Price$9.95
Media TypeeBook
CategoryMentalism
Date AddedJun 12, 2014
Omniscient
Taylor, Cedric
(Based on 1 review)
- 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 ▲)
The instructions start by telling you what you need for this method. It also states that in case you do not have the necessary gimmick, he will show you a way to make an inexpensive you. This is not necessarily new but it is a clever idea. The text is clear enough but the photo of the completed billet notebook does not quite match the text describing it. The photo is also not as clear as it could have been simply by adding ink lines to illustrate the text. Also, the text said the notebook should be separated into 42 equal sections where the photo shows only 30.
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.
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.