One of the things I think magicians should do when they buy a product, whether it be a book, DVD, or gimmick, is "sit" on it for a few months and sort of look around it before they post a review bashing it or complementing it. I have had both Modern Mentalism DVDs for about 6 months and I have to say that, overall, I like them.
Now, I'm not going to go through each effect and tell you what I think of each simply because it takes up time and you can just ask if you had a certain question about an effect on the series. You can also find a list of the effects taught here. What I am going to do is talk about a select few effects that I think deserve merit because of functionality, content, or something along those lines.
Volume 1
As far as video and audio quality are concerned, it is top notch on both DVDs. Matt teaches each effect in an "effect, explanation" pattern and he goes through each effect very meticulously. He also makes each gimmick on camera so you can follow along. Big points there.
Serial: Really good method to read a serial number from a bill. If you use a peg type memorization system, this can become an absolute blockbuster.
Handy Prediction: This is a pretty solid introduction to muscle reading. Although it is not portrayed as such. you can apply this concept to almost any part of the body.
Volume 2
This volume has the same great quality and the same solid format. It's not one of those DVDs that changes format from volume to volume. Super consistent.
GI Joe: If you know how this works, you can probably agree that the gimmick used is not found or even produced much these days. Matt has taken an old idea and made it not only work better, but look normal. You can predict any choice of a spectator every time. I chose this effect because you can do so much with the concept, sort of like a TT or a Svengali Deck.
Dark Arts: In my show, I only use about three or four real props. This is one of them. Dark Arts is a wicked drawing duplication using only an envelope, a pen, and a piece of paper. No impressions, no cold reading, none of that stuff. I actually made the gimmick awhile ago using a pack of gum as the envelope. It's super stealthy.
Overall, this is a quality DVD with some solid material for just about everyone. One person won't use every effect in this DVD, but I guarantee you'll take something from it that's worth the price. If you guys have any questions, go ahead and ask and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities
Now, I'm not going to go through each effect and tell you what I think of each simply because it takes up time and you can just ask if you had a certain question about an effect on the series. You can also find a list of the effects taught here. What I am going to do is talk about a select few effects that I think deserve merit because of functionality, content, or something along those lines.
Volume 1
As far as video and audio quality are concerned, it is top notch on both DVDs. Matt teaches each effect in an "effect, explanation" pattern and he goes through each effect very meticulously. He also makes each gimmick on camera so you can follow along. Big points there.
Serial: Really good method to read a serial number from a bill. If you use a peg type memorization system, this can become an absolute blockbuster.
Handy Prediction: This is a pretty solid introduction to muscle reading. Although it is not portrayed as such. you can apply this concept to almost any part of the body.
Volume 2
This volume has the same great quality and the same solid format. It's not one of those DVDs that changes format from volume to volume. Super consistent.
GI Joe: If you know how this works, you can probably agree that the gimmick used is not found or even produced much these days. Matt has taken an old idea and made it not only work better, but look normal. You can predict any choice of a spectator every time. I chose this effect because you can do so much with the concept, sort of like a TT or a Svengali Deck.
Dark Arts: In my show, I only use about three or four real props. This is one of them. Dark Arts is a wicked drawing duplication using only an envelope, a pen, and a piece of paper. No impressions, no cold reading, none of that stuff. I actually made the gimmick awhile ago using a pack of gum as the envelope. It's super stealthy.
Overall, this is a quality DVD with some solid material for just about everyone. One person won't use every effect in this DVD, but I guarantee you'll take something from it that's worth the price. If you guys have any questions, go ahead and ask and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities