HoroSecrets by Joel Dickinson and Adam Hudson

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HoroSecrets by Joel Dickinson and Adam Hudson

Postby Tomo » Apr 8th, '10, 16:16



The Effect HoroSecrets by Joel Dickinson and Adam Hudson



Cost £12.99 from http://www.joel-dickinson.co.uk/shop/



Difficulty 2
(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)



Review

They say...
    Imagine being able to tell your spectator personal information when you have only just met.
    Picture being able to take this further, your spectator will feel like you are reading their mind as you amazingly reveal their Star Sign. This is HoroSecrets!

    No progressive anagram.
    No fishing for letters.
    Just 100% direct mentalism.

    This is strong, personal and correct every time.

    Are you concerned it will be difficult? Don't be, as it is so simple!

    You do not need to know anything about your spectator before the performance, but you will know a great deal after.

    The all occasion revelation.

    HoroSecrets can be used as a tool for anybody wishing to introduce readings into their performances.
    Also note, HoroSecrets does not have to be incorporated in a reading. You can use it as a stand alone star sign revelation or incorporate it in existing routines

    Suitable for magicians, performing mentalists and mind readers.


I say...
    Horosecrets is based on a very deceptive principle that has been used in a few effects over the years, but it’s used here in a very slick way to produce a strong opener for your walk around or close up mentalism sets. Basically, HoroSecrets enables you to reveal a spectator’s star sign without having to resort to progressive anagrams, which many performers try to avoid due to the skill required in disguising them properly. The patter in the manuscript involves delivering a mini-reading that slowly reveals the spectator’s star sign without any fishing. There are plenty of alternatives you can devise to suit your style.

    There’s a little something to set up (if you work, you have plenty of this!) but once that’s done you’re good to go forever, and some learning to get the method down, but the performance can be a pure vibe in your own style. You already know the spectator’s star sign and so you can have fun revealing it little by little. At the back of the manuscript, Joel and Adam give some ideas for making the learning of the effect a little easier, but I don’t think anyone will have a problem. They could, in fact, be used to create some very odd but no less completely accurate readings.


Overall
    When you see it, you may think it’s like something in a book you already have, but you didn’t think of this use for the underlying mechanism, did you? There are no kinks here; the material has obviously been matured in performance.

    If you work, you’ll use this. You just will.


    Verdict: A very strong 8.5/10


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Tomo
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Postby JoelDickinson » Apr 8th, '10, 19:16

Thank you very much Tomo for the words. I am really glad you like it and honoured. If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask.

As you mention it is a tried and tested routine. It was created for a performance situation.

I have had various emails over the past few months asking if it can be performed in an another language. And it definitely can be performed in every language though the instructions are wrote in English.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Joel.

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Postby Lenoir » Apr 8th, '10, 19:38

Sounds good. Like many, I've always wanted the perfect Horoscope routine, but of course, it will never exist.
I've been hugely disappointed by one or two over of a couple of years, mildly impressed with one and I'm certainly considering picking this up.

May I ask Joel, and feel free to PM me the answer rather than the open forum, will I need anything else to perform the effect? I'm not taking specifics particularly, just whether or not other items/gimmicks/paper etc are needed. Or is this a purely verbal thing?

Thanks a lot.

"I want to do magic...but I don't want to be referred to as a magician." - A layman chatting to me about magic.
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Postby JoelDickinson » Apr 8th, '10, 23:22

Hi Lenoir...

I dont want to be cryptic as this is an effect I do perform. This isn't a pure verbal effect but that is the beauty of HoroSecrets as it will appear to be!

As Tomo mentions
"The patter in the manuscript involves delivering a mini-reading that slowly reveals the spectator’s star sign without any fishing"


Once rehearsed its a strong bit of armour.

Sorry if this has made it confusing?

Joel.

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Postby Lenoir » Apr 11th, '10, 12:29

I won't go into the place you can buy it, how much etc, just scroll up...

When I first got this, I realised it was a relatively short PDF and so printed it out, took it to the sofa and had a good read.
It's well written and clearly not the now ever so common "ooh, I have an idea, let me type it up into a pdf in one sitting and sell it the next morning" job, which always helps the credibility of the effect.

As mentioned above in the thread, I have looked through a good few Horoscope/Star Sign products over the last few months and they've all been possible, but just not...I don't know. Progressive Anagrams certainly have their place, but their place isn't with me.
I knew from the start that no routine that allows you to tell a spectator their star sign is going to be as easy as many a TV mentalist has made out, but with the promise of no Progressive Anagrams, and that's the second one made...the first promise on a different product didn't quite truly live up to it, certainly got me excited.

As Joel has mentioned above, it does require another...thing, but it's not a traditional Mentalists writing device or anything that needs to be switched.

The method itself is something that if you read it by itself, you would probably think..."hmm. that's not really Mentalism." However, the whole point of this effect/routine, is to take a very simple and very clever method, use it for a bit of an introductory talk about Star Signs and Horoscopes, give the spectator a small reading and once a certain distance has been achieved, the star sign is revealed and absolutely any knowledge that you could've known prior or obtained the knowledge is gone.

It's the classic ploy in Mentalism, do something that doesn't really fit in, thus obtaining a piece of information, then reveal it later on and the spectator forgets completely about the initial dirty work.

I've had this a few days, got everything ready, and performed it three times yesterday. It's surefire. That's important. Unless you are ridiculously not interested in the routine, the method takes a few seconds and nobody will be any the wiser. They write nothing down and there are no progressive anagrams.

The one part that lacks in the PDF is the section on reading. Whilst there is a small bit of information in the type of reading Joel would give, I would suggest you at least be a tad comfortable with elements of cold reading, perhaps watching some psychics at work or reading Roland's book.

Overall, I would give it a solid 8 out of 10. I think in the scope of Horoscope effects I've seen, it would be 10 out of 10 but as a product, a slight addition to the section on readings would be useful. However, the information given is enough to give not only a convincing reading, but the perfect amount of time to put distance between the moment of the revelation and the method.

Anybody interested in this sort of routine, but it is just that, a routine, I would certainly advise it. Definitely not just a "Hi, I'm Mr.Mentalist, you are a Capricorn", but a fully worked out piece of Mentalism.

"I want to do magic...but I don't want to be referred to as a magician." - A layman chatting to me about magic.
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Postby JoelDickinson » Apr 12th, '10, 08:33

Hi.

Thanks for your review.

I didn't want to ellaborate too deep on 'Readings' though the ebook does contain a table for each zodiac along with example key words to help create a cold read along with an example. I felt it wasn't my place to offer an indepth look into cold Cold Reading, it is a tool to get you started (optional) and you will definately reveal your spectators star sign..

Also Horosecrets doesn't have to be revealed in a reading. People have mentioned about revealing the zodiac after a coin bend, a game of imagination etc etc.

Some magicians are creating routines with Horosecrets around routines which work for them and that's great to see.

All the best,

Joel.

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Postby Thaumaturge » Apr 20th, '10, 13:33

This is solid! It uses classics (my favourite!), but applies it to a very clean and modern premise.
Having a bit of a garden marathon today but will post up my thoughts later...good stuff!

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HoroSecrets by Joel Dickinson and Adam Hudson

Postby roddy » Apr 26th, '10, 07:03

This can be performed as a thought transference experiment presented as paranormal research.

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Postby JoelDickinson » Apr 28th, '10, 19:37

Hey Roddy.

I'm really glad you enjoy HoroSecrets.

If anybody has any further questions please do feel free to ask.

All the best.

Joel.

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Postby roddy » Apr 29th, '10, 04:22

There are many good presentational ideas on the - for those who have access - Kioku forum

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horoscopes

Postby roddy » May 15th, '10, 06:33

This trick can be adapted to a variety of uses.

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Postby JoelDickinson » May 17th, '10, 20:21

Thank you Roddy.
I'm really glad you like it and experimenting with it.

Joel.

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Postby shanester » May 17th, '10, 21:13

If you use different handwriting on each card (childish, formal style etc) then you can use the theme of seeing how they respond in different situations to cover the method. Can't say more without exposure but throw in a bit of Kioku and you have it.

Shane

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Postby JoelDickinson » Nov 7th, '10, 15:58

Hi.

I don't know what Kioku is.
Is it an effect which will work well with Horosecrets!?

Joel.

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