Omniscient
Taylor, Cedric
- allows the performer to do a mass reading while walking around in the audience without ever needing the stage, like EVER!
- can be performed for 5 or 5,000
- billet-less. Absolutely uses no billets.
- can be performed at a "kisser's length" away from your spectator.
- 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!
- possesses a walk around and close up performance option.
- virtually hands free as it allows you to not worry about the method. You can just work on your performance.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
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").
(Top ▲)
For the first method of getting the needed information, he proposes a method using a deck of cards to gain the information, he says to introduce the deck as being numbered from 1-42 and when a person hears their number called out, they stand up. He gives a few reasons that would supposedly allay suspicion as to why you are using a deck, but why do you need the deck to call out a number rather than just saying a number aloud at random? He also does not give a way to use the deck other than using it "as a cover" and to call out a random number and read the information off of it.
One thing that does not make sense to me: He discusses being on a very, very low budget and not spending a lot of money on props yet when you read the text about how to recover the information during the show, the way it reads contradicts a little with that. It says to "number a deck of playing cards from 1-42, then write the corresponding information on each card." This means that you will go through a new deck for every show just for this effect and at $3-5 per deck, this can add up. Why not give a method to make the cards re-usable such as removable Post-It notes? Just a thought.
The second method was outright confusing in its description. This one uses a shoe box. The way it is described, this one directly conflicts with the "billet-less during performance" claim and was not clearly explained. It describes writing or using glue in a way that would make the box useful for one show. Again, I point to the claim of being on a "low-budget".
In order for something to be perpetually low-budget, generally, props have to either be very, very cheap to replace or reusable, at least in my interpretation of the definition of 'low-budget'.
The third method described is probably the best one of them all and is clearly described for the most part. It was a lot easier to understand the procedure exactly as written.
The method given for close-up is, again, poorly written. He gives a generic idea on how to do certain parts and assumes you will know what to do with the rest of the vague description.
There is a vague description of how to use the methods on stage in a "psychic show" setting using multiple gimmicks that are set up the way he describes up front. The idea is to have each notebook dedicated to answers for a specific question topic (favorite foods, TV shows, Your favorite sport, etc.) - a brilliant idea that is impractical unless you have at least one other person helping you during your show.
In fact, this method of Q&A in its entirety is not completely practical because in order to retrieve the information in the ways that are described, you will need assistants or helpers doing it for you unless you do everything pre-show. The only way you can do Omniscient without helpers is to do pre-show work or by gaining access to the information directly from the gimmick during the show without transferring anything.
The ad copy is not exactly 100% - says "Absolutely billet-less. Not true at all; to me the word 'absolute' means not using billets - period. Further, once they are filled out, you must write the information down or have it written for you in an accessible manner.
The bio of the author mentions that he is an established journalist - I find that very hard to believe given the poor writing, the poor grammar and the spelling mistakes throughout. Side point to this: Who uses the phrase "like EVER" in their product description?
The price for what you are getting is way too high. The whole PDF is ten pages long but only has 5-1/3 pages of actual instruction. That puts the cost ratio at about $1.87 per page!
You almost have to have some experience in mentalism to put together a workable method and routine from what this PDF is trying to tell you. Beginners would be absolutely lost - I am far from being a beginner in this area (and I am no expert either) and even I had a hard time.
The homemade gimmick is easy and cheap to make and is very clever, but if you are going to spend $10/USD for a Q&A method, I would suggest putting it towards other, far better methods out there than this.
2 stars.