100th Monkey
Philpott, Chris
Chris Philpott
(Based on 2 reviews)
"Revolutionary ideas that soon will be the standard for all mentalists who want to go that extra step for something that feels real enough to be impossible. The most valuable part of the 100th monkey is that the ideas, principles and demonstrations are worthy of being seen on TV and still be believable!" - Joe Monti, National TV Producer (Criss Angel's Mindfreak)
3 devastating effects based on a diabolical new principle by Chris Philpott,creator of Tossed Out Book Test and Intimate Mysteries.
The performer holds up a card with a word written on it - the audience concentrates on it and a volunteer reads their minds! Other presentations included.
Speechless
You take away a volunteer's ability to read!
The Sixth Scent
You know which of four spectators is thinking of a time, a place, a thing and an emotion -- then, without a question or anything written, reveal exact details!
No stooges, hypnotism or pre-show.
Includes 2 DVDs, props, written text and loads of extras.
"Chris has been a very clever boy here! He's taken a genuine psychological phenomenon and turned it to his (and now our) advantage to create something utterly baffling." - Colin McLeod
"A radically new breakthrough in the art of mentalism. The 100th Monkey is brilliant and takes dual reality to the next level, the effects are powerful and well thought out, and even greater is the core technique which opens the door to endless possibilities!"- Robert J. Gould
"This is for the thinking mentalist who wants to be at the cutting edge of new ideas without using stooges or electronic gadgets. Real magic of the mind that takes advantage of how our minds work!" - Paul Draper
Detailed description of the effects:
The performer holds up a card with a word written on it - the audience concentrates on it and the volunteer reads their minds! Other presentations included.
A powerful new plot involving the entire audience...
"In 1952, in the jungles of the island of Koshima, in Japan, scientists made one of the strangest discoveries of all time..."
Effect:
The performer holds up a large card so everyone in the audience can see it - everyone except a volunteer on stage with her eyes closed. The card has a word printed on it - perhaps it reads Canada. As the audience concentrates on the word, the volunteer is asked to think of a country...
Her choice matches the card shown to the audience!
The effect can be repeated with one or more volunteers and a variety of choices: from rock bands to six-digit numbers...
At this point you may be wondering how the heck can a volunteer know what everyone else is thinking?! If you're guessing this involves some kind of switch or flap so the volunteer looks at a different card than the audience, you'd be wrong -- everyone looks at the same card at the same time!
When I first performed this for a group of mentalists, many of them came up to me afterwards and confessed that they thought I was using stooges. I wasn't.
(The 100th Monkey Effect is the controversial scientific theory that when enough individuals think the same thought, then that thought can spread to others as if it is "in the air".)
You take away a volunteer's ability to read!
"I want you to come on a little adventure, a trip into the past - your past - to rediscover the childlike wonder you felt at that age when you'd learned to speak but not to read..."
Effect: The performer takes away a volunteer's ability to read. When the performer holds up cards with words printed on them, the audience can read the words easily, but the words make no sense to the volunteer who struggles to sound out the words just like a child learning to read. In the end, the performer gives the volunteer back his ability and without ever looking away from the card suddenly he can read the words perfectly!Speechless can be presented as a display of mind control or hypnosis (though it doesn't use hypnosis). It can be comic but it can also be beautiful or even frightening, depending on your presentation.
Like The 100th Monkey, Speechless uses no stooges, instant or otherwise - the volunteer is just as amazed as everyone else and the moment when he suddenly understands the word he is looking at is so baffling and powerful that it elicits gasps and shouts.
Speechless is part of the 100th Monkey package, and includes video overview, full written instructions, scripts, variations and all necessary "gimmicks."
You know which of four spectators is thinking of a time, a place, a thing and an emotion -- then, without a question or anything written, reveal exact details!
"Different types of thoughts have different flavors. And just as you might walk into someone's home and say, 'Ahh, they're cooking Indian food!' I often catch the scent of a thought when I am close to someone - not the specific thought which is very difficult but a general flavor. I'd like to demonstrate for that for you."
Four people are selected and come up from the audience. The performer shows them four cards - on one side they are blank and on the other they say "Month", "Country", "Furniture" and "Emotion." With the performer's back turned, they mix the cards among themselves and yet the performer quickly and unerringly determines who is thinking of a time, a place, a thing and an emotion. This is repeated several times in quick succession.
And then, the impossible kicker - without a single question, pre-show, stooges or anything written down, the performer reveals the exact month, country, piece of furniture and emotion the four people are thinking of!
Reviews
(Top ▲)
I have always loved chimpanzees and I really love this product (but for other reasons), so I thought it would be very fitting that my 100th review is the 100th Monkey.
What that said, this is an absolutely powerful, fantastic and mind-bending tool!
What you are getting with this product is more of a principle and a tool along with some very clever ways to use it. When you combine this particular principle and tool with the others that are already in your arsenal or some of the others that Chris mentions in the instructions, there are literally thousands of things you can do with this.
Combine that with the fact that you get a second disk that contains not only the written instructions for the effects but also, 174 files containing the artwork used with them!
The first disc is a DVD showing a street performance of the three different effects taught on this disc and in the PDF instructions on the second disc. The rest of it is video of Chris explaining the effects, the history and the conception of the ideas contained in the 100th Monkey. It is very well-shot with good lighting and audio and it is not shot in a studio but rather in his home. It was done on what appeared to be a quality video camera and was edited by Chris with what I assume was video editing software, which was done well in my opinion. I rather liked this because it was a change of pace and Chris was funny, easy and interesting to watch/listen to and he did a great job of explaining everything and pointing out references to starting points for certain effects and ideas.
Chris encourages you to use this product in your shows whether they are stage shows, parlor or cruise ship shows or even television performances. He states that if you want to perform this on television, by all means go ahead but contact him so he can help you work it out so it works up to its fullest potential. What a guy! Further, he gives you a special password to send in an e-mail; with that you will receive all future updates and ideas via e-mail. These are ideas that Chris or other contributors came up with after 100th Monkey was released and the e-mails are automatically sent as they are compiled by Chris.
As I mentioned previously, the second disc that comes with the set has a 43-page PDF that explains the working of the 100th Monkey principle, it details each of the three effects on the DVD with a bit more depth, gives you great references for ideas and inspirations to combine with 100th Monkey and so much more. For only being 43 pages long, it covers a lot more than you would think. Everything is clearly written and easy to understand. It also contains 174 files of artwork that you can use to print up the cards needed for the effects contained herein. Further, it allows you to have them printed to any size you need according to the requirements for various venues and conditions.
Lastly, you get a very high quality set of 12 printed cards so you can start exploring this material straight away.
The ad copy and trailer are both 100% accurate and considering what you are getting in this package, the pricing is very good. This stuff could have easily been priced much higher than $80/USD and still would have been a great value.
I just want to mention that the only effect that will work 100% of the time is 'Speechless' and the other two will work about 98% of the time. IF they do not, there is nothing to worry about because Chris details multiple 'outs' for both those effects. Even in the 2% chance that they fail, they still are strong effects because of the outs that are used.
I have been using this for a while in some of my shows and it is quickly becoming an audience favorite. It is also one of mine for many reasons! The great thing about this is the versatility of not only the principle but also of where you can perform it, which is just about everywhere, even using your cell phone if that is your thing.
Everything on here is so well-taught and clearly explained that even beginners can take this and run with the monkeys (sorry, I just had to!), but it is better suited to more advanced intermediate and advanced performers. I say this because some of the other principles and ideas that are used in tandem with the 100th Monkey principle do take a lot of confidence, experience and sometimes even guts and gusto to pull off and to do it well.
If you do have the experience and you like what you see in the trailer and ad copy, you will not be disappointed!
VERY, VERY highly recommended!
What that said, this is an absolutely powerful, fantastic and mind-bending tool!
What you are getting with this product is more of a principle and a tool along with some very clever ways to use it. When you combine this particular principle and tool with the others that are already in your arsenal or some of the others that Chris mentions in the instructions, there are literally thousands of things you can do with this.
Combine that with the fact that you get a second disk that contains not only the written instructions for the effects but also, 174 files containing the artwork used with them!
The first disc is a DVD showing a street performance of the three different effects taught on this disc and in the PDF instructions on the second disc. The rest of it is video of Chris explaining the effects, the history and the conception of the ideas contained in the 100th Monkey. It is very well-shot with good lighting and audio and it is not shot in a studio but rather in his home. It was done on what appeared to be a quality video camera and was edited by Chris with what I assume was video editing software, which was done well in my opinion. I rather liked this because it was a change of pace and Chris was funny, easy and interesting to watch/listen to and he did a great job of explaining everything and pointing out references to starting points for certain effects and ideas.
Chris encourages you to use this product in your shows whether they are stage shows, parlor or cruise ship shows or even television performances. He states that if you want to perform this on television, by all means go ahead but contact him so he can help you work it out so it works up to its fullest potential. What a guy! Further, he gives you a special password to send in an e-mail; with that you will receive all future updates and ideas via e-mail. These are ideas that Chris or other contributors came up with after 100th Monkey was released and the e-mails are automatically sent as they are compiled by Chris.
As I mentioned previously, the second disc that comes with the set has a 43-page PDF that explains the working of the 100th Monkey principle, it details each of the three effects on the DVD with a bit more depth, gives you great references for ideas and inspirations to combine with 100th Monkey and so much more. For only being 43 pages long, it covers a lot more than you would think. Everything is clearly written and easy to understand. It also contains 174 files of artwork that you can use to print up the cards needed for the effects contained herein. Further, it allows you to have them printed to any size you need according to the requirements for various venues and conditions.
Lastly, you get a very high quality set of 12 printed cards so you can start exploring this material straight away.
The ad copy and trailer are both 100% accurate and considering what you are getting in this package, the pricing is very good. This stuff could have easily been priced much higher than $80/USD and still would have been a great value.
I just want to mention that the only effect that will work 100% of the time is 'Speechless' and the other two will work about 98% of the time. IF they do not, there is nothing to worry about because Chris details multiple 'outs' for both those effects. Even in the 2% chance that they fail, they still are strong effects because of the outs that are used.
I have been using this for a while in some of my shows and it is quickly becoming an audience favorite. It is also one of mine for many reasons! The great thing about this is the versatility of not only the principle but also of where you can perform it, which is just about everywhere, even using your cell phone if that is your thing.
Everything on here is so well-taught and clearly explained that even beginners can take this and run with the monkeys (sorry, I just had to!), but it is better suited to more advanced intermediate and advanced performers. I say this because some of the other principles and ideas that are used in tandem with the 100th Monkey principle do take a lot of confidence, experience and sometimes even guts and gusto to pull off and to do it well.
If you do have the experience and you like what you see in the trailer and ad copy, you will not be disappointed!
VERY, VERY highly recommended!
(Top ▲)
They say everything new is old. Such is not the case with Chris Philpott’s The 100th Monkey!
I honestly didn’t believe what I was seeing when I watched the performance video. There were no perfectly-timed cuts to “hide the moment,” like I see in so many demo videos these days.
One card. One person sees one thing and another person sees something different. No top change. No flaps. Just a wonderful application of a visual principle.
This is one of those times I wish I could toss my moral compass out the window and just tell you this product is crap… just so I can keep it to myself. But I have a responsibility to you, dear readers.
I really suggest you read over the product description and watch the DVD. There are several effects explained on the DVD. My favorite is “Speechless,” mostly because it’s so weird. You actually cause someone to be unable to read a word that, just moments before, they were able to read perfectly fine (and their friends can still read).
If you want a more direct “mentalism” routine, “The 100th Monkey” is about as direct as it gets. One person from your audience is able to read the minds of others. “The Sixth Scent” is another great bit of mentalism, but where the focus is back on your ability to read minds.
My hope is that this product is just the beginning for exploration into this new principle.
I honestly didn’t believe what I was seeing when I watched the performance video. There were no perfectly-timed cuts to “hide the moment,” like I see in so many demo videos these days.
One card. One person sees one thing and another person sees something different. No top change. No flaps. Just a wonderful application of a visual principle.
This is one of those times I wish I could toss my moral compass out the window and just tell you this product is crap… just so I can keep it to myself. But I have a responsibility to you, dear readers.
I really suggest you read over the product description and watch the DVD. There are several effects explained on the DVD. My favorite is “Speechless,” mostly because it’s so weird. You actually cause someone to be unable to read a word that, just moments before, they were able to read perfectly fine (and their friends can still read).
If you want a more direct “mentalism” routine, “The 100th Monkey” is about as direct as it gets. One person from your audience is able to read the minds of others. “The Sixth Scent” is another great bit of mentalism, but where the focus is back on your ability to read minds.
My hope is that this product is just the beginning for exploration into this new principle.