DIVINE TIME BY JASON PALTER
Available from http://www.paltergeist.com/
Price: $100.00 USD (plus: $20.00 USD Shipping and Handling)
Category: Mentalism
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
They say:
Your audience will be stunned when you divine the time on a freely chosen watch from your personal collection! No pre-show, no fishing, no prompting...no way!
You relate to the audience your fascination with time, and display part of your collection of digital watches in a large, clear plastic bag. You further share your thoughts on the widespread belief that energy and rhythms flow through the universe, and that while time is relative, it too is just a series of vibrations. To that end, you briefly enlighten the audience to the inner workings of a quartz watch, and state that the quartz crystal’s vibrations could theoretically be transmitted through an individual. Only very perceptive people can feel these subtle pulses, you explain, and you wish to try an experiment with this premise tonight!
After inviting a spectator up on stage, they confirm that the watches in your collection all show random times. Without looking, they freely choose a watch, and hide it behind their back. The spectator, the audience, and you have no clue as to which watch was picked. Then by using the vibrations that the quartz crystal emits, and by utilizing a knockout and somewhat eerie routine, you are able to divine the time on the watch! The spectator leaves the stage completely baffled, and the audience has been totally mystified with a new age and innovative presentation!
Some key points to remember:
Self-contained.
No pre-show work, no fishing, no prompting.
You choose the time that will be revealed.
Resets in about 5 minutes, and is repeatable with
any different time using our "Time Control" method.
The spectator, the audience, and you never see the
watch until the spectator reveals it at the end of the routine.
The spectator can examine and even keep the watch
at the end of the routine. There's nothing to find!
Comes complete and ready to go with the bag, digital watches, instructional DVD, detailed manuscript, and full routine.
I say:
Divine Time is another well-presented effect from performer and inventor Jason Palter, who has recently released his effect, Third Degree Burn.
The purchaser of Divine Time receives a handsome white cardboard box with the tricks logo on it. Inside are 20 brand new, fully functional digital watches, a plastic bag for putting the watches in during the performance, a printed manual and an instructional DVD.
Divine Time is an effect best suited for stage or parlour with a medium sized audience. It could be performed in close up but the way the effect plays out and the methodology really benefits from a more formally structured setting. The participant themselves provides a great deal of the credibility for the rest of the audience in this effect, something I personally think lifts the routine above other mentalism effects.
The fundamental mechanics of Divine Time might appear to be relatively apparent to an experienced mentalism performer, maybe their guess is right and if that's the case, fine. In keeping with the classic 'K.I.S.S.' approach to method, this means it stands the best chance of working the way you need it to time and again! It is also worth remembering that it is the audience we perform. Have no fear, this effect is by no means dry, there are elements within the workings of Divine Time that make the performance really sparkle AND will have fellow performers, well and truly, scratching the "methodology side of their heads"!
A feature of Divine Time is that all of the watches are genuine and operational. The spectator does select and examine a handful of watches that are functioning and telling different times. The spectators’ blind choice of watch is also genuine. The performers "reading" of the time is made without either the performer or the participant seeing the watch chosen and upon the performer revealing the prediction (out loud), the spectator looks at the watch (held in their own hand) and not only sees the predicted time to be correct, the watch is openly shown to be functioning normally and is immediately offered to the spectator as a souvenir!
Think about that, a 100% accurate prediction using fully working watches that can be given away without any switches whatsoever. I think that's pretty cool. There is no stooging of any kind, no dual reality, no quibble or ambiguity.
The technical issues of the effect, the well thought out performance and the patter are examined in fine detail in the printed manual and are also covered VERY clearly in a professional and confident manner by Jason Palter himself on the included DVD. This disc also sports a full performance video filmed at one of Jason's gigs so you can see his approach to the effect. The support materials really do leave no stone unturned. Inventors and distributors could learn some lessons from Mr. Palters approach to straight shooting, well made DVD material.
Some might think the price for this effect is a bit high…I don't think so. You get the well-designed routine, a well made "something" (this is a good as others out there and better than many), PLUS you get 20 digital watches and all the support materials. Even if you just divide those numbers of items up by the price you can see this is a fair deal. Jason Palter also has a very good offer on bulk purchases of replacement watches if you take up the option of handing them out to the participant at the end of the effect. This is a great convincer and I think it should be strongly considered whenever you perform the effect.
Divine Time is a classically styled stage mentalism routine with modern props and themeing that audiences can easily buy into. The effect is all but self-working and plays well in a relaxed stage setting. The patter is easy to fit to your own style and the routine is structured to be logical and allows the necessary workings to happen without appearing unnatural or suspicious in any way. The props are straight forward and the supply of watches are plentiful, basically you have everything you need to get underway within moments of closing the booklet or turning off the DVD player. The effect could easily be repeated with different predictions each time; you are totally in control of this. Reset time is as the advertising states…about 5 minutes and you are "good to go" again.
Overall
If you are a professional entertainer or often perform on a stage or in a medium size parlour environment, Divine Time could be just the effect for you. Don't be put off because there isn't a "factory made, guaranteed-to-fool-other-magicians, techno-widget" involved, this is a strong, grown up, professional effect that will, in the hands of a talented performer, entertain audiences…period.
8.5 (+) out of 10
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