A word about reconstruction?

Reconstruction, is when a spectator can deduce from what he has seen, the method used to accomplish the effect.  Some might call it deductive reasoning, logical progression, bilateral thinking but what ever the term used, they all mean the same. The point is that mentalist/magicians work extremely hard on their tricks so you can't backtrack to how they did them.  One extremely uncreative individual is now trying to capitalize on this as if he has discovered the lost city of Atlantis, when in fact it's what the truly gifted innovators of mentalism already do.

Yep you guessed it our old friend Bob C, ripping off others in the craft with his nonsense about the "logical disconnect".  He claims that this "new" approach to mentalism is the difference between a good performance and a bad one. The fact of the matter is, any good effect from any original creator, has already explored this concept. Take for example, The White Dwarf. As I have already stated there is no reason for the second envelope if in fact the first envelope is opaque. The fact that a second envelope is used, screams gimmick. Whether the first envelope is see through because of the dark marker used or because it has a hole in it, that the mentalist keeps hidden. The fact that two envelopes are used, is a dead giveaway as to the method.

So keep your money, save your cash, and know that when it comes to Dr. Crow, a shot of originality is seriously needed.  As always, these are my opinions and should be taken with some bird seed. LOL

HANUSSEN SWITCH BAG

Here is an item that is being hailed as some kind of miracle? http://www.marketplaceofthemind.com/hanubag.html Come on Bob, a devils napkin with grommets. It's so sad, when old age stifles creativity. LOL As always my opinions are just that, so don't get your panties all in a bunch. LOL

This is how mentalists behave with women.

Chivalry is dead, on the magic cafe message boards. In the penny for your thoughts section, a woman working on a paper for school asks a question hoping to get some help from these so called moral sexists. Problem is they didn't like how she asked. So they start their trash talking and personality bashing not ever even having met the woman. When her boyfriend tries to chime in, they bash him to. You got to love these truly mental misfits, that only seem to pat each other on the back and help sell their friends sell the latest and greatest garbage. But don't take my word for it, read for yourself. http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=440546&forum=15&54 She even goes as far as to call herself a "newbie" to get some help and this is how they teat her. This is why we have to expose these a holes for what they are dumb ass redneck types who belong behind bars, not out and about the general public bilking the good people of this country out of their hard earned money. This goes for their performances as well as their products. I will continue to draw attention to this so long as these trolls continue to behave this way. Clean up you act boys or I might just be in the crowd of you next show and I'll clean it up for you.
As always you can take my words with a grain of salt or go bitch to you mom for the comfort of her bosom. Frankly my dear I don't give a damn.

The White Dwarf.

The white dwarf is a supposed utility item that lets the mentalist gain information for the spectator using a card and two envelopes. Another one of Bob Cassidy's apparent miracles? Yeah right! LOL

The first things that draws suspicion, are the two envelopes and there obvious differences. Why is one lighter in color than the other?  Why are there two? The answers are obvious because it's how they are used in conjunction, to accomplish the effect.

What happens is after something is written on a card and it is placed face down in the first envelope (the lighter colored one) the mentalist asks the participant to seal it using the french method, he gets a full view of whatever is on the card through the envelope, just like in the trick we learned as kids called "Mystery Die". Then that envelope is sealed in the second envelope just like in the original kids trick, to throw off the spectators and to convince then that they can't see through anything.

But that's what makes the trick so obvious? If you can't see though the first envelope, why use the second? It doesn't make sense! Which is true of much of Bob's "original" work. Original ha! The only thing the guy does that's original is, spreading lies about people he doesn't know to others for no apparent reason other than his ego.

Well there you have it, another so called miracle but we know better.

As with all in this blog, these are my opinions and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Follow Up.

Some people have asked that since I wrote in a previous post that I didn't know jdmagic how can I call him friend?

Well at the time of the first writing, I didn't know him. Subsequently he contacted me and I got to liking the guy.
He speaks his mind even when he knows it will lead to controversy. Remind you of anybody? LOL Since those who try to monopolize the magic industry have seen fit to try silencing him, I'm choosing to give him a voice here. He is also very knowledgeable about magic/mentalism and may be a constant contributer to this blog.

So continue to tune in for you dose of gossip and news s it becomes known to this writer. Till then be well.

Back From The South.

Well, it's been awhile but there was more pressing problems than the full of themselves mentalists/magicians to deal with. But I"m back and a there's a whole host of things have happened, that it's time to talk about.

Seems the Magic Cafe has decided that defending oneself is a banable offense. A good friend of mine, had just gotten off ban with the site when the hurricanes hit down south. My friend jdmagic357, tried to organize a donation exchange similar to the kind Pablo Amira did but to take care of us right here at home. Well seems Lior Manor took offense to this, and for days trashed the project, with only JD defending it. Many people watched and did nothing, including contributing members and the moderating cafe staff. Eventually all the back and forth with JD was deleted, but by that time it was to late, and the damage had already been done. The project was finished. When JD got out, people accused him of never having been serious about the project to begin with, but those same hypocrites did nothing when Lior was trashing the project which had nothing to do with JD and everything to do with the victims down south. Just another example of how foreigners, hate America and Americans, but expect us to take care of them when they're in trouble. Yeah but they call JD a bad guy? You got to love the hypocrisy and downright duplicity. NOT!

Well that's all I have time for today but I'll be back soon with more, till then remember that these are my opinions. They should be viewed as satire, and taken with a grain of salt.

More Controversy.

Well it seems The Unknown Mentalist can't stay out of controversy, and why would I want to? Seems the video I posted yesterday, is half the story of a feud going on between the performer in that video Shawn Farquhar and Russ Stevens. The facts of whats going on seem to boil down to the use of Stings music in a card act. Stevens seems to think that because Farquhar used it for the posted card act after seeing an act that he (Stevens) did in some way makes him a hack? Farquhar seems to feel as though he needs to defend himself from this accusation? That seem to be what the feud is all about, and what is being talked about in online forums all over the place. Here is one place you can read about it; 

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forumsviewtopic.php?topic=324892&forum=36&start=0 

Then the conversation seems to be continued here;

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=324892&forum=36&start=0

I've looked at both sides, and I just don't see an issue? It's like two dancers using the same music, both do their thing to the same music. So what? It's music and so long as they have the right from sting to use it, whats the problem? Even if they didn't have the right to use it, how is that anybodies business except Stings? Just one more example of how magicians/mentalists will make mountains out of molehills. Till next time, good thoughts.

And Now 4 Something Completely Different # 2

Now I'm not a card guy, but this is one of the nicest things I've seen in magic ever! I hope you like it as much as I?

Seance Review

OK Seance by BobC is a 25 page ebook that sells for $47 and can be bought at this link;

http://artfulmentalism.com/seance/

The work is bundled with another tome originally published in 1907 called "Behind the Scenes With the Mediums"

You also get, a ticket to a teleseminar blah blah blah. If you want to know more just go to the site. The only thing I'm interested in is the seance work and so that will be the only thing I review.

The first 3 pages are the cover, copyright notice, and some quotes by Jung and others. Page 4 is the introduction. Page 5 begins with conducting a seance.  Here we are encouraged to have our theatrical performance look as much like, what the public is used to as we can. The underlined psychology being that if it looks right, well then it is right. I sort of agree, but what does a seance look like? We are told that it compares with whats on TV ghost hunter shows, but I don't think so? I think it's more the Victorian round table type act that we are familiar with. Not that big of a deal so far, but lets go further. 

On page 7 we are told that the first rule of a good seance is, the atmosphere. OK that seems to go without saying, but I guess we're all to stupid to know that? I would guess that anyone wanting to do this kind of thing, would have studied some bizarre magic, and have already learned that, atmosphere is everything? But again, not that big of a deal. Perhaps he's just assuming that anyone buying this is oblivious, to the other works on the subject, and is why he seems to have a need to tell us the obvious.

He then goes on for a few pages telling us about different types of seances and methods of cold readings. Now I personally am against using cold readings in acts which seem to contact those who have passed. I think it unethical and downright criminal, but that's just my opinion. I do respect those who believe in a past life and their belief that contact is possible. This may seem like a contradiction, but it's not. What I believe is right for me, and may not be what's right for others, so I can respect others and their beliefs .This is something many in the magic community can't do, and is what leads to much of the bickering that goes on between them in public chat rooms and forums. But I digress.

We start getting to the effects around page 11 Bob starts with and effect from the Jinx called "The Goblet of Endehall". This is indeed a good effect and one I suggest you look up in the Jinx, no need to buy this ebook for it. The so called master then goes on to describe the EVP seance. This happens around page 12, so we are half way through the book before we even begin to start getting something original, or do we?

From page 12 to page 15 Bob describes an effect using a computer and program called "auducity"/ This looked to me like a great effect and something stellar, until I realized that it was an updated version of a trick I had read in the Linking Ring some time age. The issues parade section was all about seances and had a trick that involved a tape recorder which in essence is the same trick Bob describes only a more modern version. But where's the credit Bob? Did you forget again like you say you did when toting Mr. Osterlinds work as your own? Why won't you give credit where credit is due? Are you that full of yourself, that you can't admit when your wrong?

It was at this point, my readers that I clicked out the ebook. I lost my lunch and had to wash out my mouth. Mr. High holy Cassidy does it again and claims work as his own without crediting the originator. I just can't stand it anymore. That he sit in judgment of others while committing blatant unethical acts just is the epitome of hypocrisy. At least that's my opinion. How do you my readers see it?

Well I'll be back with more on this so called work in the future but this taste in my mouth needs something stronger than scope. So till next time, good thoughts.

UPDATE!

Well it looks like Iain Dunford, has taken down his vulgar blog, "The SH*T List". It's to bad David Eldridge and his Samaria parish, had to be hurt and implicated so badly before Iain came to his senses. It just goes to show that even, pigs can try cleaning themselves. Problem is they still smell like pigs. Till next time, good thoughts.

PS. Just one more example of how losers never win, and winners never lose. 

UPDATE!

The so called flashback principle? Used mostly in book tests, where the first word on the left hand pages of a book, are repeated as the last word on the first line of the right side of a book. By riffling down the corner of the top of the book and allowing the spectator to call stop, the mentalist knows the word, because it's staring him in the face. Many books are printed this way and can be bought at magic shops but you can make your own just by printing the word atop the right hand page. Obviously, if you do make your own, you can't hand it out for examination. A thing you can do with the custom printed books. Just something to look for and to suspect when a mentalist won't hand you the book.

I'm posting this in anticipation, of future posts. Right now I'm just concentrating on the seance book I got from BobC, so I can review and explain some of the things in it. Till next time, good thoughts.

The Diary Trick

Start by watching this; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEC9l-FTKgo it's our old friend BobC about a million years ago, working some kind of retirement community or something? It is however an illustration of the diary trick, which is what we will be discussing today. I won't be going into detail about presentation, just watch the so called master, and I'm sure you'll get the idea. I will suggest that you do include the blah blah about cards, as it really fits in with the whole theme, and kind of justify the diary. If you want more info try this link; http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4363177564957181730# it has Bob's whole story and more on the video. With that, lets get back to the diary effect.

So in a previous post I told that mr.  mindreader did a thing with a pocket diary that was old and outdated. I figure that since he has seen fit to trash a fellow performer on some forums and behind the scenes, it might be a good idea to share the methoud to the trick. Well the tricks works  on a a variation of the "Koran deck" principal. This is nothing more than to have the same card repeated a number of times in a deck  so that only one of those cards can be chosen. A force of one of those cards is the basic premise at work. In the diary trick, you have two diaries one even one odd. In the even diary on every even date is placed one of your force cards in a rotation. Lets take April as an example, on the first would be an indifferent card. On the second would be a force card in my case its the 2 of spades. On the third an indifferent card. the forth another force card in my case the 3 of spades. Followed by another indifferent card on the fith. Then a force card for the sixth the four of spades. Another indifferent  card for the seventh with a force card for the eight the five of spades.

The force cards are continued on every even date in the even date book for the whole month beginning with the 2 of spades, and beginning a new every month there after. What this does is allow you to know what the card is without the spectator saying it. How? Say the spectator says June 22. You would look up Say September 22 while showing the diary and how there is a different card on each date. The same sequence is followed in the odd date book, except the force cards fall on the odd datets. They are of course the same 4 force cards, the 2,3.4, and 5 of spades. The reson these cards are used is because they can be easily recognized easaly.

Once both diary are completed depending on what date is called one of the force cards can be produced. So just to be clear, say the spectator calls for the date June 21 we would go to say Nov 21 as we show the diary to have a different card at each date. Obviously the only diary would be the odd diary we remove. If should also be obvious that the only diary the audience is aware of is the one you pull out. Another thing about the diarys that it's the type that shows a week at a glance with 3 days on the left side and four on the right.

All That's left is to reveal the card from your prediction place.  You can just have the 4 cards "indexed" in your 4 pants pockets. Or you can use double envelopes in a Himber wallet. Or just have 4 Jumbo cards in your jacket in one pocket using the step system "short cuts". Whatever you decide the trick is the same. Well there it is the famous Diary trick all wrapped up  for your amusement. I know not really worth anything since you need two diarys which are out of date anyway. Some people seem to like it (mostly magicians) and so it's presented here for you, my readers. Here is another Video of BobC much older, performing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTe_B5ScOKo&feature=related

Remember that soon I will be reviewing "Seance" by BobC after which I will be describing some of the effects. Till then, good thoughts and remember this is an entertainment blog full of satire and personal opinions.

And Now 4 Something Completely Different?

Carry on, boys!

UPDATE!

So Iain says he started the other site because he is standing for truth, justice and the American way. But what he doesn't say, is that he doesn't know the person he is degrading at all, or even if that person David Samaria really exists?  Fact of the matter is anybody can say they are anybody on the internet. Poor Iain can't conceive that one may have adopted a persona, to protect ones true identity. Now I don't think this jdmagic guy is any superman, but I have met a few Clark Kents online, and I know first hand how easy it is to be someone else. Iain however can't hide his true identity as a lonely loser with no life or hope for one. He continues his trolling ways with a chip on his shoulder, probably from carrying around all his books he can't seem to sell? Whatever the guys problem? I do see him stopping soon, and taking down such a vulgar site, that is doing so much to hurt this man;

http://www.samariachurchofchrist.com/about-us/evangelist

So the fire will stay fueled and since it's due to Bob Cassidy sharing information he was given in private emails, things will stay the same.

But enough about those people who to me, are just insignificant. I want to tell you, my readers, about some upcoming posts. One will deal that out of date diary test I spoke of in another post. Another will not only review a seance work given to me by the good Dr. but will also explain some of it's effects. These are just some of what's coming up in April, check back soon for all the latest and greatest news, gossip and what ever else I can find for your entertainment. Till next time. Good thoughts.

UPDATE!

I just found this, and thought some of my readers would think it interesting. Check out what Amira says about how he started in magic. His post is second from the bottom.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=360010&forum=177&start=60

A thief, who admittedly stole from others, and didn't stop until HE, started selling digital material.

You have to read a little between the lines, but I think it's quite clear what he's saying.

Who Is This Person?

Some say "she's connected to that old geyser Bob"? We don't know as others say, "Bob's taste's lead elsewhere" after all he was in the Navy as some kind of microphone specialist. (communications) To bad he didn't learn his trade very well, and might have done well to learn that "loose lips sink ships."  We're looking into Denise, to see if she really wants this guy for him, or his money and will report back when we know? Till then just know that when one breaks a trust, nothing is off limits.

As always these comments are meant as entertainment and shouldn't be taken as anything else but satire.

Hangman The Game

So you want to win every game of "hangman" you ever play? How can you do that? Well we mentalists have a plethora of ways to know what your thinking. In almost all mentalism there are only 4 principals in play.

They are,

Force it; This means making someone choose what you want, without their knowing.

Find it out; After something has been done (like writing something down) we find out what it is . More on that in a minute.

Fake it; Act as though we know something (Like in cold reading) that we in fact don't know, but pretend that we do.

Fill it in; Where we can do double writing or use a swami gimmick. Look to future posts for those explanations.

For now lets deal with find it out. In our example we are going to play hangman with a participant, and we want to know in advance the word they are using before the game begins? Some might use what is know as "pre show work" This just means that before a performance we approach somebody before the show and ask them to help during our performance. They're not in, on what we are going to do, but are asked to think of something, which they are to recount latter on in our performance. Because we don't want them to forget, we have them write it down, like on a clip board or book cover, and to take the paper with them, (to prove what they will say latter on) This is where the dirty work happens! We as mentalists have developed special pads, clip boards, books and the like that will take impressions of what is written so that we can latter read the words or whatever has been drawn. These are called "Impression Devices" duh, and are readily available at most, if not all magic shops.

So here is how the scenario might go with the hangman game? "Excuse me sir. Latter on in my performance I'd like to use you would you mind helping out?" If he says yes we continue with "Good. I want to play a game of hangman with you and will be asking you to think of a word for the game. Do you understand?" If he says yes we continue, "Good. Now many people get nervous when helping out and I don't want you to forget the word, so just write it down so you don't forget." See how the mentalist makes it out to be for the participants benefit when in fact it's for his own. After the guy writes down his word (atop the impression device) the mentallist thanks the participant and sends him on his way.

During the performance the mentalist calls upon the "helper" and says something like " Now although I approached you before the show I have no way of knowing WHAT YOUR THINKING OF. Giving the impression (no pun intended)  that all the guy did was THINK of a word. That's it, the whole trick in a nutshell. They go on with the game but since the performer knows what the spectator wrote, it's no big deal to recount it. This technique is used quite often, and should be suspected whenever these kinds of presentations are made.

There you have it another "secret" shared with you my readers. Remember I post purely my own opinions and for entertainment only. Thanks for reading and till next time.

Iain Dunford

At this point you have to be wondering, is this guy just making these names up?  Well I can assure you  this is a real person. Well he's another so called mentalism writer, like that guy Pablo only  this guy is from England instead of Mexico or wherever Amira is from.  He recently let me know about a site that mimics this one called "the sh*t-list". I'm not really sure what the site is about except that it talks of a Jdmagic and one David Samaria. Now I don't know who these people are so I Googled the name and came up with this,

http://www.samariachurchofchrist.com/about-us/evangelist

Why in Gods name would somebody want to cast dispersions on a man of the cloth, is beyond me? So I started looking more into the Iain person and found that basically he trolls forums all day and every so often puts out an ebook he tries to sell as something worth wild, but isn't often received very well.

His books have names like, The Hateful Page Book Test, The Games People Play, and The Beautiful Lie. With names like those it's no wonder he would try hurting a man of God as he does with that blog. I'm not even going to comment on the content of books as it's just not worth my time or yours in my opinion. Anyway back to his trolling ways, on one popular forum when you pull up his most recent posts, all that comes up is his insistent complaining of others and their posts. He adds nothing to the content of discussions, and tries to
play cop or something?  You can see for yourself here:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/search_results_posts.php?search_id=7016812

He seems like a person who was ignored as a child so I'll guess he has some siblings that really out did him in life, and he is always living in their shadows. If not, it's he himself who finds his existence so loathful and spends most of his time wishing he would have done things different. I feel sorry for the guy, but not so sorry that he will escape his own actions. To undermine a religious person because your mad at somebody, seems quite reprehensible?

In my opinion Iain Dunford needs to get a life and concentrate more on himself, than others. When you have as many problems as this guy does, in my opinion it would be better if he got help, rather than fumbling around all day on his computer. I think it very sad, to not have as much a life as the rest of us, and wish him well.

These are my opinions. They are strictly my own, and are meant to be for entertainment proposes only.

UPDATE!

Well it seems Truth About Mentalists has once again righted a wrong. That popular forum where Bob Cassidy plays psychiatrist has done the right thing, and deleted the thread discussing this blog and that poor boy Theodore Fraser. Good thing, I saved the pages on my hard drive. Should the parents ever need them as evidence. I hope it never comes to that, but such irresponsible behavior can't just be ignored. Till next time.

UPDATE!

Now we go from what might have been entertaining to downright dangerous! On a popular forum there is a person named Theodore Fraser who says he "was diagnosed a Sociopath as a child" But Bob Cassidy in his infinite knowledge and wisdom sees fit to say "Theo- You may be a bit whacky sometimes, but you are NOT a sociopath." Here is where you can find it;


http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=409458&forum=82&158&start=60

Now I'm not a lawyer, but it would seem to me that if one practices psychiatry without a license, they may have some splaning to do if God forbid, something adversely happens to that poor boy, as a result of Bob's diagnosis?  Another example of how in my opinion, the good "Dr." over steps his bounds with reckless abandon of all sense. When, oh when, will he learn?

UPDATE!

Well seems like flip flopping Pablo does it again, and has paid for those stolen books. On a popular forum he says, "I rethink this subtle missunderstanding that I have with the eBook/Book thing. Docc knows that I love his work and for that reason I pay him back the money and already download the 3 eBooks." Well of course I have no way of verifying this, but if true, then consider it the first of many wrongs this blog will try to right. Now if he, would just consider the brave men and women who gave their lives for THIS country, that would really be something. We will see?

Pablo Amira

Yeah I know another who, in this metalism thing. Well while I had never heard of him before, I'm certainly aware of him today. Seems as thought he's had a recent beef with one Docc Hilford over a deal that Docc's offers on his website http://www.docchilfordproducts.com/scarletdragon/ problem was poor Pablo didn't realize it was ebooks he was buying and instead of asking questions, asked for a refund. That wouldn't have been bad, except that he had already gotten the ebooks. So in essence he stole them from Docc since he got the books and the money back.

If that was all this punk did it would be enough to condemn him, but the guy was on a personal crusade to black ball one Jose Prager, from entering into the mentalism market by using, slanderous lies. He has since changed his tune, but the damage had already been done. This is a common theme with this flip flopping dweeb, that he just can't seem to make up his mind about anything? In one popular forum, he says paraphrase "I'm not going to participate anymore in this forum" then comes back when he has something to sell. He Says paraphrase "Jose Prager's products should be avoided because he dosn't respect creators" and then says "Ethically speaking you should do it if your feel it. If you came up with your presentation and method in an independent way, I don't find necessary to asks permissions. If you publish your idea and you know about that similar idea, is better to give references for further study." What a confused mind he has.

And finally this so called mentalist, is on some sort of mission to help Japan. Now in and of itself this isn't a bad thing, but when we consider that he isn't doing anything for the victims of Pearl Harbor I think it speaks volumes about him as a person. Sure lets help those who killed innocent men and women in Hawaii, but to those familys that greve so from the lose of there fathers and mothers lets do nothing. I think it somewhat hypocritical and counter U.S. sentiments.

On a personal note my father was killed at Pearl Harbor and I find it in extremely bad taste to care so much for those who are responsible for his death, without some acknowledgment of the brave who fought for this country. On that note, I'll leave you to consider this when thinking about Pablo, and when wanting to buy his EBOOKS. Yeah that's right the same thing he complained about buying from Docc Hilford is what this punk sells himself.

As always the opinions expressed in the blog are my own and to be taken as entertainment. Till next time.

More On The Billet Switch.

What is the billet switch? Your first question should be what's a billet? A billet is a small piece of paper. That's it. The size is about that of a small post-it note and in fact post-its are often used as billets in effects. Another thing used is 3x5 index cards such as those used by the good Dr. that are cut in half making two pieces 3 x 2 1/2. These are folded in quarters. In total you have 3 at least for the name place or remote viewing trick that Mr. master mind-reader does.

To prepare you put 2 of the above billets in your right pocket with 2 pencils. In you left pocket you have the 3rd billet along with a white disposable lighter. You hand out the two pieces of paper to two spectators along with the pencils and ask one person to write the name of a famous person. The other is write the name of a place. (in the remote viewing version it's place place). The papers are mixed by one of the participants and one is handed to the performer for burning. He (the performer) while removing the lighter from his pocket also
brings out the "dummy billet" finger palmed. Then in the act of transferring the lighter from one hand to the other, switches the dummy for the actual billet with the writing on it. This is called the lighter switch and was invented by Richard Osterlind who wasn't credited with it by the Bobster. (SHAMEFUL) Ok so when the perform goes into his pocket for the lighter he leaves the slip with the written information on in there with some other slips which he will bring out after burning the dummy. Now after the dummy burns the performer reaches into the pocket where he dumped the one with the writing and withdraws it with the other slips as if all he has are blank pieces of paper. The mentalist instructs the spectator holding the other billet to concentrate on what she's holding while he mimes writing on one of the blank pieces. In reality he's looking right at what one of them wrote. Here begins to tell the person about what they wrote acting as if this is whats in the participants hand but in fact is detailing what he has seen. At this point he takes the slip being held by the spectator to "verify" that he's right miscalling it and memorizing what it says for the second reveal to come. He then tosses the paper away as if it's of no importance only to then revel the second word.

This may all seem confusing but if you watch these youtube videos, it will all make sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ke_jjAuwy8 or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQpVZ9xQW-8&feature=related The point is there is no special powers at work just good  old fashioned chicanery.

That's all for now. Remember these are all just my opinions and for entertainment proposes.

Bob Cassidy

Bob Cassidy, aka Robert E. Cassidy, aka Dr. Bob, aka Dr. Crow and self proclaimed "master mindreader" is today's topic of this discussion. This is one of those big names I spoke of in my first post. He is most noted for his work in "Mental Mysteries" His most famous of videos. I really don't understand why, as it is in essence just two different billet switches that he uses. He also does some thing with a pocket calendar and some cards that is ok but old and becoming dull. We get it Bob a card at a date fine wonderful, now get some new material. So where to start with this one? Well if you Google his name you will pull up page after page of his self serving promotions. You may even get to sample his work from the various torrent sites that choose to host his work. Now while I'm against piracy, since much of his work is just knock offs of others, it may be good reason to download a ebook or two? But lets first analyze the good Dr. and his handles. First off where did he get those degrees that allows you to use Dr. in front of your name? Or where did he get this so called "master" designation? To my knowledge they are all self imposed? This is an insult to anybody who has actually worked for a degree, and something in my opinion he should immediately stop using. Although not that egregious an offense, but it seems as though the good Dr. has let his own hype go to his head. You see the man is on some kind of crusade to bring back an old form of mentalism that doesn't really work for today's modern audiences. He advocates mentalist performing as "real" even though he himself has used a disclaimer. "mentalism as we call my art is a psychological persuasive technique that comes close to looking
like real mindreading" He goes on to say on his mental miracles video that, "in fact I'm using sound scientific techniques and psychological principals to create that very illusion" But here Bob rants about how there's no more real mindreaders? The happens at 2:48 of this video http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=DWopGsFLtgQ but even on this video at 1:02 he uses a disclaimer.

So what's my beef? Well I'm tired of this guy thinking he's the ultimate authority of all that is magic and mentalism. We took no vote. Had no meeting. And never asked this guy to be our moral compass, ethical leader or our creative consultant. We don't need at least in my opinion to have a self serving egotist, stand as the beginning and end of all that is our art. More important, to beckon us to be "real", perpetuates those who would use our art to foster an irrational belief in psychic anything performed by fakes, such as we are. in other words he advises that we should perform in a manner that gives credence to our own powers as if they
came from some divine being to bilk the public out of their hard earned money. This is just unacceptable.

Another thing about this guy is he belongs to a public forum where he expounds all kinds of passive aggressive nonsense, in an attempt to sway public opinion to his causes. I'm posting this to counter his unchallenged nonsense and to shed light on his hypocritical ways. Most recently he has engaged in a witch hunt to out and crucify one James Clark. Mr. Clark is not only someone who has fought for the rights Bob enjoys but is also a humanitarian that gives to those less fortunate. He has acted during crisis helping in Haiti during there most
recent problems. Mr. Clark has decided that the the so called "old boy network" needs to be stopped. That creators and distributors don't need permission from people like Bob to do business in this country.  He (Mr. Clark) has decided to "take back" the industry from these no it all ideologues, by offering his own version of some effects in an attempt to better the industry. Another thing Mr. Clark ha done is to shed light on how supporters of some so called creators is in fact also supporting convicted substantiated pedophiles. Look here for the proof,

http://store.jameslclark.com/products/Devil%27s-Bottle-DVD.html

Scroll down to Kevin Curtan. Is this the kind of guy Cassidy is defending? What's wrong with him?

Bob likes to taught his being one of the founding members of the PEA (Psychic entertainers Association) an a past president of the same club. But who cares? Like any other club, they carry no power and are of no relevance to anyone but those who are and would be members. Personally, I don't want to be part of a club whose past president is a supporter of criminals. That's another thing abut Bob, he has admitted to cocaine use and pot smoking. He makes references To such in that same open forum, which is frequented by adolescents, talking about these activities as if there's some kind of honor in them. It disgusts me. In my opinion this guy needs to check himself before standing in judgment of others and remember that he who lives in a glass house, shouldn't throw stones.

Well I guess that's all for this installment but I'll be back to peel back the vail covering
this our performing art. Remember the views I express in this blog are my opinions and should be looked at for there entertainment values only. Thanks!

More on the Knight's Tour.

I said I would post more on the knights tour at the end of the last post, but it was getting a bit long, so I'm writing it up here. The knight tour is a standard of mentalism. In essence it's a game whereby the mentalist attempts to touch upon each square of the cheeseboard using the knight chess piece can it's unique way of moving. See the knight may only move in an L shape either by two squares and then one or one square then two. This is quite difficult and in fact chess masters can have trouble doing it impromptu. We however have help. We cn use memonics to our advantage. Mnemonics are systems used to remember. In the knights tour a grid is remembered to accomplish the feat. Once you know the grid thef eat is easy as the move follow a logical sequence from one to another to matter where you start from. Just like a card stack, it doesn't matter where in the stack you begin, you just continue in its progression to find the next card. But that's another story for a later time. For now let me give you some software and resources where you can learn the knights tour. Then I will teach you how to present it in an entertaining matter that won't put the spectators to sleep.

Here is a site that explains it better than me. http://www.chessbase.com/columns/column.asp?pid=163  be sure to also download the app on the page to practice and display the tour if you so desire. (More on displaying it to come) You can also download or study a very good video tutorial here on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChiOwpOjH_4&feature=related I suggest you always download things to your computer as we never know when or for how long something will last online. (that goes for this blog as well) If you don't know how to download video from Youtube just Google it. There are also plenty of online trainers available but I don't recommend them for the simple fact that you have to be online and for the reason already express can't trust that it will always be there. It would be terrible to become dependent on an online resource only to have it disappear like magic someday. But I digress.

Back to the tour. So you have learned how the tour works and have practiced it's execution. You have also memorized the quadrants presented in the video in the diamond system and square system. and you feel confident that you can present this to the world. But how? I mean are you to carry around a chessboard with some kind of video cam that can project your moves to a screen? Well not exactly. You will need a little flash app of the Knights tour game. I found mine here, http://fliiby.com/file/760611/t30fv2gnuj.html this is just a .swf file and what makes it so good for displaying is that it can be placed into full screen mode. It also has a grid that allows you to call out the squares with no confusion as to which square you want. Finally there is a timer that shows how fast your able to solve the challenge. The timer feature is unique to this program as even Lior's doesn't have the timer.

So now you have the program you need but how do you present this to an audience. Well first it's suggested that you do it blindfolded. Not necessary. The demonstration is so good, just doing it looks good. You will however need to project the program onto a screen. Here is one way to do it. http://www.ehow.com/how_2179166_turn-laptop-big-screen-projector.html Here is another, http://www.ehow.com/how_5847760_project-computer-screen-overhead-projector.html If neither of these will work for you just Google it to learn how. In lior's pdf he says and I'm paraphrasing Just let the hotel your working for provide you with it. Really? Better call and find out first. But at least you have the program and hopefully the laptop then maybe your can get the projector from in Lior's words "a local shop" or something.

Anyway there you have it, just about all you need to present the knights tour. If I've missed something I'll be back to let you know in subsequent posts.

Lior Manor

We will begin our investigation with a guy named Lior Manor? Yeah I know, I'd never heard of him either. Seems as though the guy work mostly trade shows? (Although it's debatable how much the guy is working these days at all.) In my opinion, the guy looks like some kind of Muppet with his flat face and big ears. More important is his act, which I have on good authority, is "one of the most boring things a person tries staying awake for." Now I don't have personal experience with that, as the review keeps my money in my pocket, and saves my time from being wasted by actually seeing this cure for insomnia. Hey but don't take my word for it, here he is using an Iphone app available to anybody with 5euros to prove his entertainment value. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws-rBKr2lxI Notice how the robot says "why should I tell you what I'm thinking of if your the mind reader?" or something to that effect? WHY INDEED? No self respecting mentalist in my opinion, would ever use such an obvious trick in public. But when you consider Lior's products, you'll understand why he does.

Lior basically markets 3 items, Mobile Opener, A knights tour thing, and something he calls Invisible Touches. Starting with the latter first, invisible touches is nothing more than a repackaging of something that had been done for hundreads of years using horse hair. In the version Lior tries to take credit for, he uses something called "invisible thread loops" developed by one Yigal Mesika. All that Lior did, is to use the same hook up to "touch" the participants. Again nothing at all new in the field of mentalism, but hailed as some kind of Einstein like discovery. Please! This guy in my opinion, couldn't create his way out of a
paper bag let alone invent something truly stellar. He goes on to expose others work, such as, Banacheck, Patrick Kuff, Richard Osterlind and others as if he was responsible for their success somehow. Boy is this guy full of himself.

If that was all there was to show this guy for who he is It would be enough but examining his other products exposes more of this guys true intentions. Next is the the knights tour. This for those who don't know, is a demonstration of a so called "higher intelligence" that we mentalists are suppose to possess. Fact of the matter is it's a trick. I can't go into how it's done, as it is involved, but I will post some training and presentation material on it at the end of this post.

Finally and perhaps worst of all, is the mobile opener. This is basically just a flash program of the first effect I showed you. That's right a stage size, one out of five "prediction" that one must know the answer to, before reveling the chosen symbol. What a joke! Nothing in my opinion, could be further from psychic phenomenon than this. It would be laughable if not so tragic, that a so called "professional" would stoop to such obvious ridiculousness is without question in my opinion, the epitome of amateurism. If this guy stays performing he needs to get into comedy or something. Mentalism in my opinion is not his forte.

That concludes this first installment to the blog, but keep your eyes open for more, as some of the big names are next. Remember that all of what I post are my opinions. This entire blog is posted for entertainment proposes.

What is a mentalist?

A mentalist is a magician, that specializes in tricks, that look like psychic phenomenon. They have no special powers or abilities, except maybe those associated with the performing arts? They are a lie. If you think they are really psychic, then you need this blog.

Here I will name, names, expose their lies, and show you how they use trickery, to get your money.  I will also point you to those "performers" who are honest about their deceptions, and  to those who lie for personal gain.


Some of them you will know, others are as obscure as Bigfoot, but still pose a threat to your wallet. The point is to uncover not only to the public, but to others in the know, how their colleagues,  in my opinion, are hurting us all. You see I too am a mentalist, and as such can shed light on these issues, like no one else can, or will.

So check back here soon, for the 911 that will blow the lid off these guys.

Till we meet again?