THE ACT SERIES
Each book in this widely-acclaimed series provides complete details of a parlor act that was performed continuously for over a year in front of thousands of guests from around the world. The popularity of this exclusive resort means guest repetition is frequent. So, I update my acts every 12 to 18 months. Once an act has been retired, I make it available to the conjuring community through these books.
The Act-series began in 2004 with the release of Hoodwinkings (Book One). Since then, three more acts have been added. Without fail, each book has met with enthusiastic approval from professional mentalists and conjurors around the world.
The routines are fully scripted, blocked and choreographed...and include 'transition scripts' that move the show smoothly from one experiment to the next.
A deck of household playing cards is the primary prop used in each of these acts. There is no sleight-of-hand involved. Nothing is gimmicked.
Basically Mick as a ridiculous performing contract in which he performs more than anyone, and the strength of his performances ensures that he has kept this contract for many years. What is truly amazing is that Mick writes his retired acts up for the community to use as they see fit. Whilst you could take any of these and with the right amount of work present them as is and have a very successful show. The true value (at least to me) is when you read the act and read between the lines as to Mick's thinking and apply it to your own work.
I assume that most of this paragraph will go over the heads of most people. In mentalism it is a fairly general conciseness that you only demonstrate one ability throughout the show. This is not to say you can only do one type of effect but the rational as to how you achieve the effects should be consistent throughout the show. It can evolve and take on new directions. Another idea is that you should only do one effect with one type of prop, I can understand the rational behind it, and for a long time I accepted it. The more I thought about it the less it made sense to me. If you look at a 'standard' mentalism show it comes across as I will demonstrate something with these envelopes, now I will do something similar with a book then a watch. I personally found it very hard to justify changing the props for each new demonstration. Contrast this with the overall feel of Mick's acts of I will show you something with cards, then I will show you something similar but more difficult and so on. I feel that by using one primary prop it is much easier to demonstrate the growth within your act. This also helps keep the show with a consistent theme so the audience will not be saying I liked the effect with the watch and the book but hopefull I like the whole show.
I am not going to talk about the effects within the act. I may mention them however I believe if Mick wanted to have the exact effect listing he would have supplied it.
Hoodwinkings (Book One) $35
Hoodwinkings offers several strong mindreading experiments woven together into a seamless, 30-minute parlor act full of humor, interaction and mystery.
The show begins with an innocent prop adjustment that later becomes part of this act's surprising finale. In between, you demonstrate the potential of the mind using a household deck of cards for each experiment. First, a packet of cards is mixed by a guest...nonetheless, you have predicted its final order. Next, a guest discovers her own untapped mental abilities when she unerringly locates two selections from a shuffled pack. Now you share a bit of 'inside information' while the audience enjoys a humorous demonstration of body-language. Finally, the show closes as you accurately predict the random answers to several questions...and each question is twice as challenging as the one before!
Although each routine would stand easily on it's own, together they create a powerful show that fits in one pocket. You supply a deck of cards, three envelopes and three index cards. No sleight-of-hand is involved. Nothing is gimmicked.
This is the shortest of the acts and is one of the weaker aswell. I am not saying that it is a weak act by any means, there is definitely one or two pieces I will be using in my new show (I could definitely see people using this too help them develop their own act.). It is a very good act and the closing effect is a sort of Mental Epic type thing, which I will be modifying the method and adding it into my show.
Predict Abilities (Book Two) $35
Predict-Abilities is a fully-scripted 40-minute show packed with mental dramas and parlor wonders.
First, you make an incredibly detailed prediction that foretells the location of three borrowed objects. Next, in a curious blend of 'Open Prediction' and 'Card-at-any-Number', you know in advance when a guest will stop dealing...and the card he will stop on! Now a guest creates a personal lucky number that is based on events from her private life. Digit by digit, you reveal her number! Next, a guest mentally guides you step-by-step to his selected card. The next demonstration reveals how far-reaching your mental abilities can go...even long-distance! Finally, your mindreading skills are put to the test when several guests look through the deck and merely think of a card. The pack is mixed. The cards are now held up high. The guests watch as the cards fall one-by-one to the floor until only the selections remain!
You supply a deck of cards and a 8x10 dry-erase board. Nothing is gimmicked. There is no sleight-of-hand involved.
This is my least favourite of the four acts, and that is no way a bad thing I just personally do not like it as much as the other ones. In this act there are two pieces that use cards but as a secondary idea and I personally do not like that. I suppose that due to reading Mick's later works where a new presentational ploy takes these effects and heightens them. With that being said there are three very very good effects in this volume. I would use each of these effects however I would not use them in the context of this show.
Noetic License (Book Three) $35
Noetic License provides the full details of a professional 50-minute mentalism act. In these pages you'll find everything has been fully-scripted, blocked and choreographed into a humorous, mystifying, crowd-pleasing show.
It all begins with an interactive experiment that proves once and for all that the eyes do reveal when someone is lying. Next, the audience goes backstage and watches as you gradually and dramatically reveal three chosen cards that you have never seen. Then, the whole audience gets their imaginations involved in a legendary tale that becomes all too real in a surprising, humorous presentation that is theatrical drama at its best. Next, you openly write a detailed message. From the shuffled deck, a guest removes multiple cards and mixes them further. Your message reveals the value of each card in the packet...and their exact order! Finally, a guest shuffles the deck and then reveals his own mental abilities by discerning the colors of several cards. Another guest joins him on stage and he shuffles the deck again. Working together, they mentally separate the red from the black cards with incredible accuracy!
Noetic License introduces the Ayres Shuffled System to the conjuring world. This quick to learn, quick to apply and quick to use system turns any deck of cards into a versatile tool for mentalists. Though the deck will appears to be randomly shuffled, it is not. An additional bonus routine featuring the Ayres Shuffled System is included at back of the book.
You supply a deck of cards, an extra card from a spare deck, a plastic bag and an index card. No sleight-of-hand is involved. Nothing is gimmicked.
This one is an interesting book the act is very strong as a whole I just do not see myself using it. In this book I feel that I will be taking something from each effect from the book but I will not be using any of them (well I may use one and the stack aswell). I like the stack a lot and it is only used in two of the effects, however I have better effects that use a stack deck in my set. Also the OOTW effect is very nice however I have spent a few years developing my own which I personally like better. I will mention that the stack is very easy to use that is like a halfway point between the BCS (Osterlind's stack) and Si Stebbins. The deck looks random however there are a few points that Mick addresses that under the closest examination someone may notice however it would take at least an hour to notice these issues. The stack though more than makes up for it in the ease of learning I believe it would take no more time then learning Stebbins (okay it may take 3 minutes longer), but the stack looks very nice.
Continued
