Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: Into The Night by Benny Mardones

For $35 bucks you get a killer trick that you can anytime, anywhere. It seems impossible . . . like real mind-reading.

You could stop here and just go buy this. Or you can read on and see why a few paragraphs later, you're going to buy this.

First, read the ad copy. Not only is 100% accurate, but it's also very transparent. Think about the effect for a moment. You have four people think of any one of five icons on your smart phone (or a borrowed smart phone or on a picture of a smart phone for stage work). They just think. Period. Then without them saying a word, you tell each of them what they're thinking of. But that's not all. You then look into the audience, and point to a few people and reveal the fact that they too are thinking of icons even though they were not on stage. You then tell them exactly what symbol they're thinking of.

That's very powerful mind reading. There are a few other brilliant pieces in the instructions as well. The effect is simple to do from a technical standpoint. You still, of course, need to put in the effort and work to be able to properly present it. For your $35 you'll receive 14 pages of well written instructions with all the detail you need plus several presentational ideas. You'll also receive an 8x11 image of a cell phone that you can use for performing this in larger audiences (e.g., platform, stand up, etc.). Plus you'll get a QR Code printed on business card stock that you can use to scan a copy of the image to your phone or a spectator's phone.

Think about that for a minute. All you have to do is carry this little card in your wallet, and you can do this effect anytime, anywhere. You don't even have to own a phone. The only complaint I really have about this is the fact that other than the only production cost (besides replicating the 8x11 card) was printing out 7 sheets of papers and putting them in an envelope. So the $35 price tag seems a little steep, especially when you consider that for $35 these days, you can get a DVD with a full performance on it, plus a teacher walking you through the intricacies of the routine, plus the prop.

However, in the case of this routine, I don't know that a DVD was needed, so the printed instructions definitely suffice. Since print was all that was needed, then I feel it's appropriate to charge as such. Printing 7 sheets of paper is a lot less expensive than filming, editing and printing a DVD, clam shell, and over-wrapping.

All that aside, however, this effect, method, product, etc. is excellent.

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Total GEM!