct a prop, as they are with the clipboard peek, clarity is essential. The brick background and small picture size militate against that.

Those two minor quibbles aside, there are some absolutely amazing pieces of cleverness in this book. The addition to a Phone Book Prediction is lovely, and there are sublime moments in all of the methods. There is some wonderful thinking here.

In all, this is a series of effects that look like classic mentalism, but with a 'bold' approach. Everything, however, is solid and routined, and packed with delicious moments of wickedness. At £10, it's a steal.

Looks interesting. I am up at the Mexborough magic day on April 7th, where Chris is lecturing on this day. Will be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve on the day.
Regards Garry.