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I unfortunatley lost my Killer Elite recentley although I managed to hold onto the Mr Blonde Poker Chip! so all is not lost!

Just tried this with someone in work about 10mins ago and spun the NLP / subliminal signals and had a great reaction from her. (I'm sure with more performing and more confidence I get, the better the reaction will be, but I was very pleased with the outcome nevertheless - she was trying to figure out the "signals" I was sending out. Bless her!!)

As Seige said, Cartersmith hit the nail on the head - it is all about what the Spectator thinks. (Also, during the performances I have done, they have all kept their paws off the props too)

In that case: Spectators don't care if I am showing them a card with a note taped to the back of it. They don't care that I would use an eraser instead of a poker chip or that I have a card case instead of a wallet. They wouldn't care if I had written the prediction across my beefy pectorals. They love the effect.

...and I derived it from the original idea I read in a book that was full of other great effects. Books are nice that way.

If it's all about the spectators, why do you need someone else's props?

I don't mean to spoil the fun you had by buying this trick but I do wish to heal you of CUPS.... or at least give you more bang for your buck. Do you really need to present this specific version of this effect? Especially if your spectators will be astounded either way? You can't truthfully say you're paying the inventor of a secret, because he stole it from the wealth of magic principles available in the world.

Perhaps I should just keep quiet and sell one good old trick at a time for 60 dollars/pounds each. It seems to work quite well. Next time you feel like spending money, let me know and I'll help relieve you.

You may be right about the CUPs thing bmagic and, yep, in the past I have bought a lot of c**p but in my opinion I like this.

Don't really like the idea of writing on my flabby pecs but good idea....

got it

Nine or ten months on from my own posting about 'KEP', reading bmagic's comments reminded me that I still feel there is perhaps a bit of a double standard in play over this highly-priced old-principle-in-new-clothes effect compared with others.

Still, this thread has definitely done what a review thread should; made potential buyers aware of the pros and cons of paying the price of one good mentalism book for this single effect.

True misterblack - I buy most effects after a thorough read of these reviews.

Currently "umming and aaarring" over Postmentalism

I’ve had this effect for quite a while now and whilst I get fairly good reactions to it, I find that the biggest issue is that people want to examine the props. Well, perhaps I should say – look at the props.

I know that I’m in danger here of receiving the usual ‘audience management’ type responses, however this isn’t my problem with this routine. I have no issues with being bold when handling props/ gimmicks and as such I’m rarely quizzed on things, but sometimes I feel that one of the strong points of this effect is also one of it’s weaknesses. In short – the props look cool and interesting, and people want to look at the cards to look at the artwork / cast list and so on (fine for 90% of the time).

A poker player once said “cool chip – which Casino is that, can I have a look?” but I couldn’t let him on that occasion.

Don’t get me wrong it’s not a major issue, it’s just got to the point (maybe by chance, maybe by my bad handling) where the last 3 times I’ve performed this I’ve had issues with not being able to hand out the props for viewing out of interest (not examining for secret methods).

I’m not necessarily expecting a reply here guys, just thought I’d share this with you 

Hi ! You're post is interesting, I thought to put it on my first big performance in a few weeks, the props are really cool indeed, but that would be a big issue for me as well... Another problem is not being able to perform from table to table, in case someone follows you to follow again your routine...

Has anyone some suggestions about this ?

Good post, Last Deck...

I have exactly the same problem with Killer Elite. I don't own the effect but I'm well aware of how it works.

I perform exactly the same effect with four or five face-up playing cards, a poker chip and an envelope - it's Sankey's version and it's just as amazing to a spectator without the temptation to put their sticky fingers all over your props.

Rather than having "Survivor" on the back, just have an odd backed card...

Nice ! What's the name of Sankey version ? Is it on a DVD ?

The Last Deck on the Left has a good point. With close-up tricks, really nice props just beg for people to have a look, especially if there's information like film credits.

It depends on the circumstances, your performing persona and the audience. You might be able to get away with it easily.

Domihari, in my opinion this effect simply isn't suitable for walk-around, for precisely the reason you gave. The solution is to pick material that can be repeated!

domihari wrote:Nice ! What's the name of Sankey version ? Is it on a DVD ?

Very Best of Sankey - Vol 2. But if you know killer elite you hardly need to buy it, just do the same thing but with normal cards.

Thanks for all you answers !

bmagic wrote:...and I derived it from the original idea I read in a book that was full of other great effects. Books are nice that way.

got a heads up on the book it was in ?