talkmagic.co.uk

Anyone got it?
I'm doing a show in a library next month and have been playing around with various headline predictions for it. Whilst I'll probably stick with what I know I've been meaning to have a look at this for a while and thought now may be a good time to take a look.
The price is slightly off putting, as well as the fact that I've found some of Mr Knights material to be less than original.
Opinions?

I've heard a lot of positive reports on this piece though I've not played with one first hand. Truth of the matter being that few "Mentalists" would use in that most prefer to stay away from "props". We might be pack-rats at heart but we tend to be very cautious when it comes to employing this sort of thing.

My personal favorite is the AIR TIGHT PREDICTION... it's a simple child's balloon with an obvious something inside of it... you pop it, the small glass vile is pulled out of the rubber muck, opened, the paper inside it removed and voila! You are right... there are no gimmicks whatsoever, just pure (gutsy) slight of hand... maybe just a hint more than that, but that more or less is the only skill one needs for making it work.

I believe you'll find it mentioned in Corinda or Annemann as well as Mind, Myth & Magic.

Eddie Burke (see Mr E advert) does a little manuscript for sealed in air prediction using a balloon.

The ideal prediction (especially of the headline variety) would be; a sealed envelope is handed to person a week in advance, when envelope is opened by helper correct prediction is discovered....simple really.
I suppose thats the effect we are all aiming at and because a mentalist will always be a magician at heart various props are dragged in to move it away from the original effect.
The version I use is as close as I can get to the original. My envelope contains a number of billets depending on how many predictions I am making. The problem with this is the billet. Why is it not just a normal sized piece of paper as you'd expect to find in an envelope? In the spectators mind, thats the bit that will later connect to something not being quite right.
I'm liking the concept of the billets being in a glass box, obviously they are folded so they can't be read through the box and they are small so they can fit in the box. The box is glass so the contents can be seen. Everything seems very open and honest. I must say I feel the glass box is less of a prop than a balloon, but thats just my opinion, and thankfully we all view how magic should be performed differently. Otherwise we'd all be doing the same one trick!
I suppose my main concern with this effect and the reason for asking for a review is that I keep asking myself; am I going to be paying £60 to learn a billet switch and a few tips on misdirection?

Jheff over at marketplaceofthemind.com has a review on his site about it, which should address many of your concerns. It also points out something in the routine that isn't discussed in the ad copy.

The review can be found here:

http://www.jheff.com/Glass_Box_Prediction.html

Perhaps that will help you with your decision. Personally, if you can pull off the "ideal scenario" you mentioned, I would stick with that and pass this one by.

Thanks for that Demitri, You've just saved me £60!
There really should be a law about advertising when stooges are required.
The main thing that struck me from the description is the first paragraph.

"Back in 1986 Devin Knight who performed as a professional
psychic shocked the world with a headline prediction that
involved the Newfoundland Plane crash that killed over 200
people. The prediction had been held by a state senator.
News of this went worldwide and the story was carried in
over 2000 newspapers. In the history of magic NO HEADLINE
prediction had ever garnered this much attention. The
closest thing was the Robert Nelson Prediction of the Ages
but even it didn't come close to TV, radio, and newspaper
that this prediction made."

Of course it made headlines, he just predicted the death of 200 people!! None of the headlines were concerned about the method just the fact that if he could make this prediction, why didn't he stop it.
This is the reason so many people avoid headline predictions. What if a major tragedy occurs on the day of your prediction, this could ruin you not make you. Do you want to be the one to predict the next major terrorist attack, the CIA will probably be dragging you away in the middle of the night if you do!

Personally, if you can pull off the "ideal scenario" you mentioned, I would stick with that and pass this one by.

Unfortunately I can't, not quite anyway. At least not a full sized (A4) piece of paper removed from an envelope to show my prediction without me handling it; but at least the method I do use doesn't require stooges for it's primary method.