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Paul Romhany: Dream Prediction Elite Review

One wallet, one notepad, ten "special" envelopes, one DVD and $100 bucks. Is it gem or is it rubble? Stay tuned to find out.

Effect

An envelope with a clear window is placed on the table. A folded up piece of paper can be seen inside the envelope through the clear window. The spectator is asked to name whatever you want, a free choice. You write it down on your notepad.

You hand the notepad to a spectator. With empty hands, you pick up the envelope from the table and very clearly dump the folded up piece of paper out of the envelope. The spectator takes it, unfolds it, and reads it. It perfectly matches the word/object/whatever that was named by the spectator. The spectator holding the notepad verifies that what was written on the notepad matches the prediction.

That is the effect, and it is exactly that clean. This can be used for Confabulation or any other prediction.

Method

The method relies on a very simple gimmick that comes with the package. It's a very clever and simple technique. You'll need to spend 1 minute preparing the envelope. It's a one time preparation. After that, the envelope is ready to be used over and over and over with no problem.

The method is based on other classic methods that have stood the test of time. It works very well and is very doable. You are supplied with ten envelopes. This allows you to have different envelopes set up for different types of effects.

In a nutshell, the envelope allows you to show a folded up piece of paper (or whatever your prediction is written on) inside of the envelope through the clear window. Whatever paper is showing through the window never changes. So if it's a red piece of paper, then your prediction will need to be a red piece of paper. However, if you want to use a yellow piece of paper for your prediction, then you'll need to have another envelope prepared to show a yellow piece of paper through the clear window.

If you're strolling and performing table to table, you can just use one envelope with whatever color paper you want. Just make sure your prediction uses the same color of paper. The gimmicked envelope resets instantly, and everything is kept nice and tidy in a pocket-sized portfolio-style notepad holder.

Ad Copy Integrity

Both the written ad copy and the video trailer are 100% accurate. They portray the effect exactly as cleanly as it really is. Take a moment to read the ad copy and watch the ad trailer. Look at how clean it is. Then re-read my above statement about how accurate the ad copy is. Yep. It's that good.

Product Quality

There are several items to judge for product quality, so let's take 'em one piece at a time (thank you Johnny Cash).

Notepad

The notepad is just a standard 3x5(ish) sized pad of paper that you can find at any office supply store. You receive one with your package, but you'll eventually run out. A quick trip to Office Max, Staples, etc. will solve that problem. The pad fits nicely into the supplied wallet and is made of printer paper material. All is well here.

Envelopes

You receive 10 gimmicked envelopes. They're manila pay envelopes. There's one super small thing you'll need to do with the envelope that takes about a minute and a few pieces of double stick tape. It's one time prep. The envelopes are well made and will last a very long time. Also, if you never change the color of the prediction paper, you can reuse the same envelope hundreds/thousands of times . . . until it just wears out from old age. They'll last a long time, and coincidentally, the one time prep you have to do also happens to add to the sturdiness of the envelope making it last even longer. All is well here.

Wallet

The wallet is really more of a portfolio — it's pocket-sized, but it's a portfolio — that's designed to hold a pen, a notepad (supplied) and your prediction envelope (supplied). It'll need to be broken in a little bit. Also, the pocket that holds the envelope is a little tight. You'll have to really break that in. If not, the envelope will stick up out of the wallet a little bit. This isn't a problem because it doesn't expose anything. It just prevents the envelope from being fully inside the wallet, and the wallet helps protect it from wear and tear.

However, once you've broken in the wallet, the envelope fits just fine, and will not stick out of the wallet. The only other minor thing is that the wallet/portfolio doesn't close all the way. However, I just put a piece of black elastic around it, and it looks great and holds together nicely. Most is well here.

DVD Production

The DVD production is pretty decent. It wasn't the best lighting or audio, but it wasn't terrible. You can see and hear everything you need, and they use two different camera angles (front and over the shoulder) to make sure you see everything you need clearly. The navigation of the DVD was fine. It's easy to get to everything you need. The only issue was the bonus performance footage by James Holguin.

It started off great. His version of the routine was funny, clever, entertaining, etc. I really was excited to see how it all ended. Then toward the end as he's having the spectator read the prediction, there were some great moments and fun banter happening. Then suddenly, before she even reads the second part of the prediction — there were three parts — the film just cut off and the DVD ended. Bummer. I was hoping to see the rest of it.

Keep in mind, however, that this was just a bonus presentational idea from his friend, Holguin, so you got what you needed (the presentational hook) from the performance. Even though the full ending wasn't there, you still got the meat of everything. So I can't complain too much. All is well enough here.

Instructions

The instructions for the main effect are very clear. Romhany does a great job showing us how to do the secret action, how to handle the notepad, the prediction, etc., and how to "operate" the envelope. Some of the bonus effects taught, were not covered as clearly/cleanly. They were very much rushed through. The lottery effect, in particular, I felt was very poorly covered. It was a bit unclear, very rushed, and part of the handling was completely left out.

In most cases, the other effects possible with this system have pretty much the exact same handling as each other. However, the lottery prediction was different, and I felt that time should have been spent covering it more clearly. However, since this is an unadvertised bonus, it's hard to let this hurt the rating too much. There was also a section on how to use different colored ink (one for the prediction and one for the stuff written on the notepad) that was pretty much pointless. Essentially he just said that there was not really a workable method, and that the only method he could think of was using a product that doesn't exist anymore and is too obvious (his words, not mine). So I'm just not sure why that was on the DVD. Other than that . . . Most is well enough here.

Final Thoughts

What it comes down to is this: you're getting a system that allows you to have a prediction in plain site from the beginning. The prediction can be shown to have predicted literally anything the spectator names. Considering how well made everything included is, the overall product quality, the clarity of effect, the realistic and doable method along with the main instructions, this is a very solid product.

Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Gem.