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Into the Abyss - Oz Pearlman

£24.99 from most magic retailers.

They Say


Effect

The three routines in INTO THE ABYSS all share the same goal. They make audiences think that you can really read their minds. Not on stage, not far away, but up close and personal with people that you are meeting for the first time. No pre-show and no stooges, just the real deal. These routines are easy to learn and require virtually no sleight of hand.

You will not find any boring, drawn-out procedures or outdated routines on this DVD. INTO THE ABYSS contains direct, in-your-face powerhouses that audiences will REMEMBER for a very long time to come. These routines have evolved over years of professional performance and Oz teaches them to you step-by-step so you are able to perform them with confidence.

What's in a Name?
Your spectators will experience you performing the impossible: you will be able to name the person they are thinking of and disclose details about that person that you could not possibly know. This has become Oz's signature effect in his strolling repertoire. WARNING: Perform this at your own risk! Some spectators will truly believe that you are psychic.

Listen to my Words
Imagine approaching a group for the first time and having a person think of someone important from her past. Now picture the look on her face when you take a tape recorder out of your pocket and everyone hears the message you previously recorded that includes the name of the person that she is thinking of.

Ultimate Vacation
It's time to get even more personal and completely blow them away. You hand a fully stapled and sealed prediction to a spectator who, upon tearing it open, finds a folded business card. Written on it are all the details of a vacation that she went on including the name of a person she is thinking of from that trip. This is close-up mentalism with a true emotional hook.

DVD includes 10 performances shot live on location in New York City at a variety of real world shows, including corporate events, cocktail hours, and in Central Park.

Special Bonus:

Audio Commentary is included for each of these 10 performances. Oz takes you behind the scenes to give you the real work and added analysis. This commentary is not only informative, but also very entertaining!



So that's the blurb, this is what I say:

£24.99 for 3 routines is quite pricey - even by my spending ability - but Oz Pearlman has a good reputation and I know a lot of people here rate him quite highly so I took the plunge.

Ignoring the routines for a moment, well, there is no polite way to say this - but this is probably one of the worst DVDs I have ever had the misfortune to watch - it was painful. The filming could have been done on a cheap camcorder, the sound was terrible, large amounts of the real life demonstrations had shots of backs of heads, or were out of focus, or the background noise was so bad that you couldn't hear the performance - whoever edited and mastered this production really needs to be shot - it is simply that bad.

Now let's get onto the three routines that are taught.

1. Listen to my words
A spectator is asked to write down the name of someone important to them - the piece of paper is then torn up, there is some by play that does, in my mind, negate the reason for writing the name down but hey, that's me - you then pull out a dictaphone (a cassette version is recommended for lack of audio quality) - and the name is revealed.

2 real life performances are shown, along with a detailed, and fairly drawn out explanation.

What's In a Name

Same as above really, except the name appears on a business card either inside a Mullica wallet, or paperclipped if you don't have a wallet.

Ultimate Vacation

As above again, but this time a holiday destination appears inside a sealed and stapled envelope.



Now forgive me for not expanding too much on the routines, but there is nothing really to say - a c***** t*** and a load - whoop de dooo - all for £24.99

Yes, the stapled envelope gimmick is great, I loved the idea and will be making some myself - Oz teaches how to make them, albeit in a rather condescending manner - I am not a five year old, don't talk to me like I am one!

The c***** t*** he uses is also very good and I was looking forward to him showing how it was done, except he didn't as it is not his, it is Richard Osterlinds - he tells you what DVD or publication to buy to learn it.

The bonus section brings about a lot more background noise while he talks about various peek devices and then demonstrates the basic c***** t***

Apparently there is a bonus commentary on the routines, but my dvd player can't access them so I can't comment on them.

All in all a really poor effort from someone so highly thought of - awful production, poor camera work, dreadful sound, does not teach the method he demonstrates as it is not his to teach - £24.99 for an envelope - a bit steep, even for me

Rating - 3/10 just for the envelope.

i actually liked this!

The review or the DVD?

Assuming it was the DVD, what did you like?

I also liked this. I can't fault him for not teaching the move he uses himself, simply because it's not his to teach. He does explain a basic version - and as a result, the effect can be performed using it.

I suppose I can understand why some might be disappointed by this, but the routines do work (very well). Also remember, Oz just gives you the beginnings - it's up to you to make it as strong as possible. I saw him use a variation of all of the effects at his live two-man show - and each effect absolutely killed.

I agree that the production value was lacking, but the information was well worth the asking price.

I am not faulting him for not teaching the Osterlind move, but I do think it is wrong that he uses that move in every demonstration when he is not in a position to teach it.

My main gripe however, is that the DVD advertises 3 separate routines - where in reality it is one routine dressed 3 different ways.

The performances were recorded very poorly. The bonus bits didn't really divulge much in the way of real life experiences.

I still maintain £24.99 for a poor quality DVD showing one move and one gimmick is extremely poor value for money. I am happy that others got something out of this, but I certainly didn't.

Not worth its £24.99 price, it only teaches you 3 diffrent presentations which all needs 1 utility move, and they did not even put in the best type of ct you can do.

I must say, I did think that the demo videos for this were very misleading, he made it look totally hands off, which is in fact far from the truth.

I agree with L of M - I was tempted after watching the Demo but resisted.

Misleading is a strong word, I think. It would be misleading if you couldn't perform the effects at all like the demo showed. This is more a case of editing to cover the method than anything else.

If the demo doesn't show you the whole routine as a spectator would see it, then it is misleading. Imagine forcing a card and revealing its identity in a novel manner, but editing out the force, or any actual selection of a physical card. That would give a very false impression of the routine.

If information is written, we should see it written. If paper is handled or torn, we should see that too.

Those who are familiar with existing methods will then know whether the new routine offers them anything new. Those that aren't can be legitimately impressed.

It's not about covering method, it's about giving a full picture.

That doesn't surprise me about penguin in the slightest, in the two penguin videos I have watched, both performed by Oz the handling of the cards was atrocious. Cards were dropped, mistakes were made and gaffs were tipped.

Thanks for the warning, i was looking at this the other day

I very nearly bought this today. Thank goodness for the TM search facility!

Check out this performance by Oz on America's Got Talent 2015. I believe he performs one of the effects from Into the Abyss:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhbBuWS ... e=youtu.be

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

I really enjoyed the download. Yeah it's pricey but it's very hard hitting mentalism. Also Oz proved the tricks are good by performing one of them on America's Got Talent and getting great response from the judges!