talkmagic.co.uk

Hey guys,

bought 7 deceptions last week and was instantly impressed. With forewords from Banachek and Kenton Knepper you can't really go wrong with this material but here's a brief review of it for all you mentalists out there:

A number of the effects are highly suggestion-based so those of you who've read any of Kenton's books will instantly enjoy this. Luke kindly protects us with some 'outs' of a sort but the majority of stuff is self-contained within the suggestion effect. Some of you may be put of by this as there is a chance that things could go wrong but, personally, I like this style of stuff (also see Derren Brown's Pure Effect) as it keeps me alert during performances and can create extremely good effects.

One important point is that a number of these effects are highly suited to a stage audience. This is not necessarily a bad thing but some of these effects will not really work under 'closer' conditions.

Some of the effects that Luke details are:

RGM - Cause a spectator to forget a card that they've just been shown (v. nice routine, with an alternative handling my Kenton and quite safe when you think about it)

A Twisted Palm - During a palm reading you cause a spectator to see the lines on their hand start to move around in front of them. A very nice routine.

For Andruzzi - Stop your own pulse, stop a spectator's pulse, possibly even stop an audience's!

& The 7th Deception - Visibly (in a very nice way) remove a fear from a spectator.

Hope that gives you a useful insight into the sort of material in this manuscript. It is great stuff but please, only buy it if you meet the following 3 criteria (you will be wasting your money otherwise):

1) You are a very confident performer.
2) You are willing to take risks.
3) You are prepared to put in a lot of effort.

'Cold Reading' skill is also very useful.

Incidentally, there are actually 9 deceptions within this book, adding extra value for money!!

Hope that's helpful,

Paul.

Hmmmmm... first time poster, just gagging to share the good details of a new effect (which is untraceable on this forum or on 2 other UK web sources), total lack of usual review format, no prices, no details of where to obtain the effect, and the 'Hey Guys' introduction.

Why do I get the impression that this is just advertising?! OK, I could be wrong. Perhaps.

'Tis a curious thing indeed - this is more of a description than a review.

It's nice to see enthusiasm to contribute from a virgin-poster here, and it certainly makes a change from the usual mono-paragraph posts from new members - but:

1: It's nice to know where to get the item from here in the UK (And after checking coolpaul's IP address, he certainly is in the UK, unless BTOpenworld is operating somewhere else, too )

2: A price would be a good thing, also

3: An objective opinion on how the effects work in the real world is handy

This is a great 'taster', but as far as a review goes, would be good to hear if the effects actually are possible and useable. The impression I get here is that (although I may be wrong...) the reviewer has not actually used the effects or learned them yet - by the contradiction in the text:

(to quote)

1: "bought 7 deceptions last week and was instantly impressed"
2: "It is great stuff but please, only buy it if you meet the following 3 criteria (you will be wasting your money otherwise):

1) You are a very confident performer.
2) You are willing to take risks.
3) You are prepared to put in a lot of effort. "

Surely a review cannot be formed on this short-term analysis???

Anyway - down to business...

Welcome to the board, coolpaul... sorry to grill you on your first posting, but if you could 'elaborate' a bit, we'd all be grateful.

You seem to be a potential full-member - and a little more attention when posting reviews that make us 'sad magi' salivate with excitement would be gratefully received!

lol, i did not expect that much grilling!

It's my first post on any magic forum, so I am not really aware of the usual format for review writing, just thought I'd add my general opinion on this manuscript.

Sorry for sounding so much like an advert,

Paul.

P.s. Might elaborate a bit more when I find some more time.

I didn't think that was too bad as a first post!!

It was an excellent post - and in honesty, it's only because I'm very interested in the actual validity and usage of the effects described that I thirst for more!!!

It was a personal and selfish grilling on my behalf, as I'd really like to hear actually how good the book is - I've had my beady eyes on it...

Anyway, it was a very good first offering - like I say, a lot more than expected from a first timer...

...but (pretty please) could you tell us more...!

Paul - as I said above, I could be wrong and I was - sorry!

Can you tell us where to check this one out, where to buy it etc? Are there any demo videos associated with it? Y'know - lotsa stuff like that!

Cheers,

i had this at one time but i have to say i wasnt that impressed... it seems to me that a lot of this type of magic relies on luck and on the spec being open to persuasion that things are actually happening, if anyone has this book and has tried the routines i'd love to hear the results, cos to be honest i dont think they'd work henc the reason i never tried them

i would LOVE to be proved wrong, hell id even get the book and try them meself, but until i hear a REAL persons success story im staying put with my opinion

I bought this book and sold it a week later..just no my cup of tea at all!!

The Thaumaturge

I have to say I am not a fan either, it's a small body of work and I have to agree with the_mog on this one.
I haven't used these effects but like the_mog would like to hear from people brave enough who have.
Horses for courses I guess.

BaB

coolpaul2001, next time you should click on the reviews template at the beginning of the reviews section and copy and paste the template onto your review. That way we can get all the info on the product . Wecome to Talk Magic and I hope to see more of your posts around the forum.

Just dusted off my copy and thought the notes given here might give the learned some idea of where it is comming from without giving much away.
Also if you are interested in these effects maybe search out those other sources.
All taken from 7 deceptions...

Reversed Gestalt Moment
I first revealed the full handling of this along with some other of my other work in a book written by Kenton Kneeper entitled: Miracles of Suggestion.

Cold Emotion
This effect owes a nod to Max Maven’s Mind Sight Deck. Which can be seen on Video Mind Volume One. A description of the Mete Tekel deck can be found on page 256 of The Encyclopaedia of Card Magic.

For Andruzzi
For those who are interested I actually do not use the *&^%$ method all the time - on page 312 of The Complete Invocation.....

Silence is golden
This effect incorporates much from many sources. The methodology was inspired by the wonderful thinking of Docc Hilford and Tony Andruzzi and the script leans heavily towards Kenton Knepper’s brilliant Wonder Words

Hope that helps,
BaB

Hey guyz, for those of you that would like to see the stuff in action (and trust me, it works) you should see Luke perform, and then teach you it.

If you missed him at the Escape from the Asylum day, he's lecturing at Upminster on the 21st of January.

Message either him or me for more details.

Paul,

For a first post, You must be a very confident performer to make Luke's material work. Congrats.

I went to the 'Escape' day (a mentalists convention) where Luke was lecturing and performing some of his material.

I have to say, reading it, the first reaction is 'absolutely rubbish - it will never work'. After seeing Luke perform it on laymen I can honestly say I've never seen an entire room of supposed experts appear so absolutely dumbfounded as that before! It didn't just work - it seemed miraculous.

The only catch is you have to possess balls of shiny steel to carry some of it off. If you can do this then the material is for you - and more than that, this will leave the spectators believing they have see the 'real thing' - honestly, it is that strong.

I have no affiliation with Luke, nothing to gain, have only met him once (on that day). All I'd like to do here is rebalance some of the negative comments... point is, though it might read as though it won't work... it actually does!

Jamie.

I finally bought this book last week. I've had building blocks for a while and it's brilliant and has a huge impact on my performance. I thought i'd skip on the effects (what I thought 7 deceptions was) and get into the meat of it (building blocks). I saw 7 deceptions in our magic shop a while back and thought "is that all - it's so thin". 7 Deceptions has really exceeded my expectations. The book is awesome. I can't believe how much information is packed into it. Not only are the effects great - but the details and suggestions he gives to enhance them is incredibly helpful. Ok - I've run out of adjectives now - but let's just say I'm very impressed and I'm finding this book extremely useful