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Hi everyone, I just come accross some Max Maven stuff and am so pleased that I did he is an excelent mentalist!!!

I was supprised to not see much about him on this site, just wondered what everyone thought of this guy??

hes a little wired I know but the tricks are amazing and he explains them quickly and well

I was watching it and it must have been filmed in the lates 80's (maybe) and its just like watchin a Derren Brown exposed video!! one of hes tricks with a stacked deck that CAN be riffle shuffled is AMAZING

sorry i know this post makes little sence but I just had to talk about it

bye bye going to practice....

I met him at a magic event with several other top magicians. If there is one thing he likes, it's the sound of his own voice. His magic is pretty good but he came off very conceded, especially considering the company he was in. I consider many of the other performers there much better entertainers then him. This is just the impression from one meeting, but other magicians I know said he is always like that.

He's a very strange guy and totally professional but he loves his magic! I saw him ealier this year ( http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic4625.p ... =max+maven ) and he was so helpful to every one who asked questions. Full marks from me.

Max's books are well worth reading. The effects are normally practical and work in every day situations. Also, his thoughts on presentation and such are worth the price of the books and teaching material alone.

You should check his book called 'Prism' a collection of great stuff. He can come across as Mandrake said, but he is very good.

If he is anything, Max is VERY Max.

But he is also devastatingly intelligent. One of my favorite books of his is Redivider. It may not seem like a big book but if you look at it a while you come to realize just how devilishly smart he is. It is an amazing achievement and inspired me to work on a similar project as an effect. Amazingly difficult, may take me years, but it will be amazing.

He is a very good mentalist and extremely prolific in his writings and creations. He is also very knowledgeable about magic history and the origins and derivations of effects.

Incidentally, he can be seen in a peculiar little vignette on the extras disc in the Get Nyman set, with Andy Nyman and Derren Brown. At least he has a sense of humour...

Max was one of my first inspirations into mentalism - he has a great persona and works very well indeed, and he shows you that pace plays a major role in mentalism.

He has some great books out under the guise of Phil Goldstein they are worth investing in and he is "supposed" to be doing some more filming for L&L but he didnt confirm the release date for these in his email, but something to look forward too!

Enjoy him and all his ideas

Dade - Kinesis

Phil Goldstein is his real name, Max Maven is the Guise.

Max just released a new signed limited edition book, The Protocols of the Elders of Magic over Thanksgiving, 500 copies, which of course are completely gone.

The contents are secret, but I can tell you it is fascinating as I have one of the copies.

Max Maven is probably the best mentalist working today and CERTAINLY is the most knowledgeable magic historian of our time.

(BTW, Max Maven IS his name; it has been legally changed from Phil Goldstein, his birth name.)

I appeared on the bill with him once and found him to be amiable and likable (despite his striving for a different persona <G>).

I remember when he still went by Phil... (does that show my age at all?) and "Max" was just an idea he was in the process of creating.

Firstly, he's quite literally a genius... I'm not referring to his accomplishments in life, but in the literal MENSA sense of things, he's waaaay above average and suffered the dredges of being a child prodige as an end result. He does have a photographic memory that's well over 90% accurate in recall and he reads dozens of books a week... not little booklets but major analytical essay type tomes, novels, etc. I know he's mastered at least two lanugages outside of English and heard rumor that he actually speaks over five fluently.

Believe it or not, Max is actually "shy" hence the facade of being a domoneering or even arrogant individual at times. Contrary to his image however, I do know that Max actually has a heart (albeit, black) and is heavily inspired by individuals that apply themselves in a deliberate and disciplined manner in their craft whether it's magic, handiwork or whatever... he admires and respects passion, skill and talent. He loathes wasting his time with the wannabe that simply wants to learn a new trick or pump him for information or simply suck up to him. If you want to impress him, be your own person and stand up for who you are and what you do in an intelligent manner and you'll win.

Though I've been seriously blown away by his work upon more than one ocassion during my days at the Castle, I've not been much of a fan when it comes to his material. That's not so say that it isn't good, only that it does not fit the style of presentation I tend to hold to... it's not for me. Nonetheless, his philosophy and approach to Mentalism is, in my opinion, one of the key examples of what helped drag this craft into its current sense of popularity. Max installed the idea of Production Value into his Mentalism shows and to my knowledge, was one of the first to do so. As such, he raised the bar, so to speak, as to what both the public and promoters expected from such a program; taking mentalism out of "the cheap" (which is one reason why so many get into it in the first place) and into the standing of being an actual production art -- THEATER.

Our industry owes a great deal to Max and his unique way of looking at things

The trick he shows where the pack is stacked so it can be riffle shuffled is based on the 'galbraith' (spelling please someone) effect and is something he likes to talk about a lot. Its a surprisingly simple or should I say elegant mathematical principle.

I love his videos. They are the best material on mentalism that I have seen.

Max Maven has got to be one of contemporary mentalism's genuises. I would also tend to think, genuis being what it is, also tends to make one a bit odd in behaviour.

Just as an aside, my ex caught a glimpse of Max performing on a video I was watching and commented, "Isn't that Fraser Crane dressed up as Satan?"
I'll let you be the judge on that one

Max Maven is one of the Greats!

Strange but true .

This morning I was checking in a dictionary and the book fell open at the page with the word 'maven' on it. The word is described as being of Jewish origin and means, in various forms:
A person who has special knowledge or experience.
An expert.
A connoisseur
Someone who is dazzlingly skilled
A person with special ability who performs skilfully

Thesaurus suggests:
Adept, hotshot, mavin, superstar, virtuoso, whiz, whizz, wiz, wizard, sensation, star, ace, genius, champion - all of which seems to sum him up quite well.

(I bet not a lot of people know that )