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Paul Harris Presents Steam 2.0

Nouira, Ali

Paul Harris

(Based on 3 reviews)
Paul Harris Presents
STEAM 2.0

ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST INGENIOUS MIND-READING SECRETS PERFECTED!
by Ali Nouira

Based on Marc Salem's BROTHER OF ALL DUPLICATIONS PRINCIPLE

"Brilliant in and out of box thinking. A winner!"
-Marc Salem

You instantly know what she secretly wrote on a blank business card...while the face-down card is covered by her hand -- or a bunch of hands -- or even a book!

THE PERFECT PROPS
THE PERFECT PRESENTATION
THE PERFECT SECRET
THE PERFECT EVERYTHING!

Watch the Demo Now:
Seriously. When you see the STEAM 2.0 method, you'll need a moment of astonished silence to take in the sheer steamy beauty of the ingenious secret.

YOU NEVER HAVE TO TOUCH OR EVEN SEE THE CARD...YET YOU ALWAYS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT SHE HAS DRAWN!

You can even turn your back while the spectator writes her secret word and covers it with her hand (and whatever else she wants to cover it with).
You can even have a spectator cover your eyes with her hands.
You can even be in a different room and direct her over the phone.
And yet, when you come back into the room, you can still discover her secret word or drawing!

STEAM 2.0 comes complete with plenty of steamy new presentations.
Very Very Easy to do. STEAM 2.0 is basically self-working. No carbon copies. No electronics. Special blank business card stock stays completely blank on the back after writing. No one can see through the back of the card. You never have to "peek" the card. Turn your back to the spectator or be out of the room while she writes and covers her word. 5 second reset. Adapt to your own Sharpie. Completely self contained. Nothing to secretly load, switch or ditch. Everything can be examined.

ENOUGH SECRET STUFF FOR 100 PERFORMANCES
Plus! A Bonus set of 50 STEAM 2.0 bill gaffs for an out-of-your-wallet "money hustle" presentation.

And YES! You even get Two (2) Fortune Telling Fish for the Steamed Red Herring presentation.

* REFILL PACKS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

STEAM 2.0
THE PERFECT SECRET FOR THE PERFECT STEAM.

Reviews

Stephan Sloan

Official Reviewer

Sep 10, 2022

Overview

Effect

A spectator is asked to think of a playing card and write it on a blank business sized card. They are then instructed to place the card face down on the table. The face down card is then covered with a deck of cards to insure nothing can be seen through the back. The spectator is asked to focus on the thought of playing card, first the color, then suit and finally the value. The performer gets a sense of the thought of card. He picks up the deck and removes a playing card. The spectator is then instructed to turn over the card they had written on; it matches the playing card the performer removed from the deck. The written upon card was never touched by the performer. A miracle had just occurred. This is just one of numerous possibilities with Steam 2.0.

Method

The method is a peek, but a peek so unique it is hard to fathom how it works. There are no electronics, wallets or double envelopes. In fact, the performer never has to see the original written card. All that is used are pieces of paper. The movements and gimmicks are all completely justified and there is no reason why everything isn't what it appears to be, just ordinary pieces of paper, which the are. But in truth they are not so ordinary which is why it is so devious.

Product Quality

In a matte black box with gold letters you get enough material to perform this miraculous piece of magic several dozen times. You get 100 business sized blank cards, 25 envelopes, 100 gimmicks to glue on bills or a tuck case, a glue stick and a Bic marker. The glue stick is used to apply the gimmicks to items and to finish making the envelopes which are folded but not glued. On the inside flap of the box is the link to the instructions.

Like many Paul Harris productions, Bro Gilbert a friend of Harris’ does the video. The instructional is just shy of one hour and is very thorough. After the first few minutes you will probably start thinking of ways to tailor make the presentation to suit your needs. Primarily shot by a single camera on a tripod, he goes through various possibilities on how to use and apply the gimmicks.

Ad Copy Integrity

The product performs as the ad copy states. You could duplicate what is written on the card by the spectator without ever seeing the card. You are given enough material to perform this effects dozens of times. Ultimately you will have to buy replacements and a reasonable cost.

Suggestions

Instead of carrying a peek wallet, just a few cards and envelopes is all you need to perform this (and the marker of course). With Steam 2.0 you could never leave home without something to perform at a moment’s notice.

Due to the nature of the way the product works, some audience management is needed to make sure you will get a legible impression. There is a tendency for the impression to bloom a bit so the writing has to be medium sized and there needs to be a fair gap between the letters. Telling the spectator to “write large enough for others to read it” might prompt them to write in a manner that will work.

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Stuart Philip

Official Reviewer

Sep 05, 2016

Steam 2.0 is a grand slam mentalism effect!

It is easy to learn and perform and will annihilate your spectators. You can perform this trick one-on-one, walk-around, in parlor or on a stage. Paul Harris Presents has done it again with an effect developed by Ali Nouira and with originator credit given to mentalist Marc Salem.

The basic routine with Steam 2.0 is that a spectator writes something on a small card and places it face down on a table (or in their own hand). That card is covered again by a card box, or a dollar bill, or an envelope or another piece of paper. All of that is then covered again by the spectator’s hand. The performer can be out of the room when all this happens. Let’s say that the card with the faced down writing is covered by a playing card box and that the hidden writing contains a card value and suit. The performer would then take back the deck of cards and leave the face-down card with the secret on it on the table under the spectator’s hand without ever touching it. The performer would then be able to pull the thought of playing card out of the tuck box. Again, the performer never touches the paper that contains the secret. More about that in a bit.

With this purchase you receive a small black box that contains everything you need to get going and a password protected link to a one hour instructional video narrated by Bro Gilbert. The video is hosted by Murphy’s Magic on their website. The production quality of the video is top-notch. The instruction is clear and easy to follow and if anything it is just a tad long-winded. Bro teaches several routines and how to deliver them. His teaching on timing and presentation is great. Even if you don’t add your own touches to the trick, copying Bro’s patter and presentation will work excellently. With that said, there is tremendous potential for creation here and any magician should think of and create their own ideas. In addition to the instruction, Bro performs three different routines one-on-one to three different spectators so you can see the mechanics and delivery of Steam 2.0.

The video teaches a basic routine, a routine with one of those red fortune telling fish (two are included with the purchase), a card prediction routine using a selfie of yourself holding a card, a killer routine with an invisible deck, a routine using dollar bills and other great ideas. All of the ideas taught are solid.

The provided supplies will be used up after dozens of performances and refills are currently available. Refill cards, envelopes, pads and pens are all $7.95 each. The trick itself, with everything included, is only $44.95.

The strongest part about this trick is that the performer NEVER touches the paper on which the secret word, drawing or thought is written on. There is no peek at the paper that the spectator drew on. There is no center tear. There is just absolute and total astonishment. This is one of those tricks that you will want to perform over and over again. And, the great thing about this trick is that you can perform the trick repeatedly with the same audience. For only a split second do you have an angle issue to worry about, but it is rather insignificant.

Something that I saw as a negative was the 5 second never-ending and repeating instrumental music in the background which after a while got to be irksome. Fortunately, you only need to watch the instructional video once.

Unfortunately, a few issues with the ad-copy and promotional video exist. First off, the ad-copy claims that “everything can be examined.” This is not true. That statement needs to be removed from the marketing materials. In fact, you are a little dirty at the end of the effect, but in a way that is so small that I doubt you will really need to clean up. Secondly, the promotional video has snippets of many different performances (not contained on the instructional video) that are cut and edited heavily. There is one performance in particular (the one where the bartender writes the word “BEER”) that is particularly misleading. The video shows most of the performance, but inexplicably skips a crucial step necessary to execute the method. And although the video may seem like reality to the spectator, the video edits are unfair. Because most of the performance was shown on the promo video, so should have been the missing step. Ironically, inclusion of the edited-out moment would not really have weakened the effect’s effect on the viewer of the prom video. So, the dilemma here is that had the promotional video contained it all, and the ad-copy not had a false statement, this trick would have received 5 stars! So, what must be deducted in this case? Well, that is totally discretionary and because the trick is so supremely killer (and the ad-copy and promo video issues do not significantly change how the trick is performed and received) I will only deduct half a star.

This is an extremely worthwhile purchase.
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Doc Johnson

Official Reviewer

Sep 05, 2016

PROS

If you are into any sort of mentalism, you should have a few methods in your bag of tricks. This is in my list of top favorites.

You get a lot in the package. You get enough material for 100 performances. You also get two “mind reading fish”, and a special pen. Once you perform this 100 times, they say there will be refills available. Once you learn the secret, you could purchase replacements. They are not too difficult to find, but one of the components is quite expensive. You would likely get a lifetime supply, but the cost is pretty high. The other component isn’t too expensive, but you would need to search the internet a bit to get it. I don’t know what the cost of refills will be, but that may be the best way to go. This product is at a very good price considering the high cost of the materials involved.

You also get a link to performances and instructions by Bro Gilbert. The instruction is very good. Bro teaches a wide varieties of applications of this. Here are a few examples:

You take a card out of an envelope. On it, you have drawn two symbols. You place them down on the table and place the envelope on top and ask them to place their hand over the envelope so they can’t possibly see what you have drawn. You ask the participant to read your mind. They attempt to read your mind. You then reveal drawings on the card and ask them to draw anything on the other side. They place the card with their drawing face down on the table and the envelope on top of it. You then read their mind and draw a duplication of what they have in their mind on the envelope.

Another routine is you bring out a mind reading fish. You have them draw anything on a blank card and they place it face down on the table. The fish goes in the envelope and it is placed on the card. The fish is removed from the envelope and placed on their hand. It curls in different patterns, and it reveals to you their thought of image.

My favorite routine is this one: You hand the participant a blank card and ask them to write or draw anything on the card and place it drawing down on the table. You then take out a bill and say you are going to bet a dollar on it. You then say you are so confident, you are going to put even more money on it. You are able to either reveal what they wrote or drew, or duplicate it on another card or piece of paper.

The ad copy makes a bold statement, saying: “Read minds with secret technology the public doesn't even know exists. They'll literally never guess how you do it.” As bold as this is, I think it is accurate. If you like what you see, then you will love this!

CONS

There really isn’t much negative to talk about. This is really an awesome impression system. Of course, you will need to purchase refills after 100 performances.

AT A GLANCE

The skill level required: 1 of 5.
Audience management skill required: 2 of 5.
Performance angles: 360 degrees
The reset time required: Immediate.
The DIY time involved in advance: Anywhere from none to a couple minutes

VERDICT

This is one of my top five favorite mentalism tools. The method is simply fascinating and I think you just might love it to the point where it becomes one of your favorites too.


Suggestions

While the video focuses on performing this with a table and placing the card on a table with the participant’s hand over the card, I have tested this in the hands, with the participant placing the card between their hands. So, this could be done on stage as well as at a table.
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