Price £7.99 from ebay.co.uk (manuscript only-props not included)
Difficulty - 3-5 depending on what componants you use. The hardest part of this is the presentation, rather than the technicl skill.
They Say:
Make $1,000 or More a Show with this Complete Act!
Do you want to make at least $1,000 a show without huge illusions? Want to shake your audience up so they talk about your show for weeks? Want to know exactly what to do and say? Want inside information on what goes on before and after the act? Want to know where and how to sell this wonderful act? H.P. Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness will tell you how!
The Tale: Tonight, Dr. John Randolph will visibly leave his body three times. Each time he will conduct an experiment. He will successfully attempt to see the thoughts of others, move objects while in the astral state, transport items through the next dimensions, and finally...he will go to the cursed Mountains of Madness!
The audience is held breathless as Dr. Randolph has accidentally left the mystical portal open allowing entrance to the room by the hideous monsters that inhabit the mountains' ancient city. These bizarre creatures could only come from the disturbed mind of H.P. Lovecraft. And the easy-to-do, one-man act like this could only come from the creative mind of Docc Hilford.
Everything is explained...what goes on before and after the show, the act, the tricks, the props and a special chapter on where and how to sell this remarkable show!
Proven to gross $1,000 or more a show
Fully explains where and how to "sell" this act
More like a 45-minute, one-man play than a magic show
Over a dozen different effects, blended into a complete story
Audience participation
Easily build everything for only a few dollars '
The last line sounds great for magicians that are short on money, but be warned - its NOT true! The first chapter requires 7 objects suposedly from an artic expedition plus 2 identical silver rings with jewels in (although the jewels dont have to be real!). It also requires a metal chest and a 'talismon'. It also requires a hard-to-find prop called a jumping disc.
The second chapter requires a plate lifter and also recomends a remote controlled keel (although a cheaper solution is suggested).
The third chapter requires some soapstone coins and (squeemish be warned) a real calfs eye! The whole act also requires a rug and at least one table and chair (which you gimmick)
In short this is a VERY expencive piece of theatre and would be difficult to transport. I think it would be more suited to a perminant show or haunted house than a mobile show or once-a-year haloween show (although Hilford maintains that its portable).
I doubt the $1000 claim, but im in the UK so i dont know what the US Market is like for effects like this. You cant just sell cheap tickets and hope to get 100 spectators for an act like this. It needs intimacy so an audience of only 10-20 is recomended. Making $1000 from 10 tickets seems unlikely.
That said - It WILL frighten the pants off any spectator if performed effectively
. I love the routine, its definatly sheer brillience, but not the most practical and not for every venue or performer.
Rating 8/10
