Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: 2 Minutes to Midnight by Iron Maiden

Omniscient by Cedric Taylor Review:

One ebook, eight pages, one effect and $10 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Effect

This is a Q&A System. For the unfamiliar, a Q&A is basically a routine where members of the audience write down questions/problems and fold them up and put them in a box. The mentalist (seemingly without reading the billets) begins answering the questions on the billets (folded up pieces of paper).

Method

This particular method allows the spectator to keep the billet rather than placing it in a box. Alternate variations where the billets are placed in the box are also briefly discussed. What you're really paying for here is the method of getting the information. It's actually nothing new, but the down-to-earth nature of this rendition of this concept does seem to make things appear above reproach.

Ad Copy Integrity

The ad copy is mostly good, but it's a bit off in a one place. The ad copy claims that this "can be adapted and used for drawing duplications, predictions, direct mind reading, hellstromism reveals, warm and cold reading, automatic writing, palm readings, and even full on psychic shows. This effect can be a psychic's full show." Most of the adaptations listed here are not covered in the e-book.

Product Quality

The product quality is awful. It's extremely poorly written, loaded with typos, grammar errors, spelling errors, punctuation errors, etc. My understanding (based on the "About the Author" section is that Taylor is a professional writer. So I was a bit surprised by how poorly it was written.

Further, there are plenty of missing details and odd statements. He made the strange claim that "People are more likely to believe me if I'm using a few sheets of notebook paper than if I was to use an entire clipboard [sic]." I'm not sure what is meant by "entire" clipboard, and why it's less believable than paper.

As for missing details, he mentions a place where the one ahead principle would be good, but he never explains quite how it would be used. Further, in the section discussing the close-up version of this, he throws it in as an afterthought and claims that it could take up a whole book by itself to cover this subject. Yet he manages to "cover" it in just a few short paragraphs.

I say "cover" but that's a lose term. He left out a lot of details. Enough details were left out that I have several unanswered questions before I'd be able to use it in a close up setting. Also, he talked about using three gimmicks rather than just the one which again left me with several questions that would need to be addressed before performing with three gimmicks.

The basic gimmick, method and handling, however are covered well enough that you could implement the basic version right away. I just felt like there could have been much more information given and what information that was given could have been presented in a much better way.

Final Thoughts

For the basic idea of what you're getting (a very clever method for getting information for a Q&A routine), this isn't too bad. It's only $9.99. Just keep in mind that you're basically getting the idea with very little details. What you're getting (the idea) could be summed up in a paragraph or two. The rest of the stuff is mostly un-detailed and poorly written.

Final Verdict:
3 Stars with a Stone Status of gem (with a super tiny, little bitty "g").