Toby's Reviews: PSYCHO by Bedros Spidey Akkelian

Sep 1, 2007
1,395
8
37
Belgrade, Serbia
Hey guys, this is my first review ever. I always wanted to make reviews but I was busy. However, this product deserves one.
Just a bit about my background, so you will have an idea about my credibility. I've been in magic for 7-8 years now, and I've been working restaurants, bars, walk around, sitting down, etc. and lately I've been working as a close up magician/mentalist/hypnotist on board of a cruise ship.

PSYCHO
The Effect: The spectator thinks of a card, and then names a random shape and a random number. With those two pieces of information, you are able to guess what card he is thinking of. But then you go through the cards, showing that every card has a random shape and a number written on the back. You get to their card, turn it over, and on the back it's written the shape and a number they freely chose.

When I first saw this effect, I was utterly fooled. It plays great for magicians, but it plays even better for lay audiences. It's not a visual effect, but it's a mind boggling effect. I wasn't fooled that badly in a long time.
This effect can be presented in many different ways. It can be a prediction, it can be a telepathy, body language reading, pretty much anything you can think of. However the best way is how Spidey did it, for the first part you get the credit because you correctly name their card by the object and number they chose, but then in the end you give them the credit. Something along the lines of "I guessed the card, but that's not the amazing part, that's just what I do, it's my job. But what is really amazing is how did YOU know that your card has (ie) a star and number 47 written on the back" as you turn the card over to show them the revelation. So spectators guessed the impossible, not you.

Psycho is a principle, and it can be changed to fit any presentation or style, it's limited only by your imagination (corny but true). In this case a card, a shape and a number were used. You don't have to do that, you can maybe have and ESP symbol and a color named, or maybe a name and an animal. What ever you want.

Preparation: Before you start performing, you need to alter your deck (aka. set it up), but once it's set up, it's good to go forever. Setup will take you 10 minutes max. Any deck can be used.

The level of difficulty:
On T11 they say it's intermediate. It requires pretty basic moves, that we all know already. However I wouldn't say it's for complete beginners just because of the way you need to handle the deck, and in order to make the most powerful impact on the audience, a quality presentation is required. So a simple audience management skills can cover all that.

Practicality: This effect is very practical, as it requires only a deck and something to write on, ie. a "post it" note, an index card, business card, even a piece of napkin or a paper is perfectly fine. It does require a reset, but it's like a 5 second reset, and even though I didn't figure it out yet, I'm pretty sure it can be done in front of the audience. But it's best to do it somewhere in private.

Final Thoughts: As you could see, I don't rate an effect by numbers, I just bring out facts, and then you decide for yourself. All in all, this is a great effect, and for $7 you cannot go wrong. When I saw the price I was like "really? that's ridiculous". I've seen a lot of effects, much worse then Psycho, being sold for $30. I highly recommend this effect as it gets amazing reactions, it can be modified to fit any presentation, and for $7 it's a steal.
Oh, and the best part if you're a working magician/mentalist, in the end of the effect, you can give the card away as a souvenir ;)

Thank you for reading!
 

Lyle Borders

Elite Member
Aug 5, 2008
1,604
859
Seattle, WA
www.theory11.com
Thanks for the review! This one is killer. Spidey is WAY ahead of his spectators when he performs this trick, almost comically so. As you said, the trick really isn't hard. You need to know the method, and you have to have solid presentation and audience management skills, but that is really it. You aren't horribly gimmicked, and you could set this trick up on the road without any real issue. The principles here aren't earth shattering either. They have all been used before, however Spidey puts them together into an absolutely rock solid routine.

Every time I watch Spidey's material I come away feeling like I am not half as clever as I normally think I am. He has a devious mind, the kind of thing you only get from real, legitimate experience. Another one of my favorites from him is Celebrity Match, available on The Wire here. The first time I did Celebrity Match I could visibly see the mental straining in the eyes and faces of my spectators as they (people who I have shown lots of magic to and who know lots of my secrets from early days practicing) tried to work out the unbelievable thing thing they had just seen. No words, just absolutely baffled, shattered, and awestruck spectators. Psycho is the same kind of thing. It seems so clean your spectators have nothing to grab on to. There is no explanation to be had. Even better, the only explanation that they may grab hold of, by virtue of the suggested presentation, is that they actually caused the end effect to occur. This is much, much more powerful than feeling like they were tricked by a magician.

I don't chime in on reviews very often (unless there is a question to be answered), but I make the exception on this trick. This one is good in my book. I work for theory11, but that does not change the fact that this takes a VERY high place on my list of favorites.

Hit me up if any of you have questions about this effect, and I will do what I can to answer them for you.

Cheers!

// L
 

Spidey_magic

Elite Member
Mar 5, 2008
19
1
Lyle, Thanks so much for the amazing words! I'm REALLY glad you enjoyed it and I know you would never stand by an effect you didnt believe in just for support, I'm really touched by your words :D

Toby, thanks again man, I'm glad you're enjoying it :)

17zb: This is 100% sure fire, it does not depend on any sort of psychological force or probability you will be correct 100% of the time :)
 
Aug 8, 2012
11
0
Montreal
The execution is so perfectly subtle, that the spectator will be in awe of what HE or SHE created. That is the best part, the "magic" appears from them. Just awesome.
 
Jan 31, 2013
3
0
I bought the trick today and watched the video twice. How can this be 100% when there is not a 100% way you can have them choose the right card? I am not going to give away the trick but I would love to have someone PM and tell me if I am doing it wrong. The way I see it, you have a 1/52 chance of this working. By using the very good suggestions Spidey gives, you can increase your odds to probably 1/10, but if they pick the wrong card, you are dead in the water.

Lyle, Thanks so much for the amazing words! I'm REALLY glad you enjoyed it and I know you would never stand by an effect you didnt believe in just for support, I'm really touched by your words :D

Toby, thanks again man, I'm glad you're enjoying it :)

17zb: This is 100% sure fire, it does not depend on any sort of psychological force or probability you will be correct 100% of the time :)
 
I bought the trick today and watched the video twice. How can this be 100% when there is not a 100% way you can have them choose the right card? I am not going to give away the trick but I would love to have someone PM and tell me if I am doing it wrong. The way I see it, you have a 1/52 chance of this working. By using the very good suggestions Spidey gives, you can increase your odds to probably 1/10, but if they pick the wrong card, you are dead in the water.
Watch the video again. He shows you exactly how to get them to pick the "right" card. Matter of fact he shows two ways.

P.S. There's a very famous quote from Star Wars that would help you out ...
 
Jan 31, 2013
3
0
Thanks Josh! Can you tell me the time marker in the video or PM me? The technique to which I think you are referring hasn't worked on any of the three people I have tried. I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving away the secrets on this forum.

Watch the video again. He shows you exactly how to get them to pick the "right" card. Matter of fact he shows two ways.

P.S. There's a very famous quote from Star Wars that would help you out ...
 

Spidey_magic

Elite Member
Mar 5, 2008
19
1
P.S. There's a very famous quote from Star Wars that would help you out ...

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA MY inner nerd is dying!!!!

Hey Theory11@nyms.net
Watch the full explanation of the actual presentation, the whole thing... and do it as I do it. Not the BONUS explanation, but the actual main explanation, that method is 100% accurate.

As for the one you are having trouble with I assure you I get it 9 out of 10 times if you follow the tips I give in the explanation. And if you do it to many people, its a definite 10/10

Regardless, refer to the actual full explanation for the 100% accurate version. If you're still have trouble, PM me

:) thanks for all the good vibes guys :)
 
Jan 31, 2013
3
0
Thanks Spidey! I did get your PM and that helped me quite a bit. I had it stuck in my head that the difficult version should be 100% and began thinking "wow, I am really crappy at this". I absolutely admit that I blew right by the second method, which absolutely should be 100%, although it is far less impressive.

I will say this for people who may be on the fence: Having the person who invented the effect help you work through it is worth a heck of a lot more than $7. The effect is really good and the tech support was incredible. I will buy anything you have to sell from this point forward!

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA MY inner nerd is dying!!!!

Hey Theory11@nyms.net
Watch the full explanation of the actual presentation, the whole thing... and do it as I do it. Not the BONUS explanation, but the actual main explanation, that method is 100% accurate.

As for the one you are having trouble with I assure you I get it 9 out of 10 times if you follow the tips I give in the explanation. And if you do it to many people, its a definite 10/10

Regardless, refer to the actual full explanation for the 100% accurate version. If you're still have trouble, PM me

:) thanks for all the good vibes guys :)
 
Jan 27, 2013
2
0
Bought this a couple of weeks ago, and I've been playing around with it since. I can just say that this effect is absolutely mindblowing, and well thought out. As a bonus to that it's really easy, the price is very good, and it's definitely worth the money. I'd actually been experimenting a little with some ideas about a picked card with a chosen number on the back, but this method brings it to a whole new level. Probably the best bang for the buck I've had the pleasure of buying so far in magic.

Hats off to you Spidey, great method, great effect!
 

Spidey_magic

Elite Member
Mar 5, 2008
19
1
HAHAHAHAHA thanks for the encouragement man :) In all seriousness though we have some more cool stuff headed your way! :D
 
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