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!
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!