Review of "Mental Blueprints"

[Luis Vega]

"The Mental Blueprints"
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I had the opportunity to receive a copy of the "Mental Blueprints" for me to review...and I look through it and test some of the tricks with live audiences...here is the review...


I often have a look to all the effects of a manuscript and maybe try some of them, the ones I am more intrigued...this one was one of them..

The manuscript is a collaboration between several mentalists and put together by "The Magic Network" and includes some effect with cards, some with cups and other elements...I must say I did enjoy the reading and it really spark some ideas in my mind..


The effects are mostly predictions, and there are some that are designed for close up, but a lot for stage... so you can add some of them in a mentalism show...

A couple of things I loved... Though some effect are real good... it sparked lots of new ideas in my mind, and the manuscript took me to new paths in mentalism... and some of them like Cuppie Quickie are really good opener in a stage show (it has replaced my opener by now)

Other thing...is that it teaches you some new principles you probably never thought off... and also while some of the effects requires some work (gimmick and practice) it pays off... since I always have feel that an effect that has a setup needs to be extremely good to justify the previous work. And this manuscript understand this..

As many books and manuscripts there were some things I didn´t like... I try Foreign Thought and I must say it didn´t work... and a couple of the effects requires gaffs... but I feel they could have been done in different ways avoiding them...

Another thing I didn´t like was that a couple of the effects were a little bit complicated to understand... of course reading them, again and again should suffice... but I think an effect should be easy to understand.... and even more if it´s complex...



About the predictions...some of them of course have "outs" in case you mess up or luck plays a joke on you... but they are convincing... and it does seems like it was all planned... of course you need to play it confidently and completely sure...

Overall... this manuscript is NOT for beginners...since it requires some experience to present the tricks on it no tto mention the confidence...remember..if you don´t believe what you are doing, neither the audience...

I like to see the tricks in this manuscript, not as tricks... but as concepts, concepts that will take you to new paths, new ideas and eventually new material, since all of them are "customizable" to fit your style (my persona is a Dark Magician and I was able to customize the ones I will be using)

Pure knowledge... don´t hesitate and get it!!

Thanks for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed!!



http://themagicnetwork.com/
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[V Marra]

Thanks for the great review Luis! Glad you loved some of the effects and will use them!
The book is available here: http://themagicnetwork.com/magic-ebooks/view_document/13-mental-blueprints-v-andrew-s-saurabh
And performers who buy it also get a free featured listing for themselves on The Magic Network ($24 value).

Here is what some others have said about Mental Blueprints:

“eQueen is a nice little card effect that requires no cards. V's instruction on patter is well-taken, particularly for folks who want the advantage of a script that's fully laid out.”
-Steve Freidberg


“Foreign Thought is potentially very strong. It is very bold and reminds me of how far mentalism has come in the past decade. Fourteen years ago - this was the sort of thinking that Derren Brown was using to make waves at magic conventions.

eQueen is a useful addition to previous work in this area. An excellent subtlety is used at the very beginning of the effect which helps achieve most of the trick there and then.”
-Bob Hummer


“eQueen is an interesting approach to a theme that has been deftly handled by Bryn Reynolds (Seven) and, to some extent, Marl Elsdon (On The Mark)...the structure is sound and this is truly impromptu.

Induced Anomalous Trichromancy is the standout effect in the ebook. This deals with a psychological ploy that has been used before in Mentalism, but this approach is new to me. There is some preparation required...but this is very clever and the kind of effect that doesn't evoke a "card trick" reaction. In fact, given the premise, I do wonder if an alternative to using playing cards might not be possible. I'll have to give this some thought. But it's a worthwhile pursuit, as the idea is great. This was the highlight of the ebook for me.”
-Eric Samuels


“I just had to smile when I read Cuppie Quickie. It would have fooled me.”
-Atlas Brookings