Introduction: I will be upfront about the fact that I recieved this book for free in a contest; however, I do not know Paul Brook at all. We have never met or spoken to each other online. This is a completely unbiased review that is of my opinion only. That being said, let's get on with the review!
Where You Can Purchase This: http://www.paulbrook.co.uk/heknows/oms.htm
What They Say:
Okay, so onto my review of each effect in the book. First up we have...
Dearly Departed: This exceeded, high and above, my expectations that I had for it. This is an effect that can make a grown man cry. Read that last sentence again. It is that powerful. It is definitely something that takes time to perform and should not be rushed. As it said in the description, you have to wait a week after you give the spectator the photograph and then perform it. This is probably something you would only perform with a very small group. It would, technically, work on stage, but you would never want to. You'll see why when you get the book. I heard someone else on another forum say this and I will agree with them, they said, "If I could go back in time to when I wasn't a magician and have one effect performed for me, it would be this one." The psychology behind the effect is brilliant this effect should not be overlooked by the simplicity of the method. This effect can affect a person in an extremely strong way. 10/10
Telepathic Touch: Another briliantly simple effect to perform that will strongly affect your audience. Once again, the psychology and boldness of the routine is so wonderful and really makes the routine special. This seems like it is the real thing when performed right and it is sure to be a favorite of the book among many mentalists/magicians. The effect is so easy to perform a trained monkey could do it. There are no sleights, but again, it will take some performance chops to make this thing look real, otherwise it will come off as a cheap card trick. 10/10
Fair is Fair Switch: This is a billet switch where you never touch the billet, really. You do have to make a simple gimmick that doesn't take very long to make. Oh, and once you have made it, you won't have to make another gimmick for a long time. Plus, it won't require you to buy any strange materials, most likely. And if you do it will only cost you like $3. It is actually quite simple and it does appear very, very fair. It will not always be appropriate to use this billet switch, but when you can, it will be extremely effective. There isn't much else to say about it so I give it a 9/10
Your Word, Corinda! This effect is an advancement of a routine in 13 Steps To Mentalism that uses the Fair is Fair Switch and has some psychological advancements as well. Basically, a spectator writes down a page number, line number, and word number on a piece of paper. It is brought up onto stage without you ever touching it and then a spectator opens up a selected book to the corresponding page/line/word that the audience member wrote down. Sure enough the word matches your prediction that is in an envelope and laminated. It is kind've bold, but I don't think it would present any problems. Personally, I'd rather just do a think-of-a-word type book test, not this type. If you like the premise, then you will really love this effect and perform it. It appears, again, very fair and out of your hands. Just because I'm not a fan of the premise, I give it a 8/10
Serial Killer: OK, when I read the hype and saw the demo, I thought, that could not happen without some kind of pre-show. I thought there must be a gimmick or some mirror or accomplice or something! Well, what you read and what you see in the demo is exactly what you get. Like I said, no gimmicks, no stooges, no peeking, no writing down, you never touch the bill, etc. This is the best serial number reading I have ever seen. That being said, you cannot use it in all environments. I obviously can't go into detail, but this is more of the type of thing you would do to get booked rather than after you have gotten booked. You'll see what I mean when you read the book. Anyway, this will get you booked. This is about the most amazing thing you could do to someone and they will not forget it. Try to perform this as often as you can, and you'll be getting booked very, very often. It's pure genius and I love it! 10/10
On Stage Killing: Well, just read the description. IMO there is no need for this and I don't think it would be something that I or anybody else would really want to do. It's not bad, it just seems uneeded. I don't really want to give a rating on this because it is more of just an optional add-on to Serial Killer.
Final Thoughts:
As I said in the beginning, I did recieve this book for free, however, if I had paid the full $60 for this book, I truly believe that I would've been just as happy. The psychology in each of these effects is excellent. He gives you lots of subtleties and different options at the end of each effect. These are A+ effects and you can tell that he has thought out, and used in the "real-world", all of the items contained within the pages of this book. It has my highest reccomendation, and I think you will be very pleased with your purchase.
Overall Rating: 10/10 (Yes really)
Where You Can Purchase This: http://www.paulbrook.co.uk/heknows/oms.htm
What They Say:
Okay, so onto my review of each effect in the book. First up we have...
Dearly Departed: This exceeded, high and above, my expectations that I had for it. This is an effect that can make a grown man cry. Read that last sentence again. It is that powerful. It is definitely something that takes time to perform and should not be rushed. As it said in the description, you have to wait a week after you give the spectator the photograph and then perform it. This is probably something you would only perform with a very small group. It would, technically, work on stage, but you would never want to. You'll see why when you get the book. I heard someone else on another forum say this and I will agree with them, they said, "If I could go back in time to when I wasn't a magician and have one effect performed for me, it would be this one." The psychology behind the effect is brilliant this effect should not be overlooked by the simplicity of the method. This effect can affect a person in an extremely strong way. 10/10
Telepathic Touch: Another briliantly simple effect to perform that will strongly affect your audience. Once again, the psychology and boldness of the routine is so wonderful and really makes the routine special. This seems like it is the real thing when performed right and it is sure to be a favorite of the book among many mentalists/magicians. The effect is so easy to perform a trained monkey could do it. There are no sleights, but again, it will take some performance chops to make this thing look real, otherwise it will come off as a cheap card trick. 10/10
Fair is Fair Switch: This is a billet switch where you never touch the billet, really. You do have to make a simple gimmick that doesn't take very long to make. Oh, and once you have made it, you won't have to make another gimmick for a long time. Plus, it won't require you to buy any strange materials, most likely. And if you do it will only cost you like $3. It is actually quite simple and it does appear very, very fair. It will not always be appropriate to use this billet switch, but when you can, it will be extremely effective. There isn't much else to say about it so I give it a 9/10
Your Word, Corinda! This effect is an advancement of a routine in 13 Steps To Mentalism that uses the Fair is Fair Switch and has some psychological advancements as well. Basically, a spectator writes down a page number, line number, and word number on a piece of paper. It is brought up onto stage without you ever touching it and then a spectator opens up a selected book to the corresponding page/line/word that the audience member wrote down. Sure enough the word matches your prediction that is in an envelope and laminated. It is kind've bold, but I don't think it would present any problems. Personally, I'd rather just do a think-of-a-word type book test, not this type. If you like the premise, then you will really love this effect and perform it. It appears, again, very fair and out of your hands. Just because I'm not a fan of the premise, I give it a 8/10
Serial Killer: OK, when I read the hype and saw the demo, I thought, that could not happen without some kind of pre-show. I thought there must be a gimmick or some mirror or accomplice or something! Well, what you read and what you see in the demo is exactly what you get. Like I said, no gimmicks, no stooges, no peeking, no writing down, you never touch the bill, etc. This is the best serial number reading I have ever seen. That being said, you cannot use it in all environments. I obviously can't go into detail, but this is more of the type of thing you would do to get booked rather than after you have gotten booked. You'll see what I mean when you read the book. Anyway, this will get you booked. This is about the most amazing thing you could do to someone and they will not forget it. Try to perform this as often as you can, and you'll be getting booked very, very often. It's pure genius and I love it! 10/10
On Stage Killing: Well, just read the description. IMO there is no need for this and I don't think it would be something that I or anybody else would really want to do. It's not bad, it just seems uneeded. I don't really want to give a rating on this because it is more of just an optional add-on to Serial Killer.
Final Thoughts:
As I said in the beginning, I did recieve this book for free, however, if I had paid the full $60 for this book, I truly believe that I would've been just as happy. The psychology in each of these effects is excellent. He gives you lots of subtleties and different options at the end of each effect. These are A+ effects and you can tell that he has thought out, and used in the "real-world", all of the items contained within the pages of this book. It has my highest reccomendation, and I think you will be very pleased with your purchase.
Overall Rating: 10/10 (Yes really)
