Fourtold - Smart Device Edition
Knight, Devin
Illusion Concepts - Devin Knight
One is a completely baffling impromptu mentalism effect using common smart phone symbols. Finally, you can take your routine to the streets utilizing the power of your smart phone. Imagine walking up to a group of total strangers and pulling out your phone to perform a mentalism effect using the common icon symbols everyone is familiar with. Additionally, these symbols will unlock so much potential for performers to inject their personal style, humor, and personality in this edition of Four Told.
Four or more random spectators are shown your smart phone's screen with five smart phone symbols, such as music, e-mail, favorites, etc. The participants write nothing down, they just think of an icon symbol. There are no restrictions. Each person could be thinking of a different symbol, or they all could be thinking of the same symbol. With five different possibilities, the odds stack up quickly against the performer. The participants do not share their thoughts with each other. Since these are all common smart phone symbols that they see almost daily there are no suspicions at all. This is as clean as it gets!
The performer begins to get impressions. He says, "Straight lines are more difficult to transmit then curved lines. If the symbol you are thinking of has straight lines in it, then please close your eyes and draw the icon in your mind. See the straight lines in your mind, so I can get impressions of what you are thinking."
The performer then tells the participants to open their eyes and clear their minds. He then asks all the participants to concentrate on the colors of their icons. The performer then calls out two colors he is getting strong impressions of. He says, "If I have called out the color you are thinking of, please close your eyes and visualize it in your mind."
The performer does not ask any questions. The participants say nothing; they just close their eyes and think.
The performer then takes some index cards and hands each participant a face-down card. This is done right after calling out two colors! This will baffle those who know the old method. Only after each person is given a face-down card, does the performer ask the participants to reveal their thought-of icon symbols. Amazingly, when the face-down index cards are shown, they match each participant's thought-of symbols.
For a stunning climax, the performer points to several people in the audience or on the street and asks if they were also thinking of an icon. With no questions or fishing, the performer IMMEDIATELY reveals the icons just thought-of by members of the audience or other people on the street watching!
You can easily do this with any I-Pad, I-Phone, Android, or Blackberry device. Included is a QR-Code you can scan into your phone that brings up the special menu that appears to be your phone's real menu. If your phone doesn't scan, then there is link to the JPG so you can download it to your phone. This is NOT AN APP, so it works with most any smart phone device.
This kit also comes with an 8.5" x 11" durable printed plastic card showing a picture of a cell phone's menu for stage and parlor performances. This allows the performer to use this effect for a larger audience. This version is comfortable for all as it uses non-threatening symbols and shapes. Packs flat, and is sure to be a staple for the stage, strolling or street mentalist. Remember all the participants are given a prediction index card after the second call. There is no one ahead or secret writing. The participants do not reveal their thought-of symbol UNTIL AFTER the index cards have been given to all of them! Baffling beyond words and as close to real mind reading as you will get.
Reviews
(Top ▲)
For $35 bucks you get a killer trick that you can anytime, anywhere. It seems impossible . . . like real mind-reading.
You could stop here and just go buy this. Or you can read on and see why a few paragraphs later, you're going to buy this.
First, read the ad copy. Not only is 100% accurate, but it's also very transparent. Think about the effect for a moment. You have four people think of any one of five icons on your smart phone (or a borrowed smart phone or on a picture of a smart phone for stage work). They just think. Period. Then without them saying a word, you tell each of them what they're thinking of. But that's not all. You then look into the audience, and point to a few people and reveal the fact that they too are thinking of icons even though they were not on stage. You then tell them exactly what symbol they're thinking of.
That's very powerful mind reading. There are a few other brilliant pieces in the instructions as well. The effect is simple to do from a technical standpoint. You still, of course, need to put in the effort and work to be able to properly present it. For your $35 you'll receive 14 pages of well written instructions with all the detail you need plus several presentational ideas. You'll also receive an 8x11 image of a cell phone that you can use for performing this in larger audiences (e.g., platform, stand up, etc.). Plus you'll get a QR Code printed on business card stock that you can use to scan a copy of the image to your phone or a spectator's phone.
Think about that for a minute. All you have to do is carry this little card in your wallet, and you can do this effect anytime, anywhere. You don't even have to own a phone. The only complaint I really have about this is the fact that other than the only production cost (besides replicating the 8x11 card) was printing out 7 sheets of papers and putting them in an envelope. So the $35 price tag seems a little steep, especially when you consider that for $35 these days, you can get a DVD with a full performance on it, plus a teacher walking you through the intricacies of the routine, plus the prop.
However, in the case of this routine, I don't know that a DVD was needed, so the printed instructions definitely suffice. Since print was all that was needed, then I feel it's appropriate to charge as such. Printing 7 sheets of paper is a lot less expensive than filming, editing and printing a DVD, clam shell, and over-wrapping.
All that aside, however, this effect, method, product, etc. is excellent.
Final Verdict:
4.5 Stars with a Stone Status of Total GEM!
(Top ▲)
I tried it out on a small group of people and although they thought it was neat, they immediately deduced how I was able to ascertain their thoughts. They couldn’t work out exactly how I did it, but it was close enough that they knew it was a cute trick and not mind reading. I thought it might just be me but another reviewer on another site had the exact same experience.
The problem lies within two issues:
One you are only pairing down 5 objects. The method goes through a series of steps and even though you are not asking questions, you are asking them to perform a task of sorts. This is where a bit of transparency comes through.
Additionally, the action that the participants must take is very specific and since you must repeat this action more than once, it becomes a bit of a red flag to the more astute audience.
This might be something interesting to get and play with but as written up, I don’t think it is ready for prime time.