The M5

[worldwideme]

ok guys, i've recently been looking into expanding my magic beyond the little security bubble i've created around myself known as Card magic. its practically all i do. i'm starting to get the dreaded, "cant you do anything without cards?" and i've looked into two major effects which i feel will blast me outside of my bubble and into a totally different universe.

i've already posted a thread on Flow so now i ask about the M5, is it worth the 90 bucks? and is it worth it beyond that to purchase the tactics and training for another 60?

and any other ideas to help me reach beyond the card universe are of course welcome. i'm not looking for great coin tricks. i already have a few of those up my sleeve, pardon the pun. but mainly mentalism and Geek/Shock/Bizarre, whichever you call it are what i'm interested in

 

[worldwideme]

oops! forgot to mention that I've considered control and I'm not sure it fits my style, I'm not mysterious.... at all.

 

[praetoritevong]

I don't have the M5 so I can't be of much use, I'm sorry... I just wanted to add that Mentalism, Geek and Bizarre magic are totally different things.

 

[penguincdude]

I bought the m5, and only bust it out on very special occasions. You can do some cool things but it's not really worth the price to me. Plus, it's way to bulky.

I prefer the bat which is very similar but cheaper and a lot more compact.

 

[RasmusAndersen]

Hey, just wanted to add a little something.

I am getting somewhat tired of hearing that: "Is this DVD worth the 25 $?"-question.
I just can't stand it anymore, ok, look:

To my knowledge, every single DVD ever released is worth the selling price and much, MUCH more! (A few exceptions maybe, not going to put names on)

I know that all the DVD's and tricks I have bought are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The DVD's/tricks you have are worth whatever you make them worth.
It is just a matter of how you use the material and information given.

Example:
If you buy The Expert at the Card Table, which has pretty much every sleight worth learning included, you learn a double lift but just skip the rest of the material, and you only do a transposition effect once in a while, then the book probably wasn't worth the money. (That is, if you somehow obtained a 1st edition by paying thousands of dollars, because in my mind, a perfectly done transposition is well worth the price of the Dover reprints. There's a reason David Blaine does so many of them in his specials, you know)

But, if you buy The Expert at the Card Table, you learn a wealth of great moves and really perfect them, then you will have enough sleights and material to be making a living of for decades!!

So please, next time you are going to ask "Is this trick worth the money?", instead ask yourself "Am I really ready to put time and practise into this trick, so I can make use of it for the rest of my life?"

So in conclusion: YES, the M5 is worth the price and way more, IF however you really make a use out of it..

 

[worldwideme]

I just wanted to add that Mentalism, Geek and Bizarre magic are totally different things.

of course, i know that, i just want to get into both.

and your absolutely right rasmus, so i pose a new question, does the M5 offer a variety of tricks that can be used in any situation? if it only works on special occasions, i wouldnt want to pack it around with me at high school,

 

[RXillusionist]

Learn some good stuff with coins and be happy, don't get that huge expensive magnet. Besides, you can buy the same type of magnet (even more powerful, I think) for about $4 here in Hong Kong

 

[worldwideme]

Learn some good stuff with coins and be happy, don't get that huge expensive magnet. Besides, you can buy the same type of magnet (even more powerful, I think) for about $4 here in Hong Kong

sorry but coin stuff doesn't do it for me, i don't know what it is, but coins don't get the same reaction for me as any of the other stuff i do, it doesn't quite fit my style i guess, I've tried some believe me, i purchased three gimmicked coin effects, classic ones, scotch and soda, nickels and dimes, quarter in a bottle, and i bought a couple coin magic DVDs, i just cant rock the coins like some people, but a pack of cards, and pressure, and card tricks with mentalism tendencies work for me.

 

[Haunter]

What about learning some stuff with loops? A set of loops is only 10 bucks and you can do work with those.

That or just buy Art of Astonishment. That has good pieces of magic in just about every category you could hope for.

 

[Mr. Jane]

Hey, just wanted to add a little something.

I am getting somewhat tired of hearing that: "Is this DVD worth the 25 $?"-question.
To my knowledge, every single DVD ever released is worth the selling price and much, MUCH more! (A few exceptions maybe, not going to put names on)

I know that all the DVD's and tricks I have bought are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The DVD's/tricks you have are worth whatever you make them worth.
It is just a matter of how you use the material and information given.

Example:
If you buy The Expert at the Card Table, which has pretty much every sleight worth learning included, you learn a double lift but just skip the rest of the material, and you only do a transposition effect once in a while, then the book probably wasn't worth the money. (That is, if you somehow obtained a 1st edition by paying thousands of dollars, because in my mind, a perfectly done transposition is well worth the price of the Dover reprints. There's a reason David Blaine does so many of them in his specials, you know)

But, if you buy The Expert at the Card Table, you learn a wealth of great moves and really perfect them, then you will have enough sleights and material to be making a living of for decades!!

So please, next time you are going to ask "Is this trick worth the money?", instead ask yourself "Am I really ready to put time and practise into this trick, so I can make use of it for the rest of my life?"

So in conclusion: YES, the M5 is worth the price and way more, IF however you really make a use out of it..

While your post does speak the truth it isn't necessarily the rule. The M5 can achieve some amazing miracels, that is if you don't stand to close to anything electronic and asking if your specs have a pacemaker is a bit to direct kind of question.

Personally, the PK rings can do what the M5 does but in a smaller scale. So while you speak about is it worth the money and your answer is of course always, this doesn't mean there aren't better quality items.

You want the truth, the M5 isn't a very well done product. Get a PK ring, or the Bat as it does what it's supposed to but you don't have to worry about that big ass magnet sticking to a pole. Pass on it, I used it for a straight year hoping to get mileage and get some better experience and the effort wasn't worth it this time.

 

[D ICE R]

If you are looking at the M5 the PK ring is a nice alternative.

With PK the expression less is more is the very very true.

 

[SimplyMagic14]

While your post does speak the truth it isn't necessarily the rule. The M5 can achieve some amazing miracels, that is if you don't stand to close to anything electronic and asking if your specs have a pacemaker is a bit to direct kind of question.

Personally, the PK rings can do what the M5 does but in a smaller scale. So while you speak about is it worth the money and your answer is of course always, this doesn't mean there aren't better quality items.

You want the truth, the M5 isn't a very well done product. Get a PK ring, or the Bat as it does what it's supposed to but you don't have to worry about that big ass magnet sticking to a pole. Pass on it, I used it for a straight year hoping to get mileage and get some better experience and the effort wasn't worth it this time.

Same goes for the "RAVEN". I just had to have that and now that I do it sits in it's box because to me the set up needs to much misdirection. For me at least! I did fool a few guys at work with it when I first got it. The fun just magically went away...

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

The M5 allows you to do some amazing things, IF and only IF you can present them well. Yes, a PK ring can do similar effects, but it's far more limited. I've watched a good friend work a table for over an hour using only the M5 and a PK Pen.

As always, it's in the presentation.

 

[Steerpike]

but mainly mentalism and Geek/Shock/Bizarre, whichever you call it are what i'm interested in

Geek magic revolves around the illusion of self-mutilation. Shock magic is what it sounds like. Bizarre magic involves a high degree of theatricality and incorporates storytelling elements.

That said, the M5 is a rather extreme investment to make at this point. If the idea of PK appeals to you, start off with a copy of Bob Cassidy's ebook Fundamentals.

From there, volume 3 of Banachek's PSI-series is dedicated to PK effects. Michael Ammar's Easy to Master Thread Miracles offers good material on the usage of invisible thread. It's a toss up between Loops and Justin Miller's The Cloak. Your choice, really though having both at some point in the future would be dandy.

And if you don't mind buying forks in bulk from Amazon or Wal-Mart or whatever, PK Silverware is the best introduction to silverware bending on the market.

You can also find a lot of PK effects in old haunted magic books such The Other Side, Seance, The Book of Haunted Magic, and The Little Egypt Book of Ghosts.

Max Maven's PRISM offers a few PK effects amidst a ton of some of the best mind reading ever published. A must-have for mentalists.

And while you're at it, I would also throw in a recommendation for Mystery by Association by Kenton Knepper for the performance theory.