talkmagic.co.uk

WHAT IT SAYS:

From the mind of Lee Smith comes two strong mentalsm effects already used by professional magicians.

Third Degree: The first spectator thinks of a card, the second spectator picks a card which is placed under a glass and the third spectator selects a card which is removed from the deck and then visually changed into the card that was under the card, and the card under the glass changes too the thought of card!!

Fifth Element- thought of card to pocket

Spectator is shown 5 cards and asked to think of one them. The five cards are placed one at a time on the spectators hand and he is challenged to trap his chosen card as soon as it by placing his other hand on top. The magician proves spectator wasn't quick enough by producing the card from his pocket!

The low down by myself: Ok, I heard a whisper that Lee was giving a few of these away before they went on the market and the first few people to email him at lee.smith@walkaboutmagic.com will defo get a free copy. And i here that soon he will be charging £9.99 for the booklet.

I personally think that what Lee has released are two very workable effects,and they must be as they are used by himself on a regular basis and has been proven to be popular. In both effects sleights are used but if you have the Ammar tapes, Sankey stuff or david forrest dvds there is nothing knuckle busting here. You will pick up both effects up in no time at all. The sleights are not taught in the booklet.

I personally wouldn't call this a mentalism effects as the effects both seem too magical for me, but both effects are very good. I have performed third degree on people and it gets a good reaction BUT i personally feel there is alot going on with this effect and you have to state very clearly what you are doing as not to confuse people with what you have achieved.

If you are a strolling magician I think that you would benefit for sure getting in touch with this guy and trying to get a free booklet before the release, both effects are impromptu too and reckon theycould both be killer effects with the right presentation and handling

Out of 5 I would give this a 4. Both effects are very practical in the strolling world.

Skill - not much if you know the basics of card sleights.

Andy

Hi,

Thanks for your review im glad your enjoying it.

I see your point about it being a magical effect but the reason i said it had a mentalism feel is because both effects involve a thought of card rather than a physical choice.

If you emphasise enough about it being a thought of card this where the mentalism side of it comes from. I have got so used to performing these two effects i now build up a mental presentation automatically. Basically the tricks are versatile enough to be performed either way, and hopefully can fit into anyones repertoire.


Thanks very much for a grand review.

Lee.

Hi Lee! Congrats tho for releasing 2 very workable effects!!
To many times i have brought something recommended only too find out that in fact the effect is very impractical!

Hi all,

I received my copy in the post today and was very pleased with the 2 effects that Lee has put together. As the above review states, they are two very workable ideas that if presented well with good misdirection will leave them scratching their heads for a while. These are definately strolling effects that will lead on from one another very well indeed and I am sure that there will be many repetoirwes changed to include these simple yet magical effects.

Thanks Lee for the opportunity to read your booklet, I am going to give them a go this weekend at the family BBQ so will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,

The Quin.

do let us know how you get on with it mate. They are good effects. I will be testing them out again at the weekend on a few nuns!!!!

ok, I have tested out Fifth Elemnet and got to say that it plays really well!
People are blown away at how a thought of card ends up in my pocket, especially when they are meant to be holdingit in there hands! A great effect, well done Lee!!

Hi everyone,

Im glad you have had time to try out both the effects and im glad they are working so well for you,

The more you perform them the more you will find the best presentation to make them even stronger,

im really pleased you are all enjoying fifth element.

Many thanks.

I too was one of the lucky people to receive a copy of Mr. Smith's booklet. I have to say I was a little disappointed but only because I felt that the booklet doesn't really do the effects justice.

I have seen a real world performance of both effects and the combination of Mr. Smith's pacing and easy humour were what made the effects simply astounding (And made me jump at the opportunity of owning the booklet). They are not simply "tricks" in the sense of "Wanna see a trick, watch this!", the real strength was that they were part of a crafted set that layered ever more "How the $%@& did that happen?" moments.

To that end I think I would have almost preferred to have an accompanying DVD with the real world performances just so you could see the effect the effects have on an audience. I know that there is a divide whereby some people feel that a DVD can overly influence performance style and doesn't allow you to create your own nuances, but sometimes I think it is beneficial to see, firstly how an effect goes down with a crowd and secondly in relation to Mr. Lee, to see a real master magician at work, not just the physical skill but the reading and handling of an audience, particularly in the way the revelations are made, which can make the difference between an audience reaction being "Oh that's a good trick, how's it done?" and "Holy $£*^!".

Anyway the booklet is a relatively easy read, bearing in mind that there is a lot going on in both effects, and I have used the principles to bolster and polish up a couple of my existing routines. I look forward to any further releases.

Hi again,

Im really pleased the booklet is doing so well, thanks everyone.

In reply to the above review you will be pleased to know that i Have had some retailers intrested in this so there will be a dvd to go with the effect, and it will also be put into ebook format as an instant download.

I will keep you all posted

Thanks again For all the kind words.

Lee.

So I've looked through this booklet after getting it a couple days ago, and both effects seem really great. In fact, I knew an effect very similar to Fifth Element, but it just wasn't as usable and sensible as Fifth Element is. I think the real great effect is Third Degree though. It combines most aspects of what a good card trick should be, and puts them in a way that can be presented as either mentalism or magic. I do plan on trying out both effects in the near future, so I'll post more after I have.
All in all, if I have to rate the booklet I'd give it an 8/10, mostly because the explanations are very brief.

Just letting you guys know that this is now available as a Instant download via Magicmart for £9.99

http://www.magicmart.co.uk

Hi everyone,


The dvd of this effect is being filmed and should be up soon, sorry about the wait.

Will post it here when its finished

Due to lots of emails and interest this in on www.magicmart.co.uk as an instant download for only £4.99


Many thanks.

Lee.

ok, i did the other effect called third degree last night at an 18th party and it fried people. It is a triple transpo effect and if you haven't tried this people you really are missing out. It's simple and just bloody brilliant to be honest.
I hav not done it once where i got a flat reaction, cheers Lee for bringing this out.