talkmagic.co.uk

The Effect

Two volunteers take part in a remarkable demonstration whereby one touches the other's head and both say out loud whatever they happen to be thinking about, which is the same thing.

Cost

N/A, Fraser sent me this for free as a kind of teaser to his Illusions of Influence manuscript.

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)

Pure presentation but you'll have to be completely in control of your audience so probably a 4.

Review

Firstly I'd like to say two things to clarify this review. Firstly I'm not a mentalist per se but I dabble a little and casually collect material as a kind of sub-hobby, the whole psychology of mentalism intrigues me but I don't have any plans for serious study. This sort of effect is another brick in the wall of my magical knowledge, if that makes sense.

Secondly Fraser himself says that this effect is more of a theory idea without too much performance as yet. It came to me as a plain text document attached to an email so it's a bit rough around the edges but the information you need is there. This isn't a criticism but something to be aware of if you're interested in getting it for yourself.

So, the effect. Bearing in mind that nothing is written down and there's no pre-show the method is about what I expected. That is to say it's ballsy as hell and would take some serious spectator control to make it run smoothly. To be on the safe side you'd want to do it as part of a decent sized stage show to prevent any unfortunate occurences afterwards. Although there's no pre-show as such you do need a couple of seconds with each spec to get them up to speed and the way you handle this is what makes the effect, Fraser goes over what to say to ensure you get the needed result.

To some I'm sure the method would induce a certain amount of 'jiffy bag rage' but I can see some real potential here as long as you are absolutely certain that you can pull it off. It's one of those make or break deals, it either goes perfectly and you look like a super-wizard or it could come apart quite messily if the conditions aren't controlled. You'll have to make your own mind up I suppose.

Overall

I'm not sure how to rate this as it's still a sort of beta effect and I personally am unlikely to be in a position to perform it. However if you can do it properly you've got a miracle on your hands.

This free effect Telepathy through touch is not audience tested and is only ideas at the moment. Maybe I should have waited for this to be tested out and developed before I released it as a promotion for my manuscript Stuck to the Floor, Not able to Speak; illusions of influence.

This effect is different to the effects in Stuck to the Floor and is not included in this manuscript. It was offered here and at the cafe as a way to increase awareness of the manuscript; Not as an example of the material in the manuscript.

I do not want to use the standard peeks, impressions or pre show to get the information. Although I do realise that this option would help keep the DR from being exposed, I would rather try to make this effect more reliable and less risky with the words I use and keep the directness and simplicity of this method intact.

My friend who has performed some of my work already is considering using this on stage with the Dunninger ploy to get the information.

I would be pleased to share this again with some of you when this is developed further if the bold method proves to work in performance.

I have posted on the Wonder Wizards Yahoo! group in response to Kenton's request for me to write a few paragraphs to make the effect clearer because what I sent the group was hard to understand in a plain text format.

Anyone who wants this and the effect as a non plain text word document please send me an email with a recognisable header subject to info@fraserparker.co.uk

Fraser Parker.

I seem to recall Derren Brown performing something very similar to this on a couple of spectators in the street, on an episode of Trick of the Mind.

Hiya everyone.

The more developed version and clearer write up of this effect is now published at online-visions.

http://www.online-visions.com/effects/0 ... pathy.html

Fraser Parker.