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I'm looking at buying all three volumes of Kenton Knepper's Wonder Words tapes. However, they are over £100 so I want to make sure they are as good as they make out! I've become sceptical of the blurb on books now after a couple of bad purchases!
I know how well respected Kenton Knepper is, and that his work is brilliant, so I was just wondering if anyone here has the Wonder Words trilogy and what they thought about it!

I look forward to a reply! Mark

I don't have the time or, to be honest, the inclination to do a full review.

Kenton's work tends to divide opinion. Many love his stuff and yet there are a large number of people who find his material overrated. As such, it is, in my opinion, impossible for a review to be terribly relevant.

There are a couple of things that might be agreed upon be everyone. First, Wonder Words will make you think about what you say while performing. Even if you reject all the principles Kenton, ahem, suggests, I doubt anyone could not think more deeply about language and its power after listening to the set, or even just the first volume.

Second, there are some interesting pieces detailed. There are a couple of methods for doing readings and a few effects. Of course, as with any effect, these might not appeal to you. There is also some material on spectator selection.

Whether or not these things will be worth you paying £100ish is something only you can say and, in all likelihood, say after you've bought them.

If you can answer two questions, it might give you a better idea.

1. Are you very 'into' language? Did you like English as a subject at school (language and literature)?

2. Are you happy with abstract principles, as opposed to 'solid' routines? I don't mean that Kenton's material is vague, or wishy-washy, just that Wonder Words is largely about certian principles, as opposed to tricks.

If the answer to both is yes, then think about investing the money. Even then, there's no guarantee that you'll feel your expenditure was worth it. I seem to recall that Derren Brown has a little dig at Wonder Words in one of his books.

If there's something else you have got your eye on and feel certain that you'd like it; buy that item instead. As you say, it's easy to acquire something only to find out that it doesn't live up to your expectations.

...may i add that if you wanted to test the suggestive water so to speak - that you try "Trance This" by Mr. Knepper...its about 27 quid i think and has a few routines and some very strong effects explained well..

as well as the whole Milton-Erikson style approach to inductions/trance like states...but from a performers perspective...

And going on from there -

...Building Blocks by Luke Jermay if you wanted to go d-e-e-p-e-r....ooh and look at some stuff by Banachek/steve shaw too...i do love Building Blocks and the muscle reading book by Banachek..

please be aware though - it's not an easy thing to learn as you no doubt already know - its going to take massive amounts of practice - yet its all very powerful but also very unusual to perform in lots of ways to start off with at least (from my experience)...it does take alot of presentation and picking the right person to use and so on...

hope you stick with it though if you decide to go down this path - i think the rewards are emmense...good luck!

abraxus wrote:...may i add that if you wanted to test the suggestive water so to speak - that you try "Trance This" by Mr. Knepper...its about 27 quid i think and has a few routines and some very strong effects explained well..

as well as the whole Milton-Erikson style approach to inductions/trance like states...but from a performers perspective...

And going on from there -

...Building Blocks by Luke Jermay if you wanted to go d-e-e-p-e-r....ooh and look at some stuff by Banachek/steve shaw too...i do love Building Blocks and the muscle reading book by Banachek..

please be aware though - it's not an easy thing to learn as you no doubt already know - its going to take massive amounts of practice - yet its all very powerful but also very unusual to perform in lots of ways to start off with at least (from my experience)...it does take alot of presentation and picking the right person to use and so on...

hope you stick with it though if you decide to go down this path - i think the rewards are emmense...good luck!

Thank you so much for the advice! I think I better start saving the pennies! However, my student loan comes through soon, so I think I invest!!
I think I've decided that the best way to learn in this area is to read around as much as possible, purely because while two authors may cover the same ideas, they may both suggest something slightly differently, giving me a broader and richer understanding.
I'm going to look into these book right away! Thanks again.

Mark

Also I'm very curious about Kenton K. stuff, because I need to translate those into Turkish. I wonder if they'll lose their magic..

I wonder if they'll lose their magic

Interesting thought. I only know a little bit about WW but some of the principles would be equally valid in any other language as they don't rely just on the words themselves but on the ideas behind them and the way that different words or phrases can mean the same thing to some people whereas the same word or phrase can mean different things to others. WW isn't an exact science by any means and there's a lot more involved to achieve success. I wonder if results would be any easier or not if, just as an example, GaMeR performed a routine in English to an English speaking audience but inferred that he would need some leniency due to the difference in language from Turkish to English - a bit like the old Stage and Music Hall entertainers who assumed an Oriental persona. I reckon you could get away with almost anything !