The Manchurian Approach DVD - my review

[akirafist]

The Manchurian Approach DVD - my review

If you've been interested in hypnosis as part of your magic act, you've likely heard of "Reality is Plastic" book and e-book by Anthony Jacquin. It's an in depth guide to "impromptu hypnosis" or street hypnosis, which is different than stage or therapeutic hypnosis and can be done at your local bar, pub, restaurant, Starbucks or just standing randomly on the sidewalk.

A couple of YouTube videos to get the general idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkHw_UmS1Ko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiWIe2DGJl4

And the subsequent review links for that e-book:

http://www.hypnosisproductreviews.com/reviews/reality_plastic_review.htm

http://www.nlpconnections.com/reviews/5530-reality-plastic-anthony-jaquin.html

http://darrylslibrary.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/reality-is-plastic-by-anthony-jacquin/

And finally Anthony's homepage for more info:

http://www.anthonyjacquin.com/

And from this explosion of interest in impromptu hypnosis and Anthony's style erupts a 4-DVD set by Alakazam, showing how and demonstrating with various victims they meet on the street or in bars. Seriously, if you've ever been tickled when watching stage hypnosis and always wanted to perform it yourself for random audiences, prepare yourself for one of the coolest mentalism DVD's you'll watch this year.

Enter The Manchurian Approach DVD...

Buy it: http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorderproduct.php?ID=11664

Price: $67 after discount

Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4SYMubNGA4


What you get:

- A four DVD set in folded plastic casing


The DVDs:

As to be expected with any Alakazam release, the DVD packaging, production, menus and overall quality are top notch. The case contains contents listing of what's inside on the back, along with a nice outer sleeve. The music is eerie along with modern, flashy transitions and titles between chapters. The sounds quality is fantastic, voices are easily heard and understood and the images are crisp and easy to watch.


DVD 1:

Titles (2 mins)

This is the demo available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4SYMubNGA4

Introduction and Structure (2 mins)

The Opener (15 mins)

Anthony reviews how to approach people and introduce yourself without freaking them out (hint: "Yo homes, wanna be's hypnotizedz?!" doesn't work). Interestingly enough, he borrowed several ideas from the Pickup Artist community in formulating his master plan on how to get into the topic without scaring people off. Anthony also discusses the various reactions you receive when bringing up hypnosis to a crowd, and how to use these to your advantage.

He also tells you what hypnosis is, and is not. For example, you won't magically become The Pusher from X-Files Season 3, or convince some hot chick to visit the club bathroom with you.

The Set-Up (16 mins)

Here you prep the group for who can be hypnotized (or will allow themselves to be) and who cannot, and why. You give these guys various instructions on what to do, then search for distinct clues on which will be good candidates. He does emphasize not to lurch at the first great spectator that you believe can be your hypno-victim, but instead to scan as a group for more than one. Very detailed wording and body language strategies are utilized for maximum effect.

The Set-Piece (9 mins)

You instruct people to perform an easy hand exercise (as seen on the demo) and again scan the room for real participants vs guys that are just screwing with you. Anthony has some real insight on exactly what you're looking for.

Magnetic ________ (20 mins)

The final waving hands exercise your audience performs before receiving the hypno-grenades. He covers every subtlety you can possibly imagine, including what to do with weirdos who aren't cooperating, how to proceed if nobody is doing it correctly (hint: card trick!), and worst of all, what happens if your magical hypno dealio just ain't going well.

Pacing and Leading (11 mins)

Your leadership, confidence, strength and conviction all play into your hypno fun.

Eye to Hand Fixation (21 mins)

Here's where you lay down the whammy and either amaze yourself with your super hypno abilities, or epic fail and quickly exit through the back door. According to Anthony, there are five trillion different inductions available for knockout delivery but he only really uses two. It's not a card force after all, two should be sufficient.


Along with your fancy DVD, you receive three PDF files to read on your computer...

PDF files:

The first two files are examples of hypnosis using Anthony's method, and are 20'ish pages each:

Reality is Plastic - Proper Mental01.pdf (122k, 22 pages)

The Set Up: Creating a context for hypnosis
The Set Piece: Using Mentalism
Induction: The Eyelock
Technique: The Perception Peek
Effect: 9 Bar Perception
References

Reality is Plastic - Proper Mental02.pdf (114k, 21 pages)

The Set Up: Pre-show Hypnosis
The Set Piece: Freddy Jacquin Finger Lock
Induction: Invisible Induction
Effect: Reverse Mind Reading
References

The third file is first few chapters of Anthony's Reality is Plastic e-book:

RealityIsPlastic-Extract.pdf (572k, 34 pages)

1.0 What is impromptu hypnosis
2.0 Hypnosis: No introduction necessary
2.1 Being the hypnotist
2.2 Setting things up
2.3 How to tell if someone is hypnotized
2.4 Hypnotic phenomena


DVD 2:

The Handshake Induction (15 mins)

This is taught differently than the actual video performances, but whatever. Anthony's second favorite induction method. No, you don't yank them to the ground and yell SLEEP, it's actually very gentle and soothing. Again, you can select your own personal favorite, just get on the web and dig up a new one. The basic idea is to interrupt.

The Set-Piece as the induction (4 mins)

Sometimes you get lucky, and the guy's really sleepy to begin with. Maybe he was watching the news too late last night, or is all excited about having a whammy slapped on him, who knows. Amit Badiani uses this extensively with the college kids at their local pub, and about half fall into induction using immediately, which is cool.

Deepening, Fractionation & The Wake Up (30 mins)

Now that your spectator's head fell over, and you're able to move their arm around like a Gumby, what's next? Anthony details techniques for deepening the trance, bringing positive messages into the interaction, and proper wake-up methods.

Performance 1

Anthony works with two students at a local pub's outdoor patio. About halfway through, he starts to sweat profusely and removes his jacket, then someone yells at him that his microphone is attached so put it back on. The college student with a sweater wrapped around his neck (circa 1980 movies) gets the whammy, although both guys looked really sleepy. Good performance, since it shows from start to finish what to do.

Performance 2

On the same patio, Anthony switches his attention to sweater guy's Asian friend Dave, who gets the whammy next.

Performance 3

Amit Badiani (who was Anthony's student? I got confused) grabs a big chunk of college kids from the inside of a pub, and lets loose his hypno abilities. This is my favorite performance, because it demos:

a) The entire process, front to back
b) What to do with people who just aren't feeling it
c) What to do with fakers
d) How to handle a large group at one time, instead of one or two individuals

The spectators include a hot blonde and the spectator from Alakazam's LOOCH DVD set (you remember the dude with the greased short hair? "That couldn't have been a magic trick .. wow"). The guy at 0:58 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R1G9SAgW0c or either his twin brother. Am I the only one who notices these things?

Anyhoo, Amit tosses money on the ground and dares them to fetch it. But of course they can't, cause they're hypno-glued to the floor. Take that, BAM!

Performance 4

Anthony hypnotizes a big guy, and makes him play with his phone, along with a lot of other commands. This only shows the process from after the whammy is in place.

 

[akirafist]

DVD 3:

Overview (27 mins)

Here's where our magical element to the whammy takes place. Not only can you hypnotize people and make them dance like a chicken, you can also force them to forget you jammed a specific card into their wallet, or bent a coin, or even had sex with their sister in the back seat of their Mustang. For Disc 3, we're joined by Amit, Anthony, Chris Harding (who gets repeatedly picked on), and Bev. Together they form a mini hypnotice Justice League, and give us the skinny in incorporating magic effects into inductions, or how to back completely out of an induction when it goes horribly wrong and replace with a cheesey card trick.

Hypno Force (27 mins)

You are going to pick the three of hearts. Because I said so. Turns out you can force a wide variety of things, from bill serial numbers to words, to even cards. Anthony demonstrates this on Chris, who magically knows the combination to a lock in Anthony's pocket and chooses a random card which happens to be already inserted into his wallet without his knowledge.

Hypno Peeks (14 mins)

You basically peek at an object, memorize it then the spectator is amazed when you know their full name, credit card number, or whatever.

Hypno Peeks Performance (2 mins)

Amit whammies Simon (who you'll see many times again) into giving him his credit card. Amit then memorizes the digits, forgets them, hypnotizes Simon once more, re-memorizes them, un-hypnotizes Simon, then reads off the numbers. You'll see the last part of this in the demo. Simon dancing like John Travolta was funnier, but whatever.

Reverse Mindreading (18 mins)

Planting a thought into their heads, then asking about it later.

Hallucination (16 mins)

Become invisible, dude! Anthony demo's this on Chris Harding. You also see it used by Amit on Disc 4 with Simon.

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMdgK3SITPM

Covert Wake-Up (6 mins)

If you're running a magic routine, and you've implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion about what card you want this spectator to choose, the wake up procecure should be more covert. Otherwise the audience is less than impressed. Anthony covers the details on how to accomplish this, along with wake up procedures in general.


DVD 4 (41 mins):

Final Thoughts (5 mins)

Health and Safety (7 mins)

You obviously don't want your spectator jumping into a glass table, running into other people or otherwise injuring himself.

Additional Performances

Performance 1

A student that Anthony liked named Harry Guinness performs his version of a coin bend and card prediction on poor Simon. In fact, most of DVD 4 contains Simon jumping around, laughing, barking, bestiality (just kidding) or other strange tasks these guys request. Simon's three friends stand there and observe this event, and I found it interesting that they all crossed their arms and put their other hand on their face as he went into trance. I believe they were concerned for his safety or something along those lines, because they genuinely looked worried. Or maybe they were just weirded out, who knows.

Performance 2

Amit Badiani performs a reverse mind reading trick on a cute blonde named Beth at the same bar they whammied up all those college students on Disc 2. She seems genuinely surprised when Amit guesses her thought of word. Afterwards Amit interviews Beth about hypnosis in general, and how she felt when going under, etc.

Performance 3

Amit Badiani does some post-hypnotic suggestion work with the same college students from Disc 2, making their hands stick on the table, and also interviewing them a bit about their experiences.

Performance 4

Amit Badiani works more with Simon, making him laugh uncontrollably, his arm float, hands stuck together, feet stuck on the street, etc. Again they perform this in the middle of a busy street, and many bystanders stop to watch.

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwy2TOpH4xU

Performance 5

Amit Badiani works more with Simon, giving him 11 fingers, tossing money on the ground but he can't get it because his feet are stuck to the ground, then he forgets his name, and finally Amit turns himself invisible.

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMdgK3SITPM

Credits


Difficulty:

Let's be realistic, you're gonna epic fail this on the first dozen tries. They recommend you find an isolated place where you don't know anybody then practice on real people after enough script rehearsal and mirror time. The key to mastering this is face time with spectators. MY recommendation, and anyone that knows me can see this coming: Flea Markets. Plenty of people walking around, bored.

But decide on a venue and go out. Personally after reading Reality is Plastic, I had no issues after a couple days and probably 25+ trials with small groups. Friends were a huge pain, however cause they always wanted to screw with me.


Conclusion:

You guys are always begging for impromptu, powerful effects. Well here you go... not only does this DVD set teach you exhaustively from start to finish how to hypnotize spectators, but also fun magic to perform with them once they go under. And best of all, plenty of outs, one-liners and distinct methods to tell who's really following along with your fun, and who ain't. Plus this is totally unique, no better way of standing out from the crowd like being able to hypnotize people.

If you want to see the bonus video of Chris Harding break dancing at a bar, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn4AwVBgrgc

More videos of Amit and Simon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zi5rv7kD8k

or just visit his channel to see him convince a guy that everybody in the bar is naked, plus other fun things:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LeicesterHypnotist

Keep in mind that you're also getting most of what Anthony offers in his $1,000 course in this DVD set (sans personal instruction, but still):

DAY 1:
In intensive practical sessions everyone will learn a solid but flexible approach to hypnotizing. Training and supervised practice will continue in the afternoon on the street and in bars until late. Intro: Subject selection: Set Up: Set Piece: Inductions: Fractionation: Testing: Re-Induction: Suggestion: Catalepsy: Corpsing: Amnesia

DAY 2:
Further classroom training to cover in depth more specialized knowledge. This will be put into the context of typical magic settings including impromptu, street, walk around, stage and TV. Hypno Forces: Hypno Peeks: Hallucinations: Control: Post Hypnotic Act: Managing reaction: Permanosis: Covert pre-show applications

Complete and total hotsauce. And a bank-robbery-worthy steal at $67.

 

[akirafist]

The official spam:

Whether it is to satisfy a fascination with hypnosis, the desire to mix hypnosis with your magic or you want to be able to perform impromptu hypnotism this DVD is for you.

Aimed at amateur and professional magicians and mentalists, this unique DVD is aimed solely at performance hypnosis. As well as interview-style explanations and training we include footage of taking these skills to the street and public bars. You will gain the confidence, attitude, patter and techniques required to excel including:

* Handshake Induction
* Hypno Force
* Hypno Peek
* Covert Pre-show
* Reverse Mind Reading

Anthony Jacquin has over ten years experience as a hypnotist and is the author of the best-selling book: "Reality is Plastic – The Art of Impromptu Hypnosis" On "The Manchurian Approach" he shares a new genre of magical performance. Mixing his love of mentalism with his hypnotism skills, together with Kev Sheldrake he has created a performance style and technique capable of producing some of the most mind-blowing mental effects.

On this three-disc set you will learn, in detail, Anthony’s approach to impromptu hypnosis – no prior knowledge is required – the first part of this set will guide you through everything you need to know in order to become the hypnotist. The second part takes the format of a discussion forum where Anthony is joined by mad genius, Kev Sheldrake and fellow hypnotist and magician Amit Badiani. In this section you will get a detailed look at some of the principles and applications of the techniques taught to magic and mentalism performances.

Hypno forces and hypno peeks are examples of the covert pre-show techniques that are available to a hypnotizing mentalist. The Reverse Mind Reading effect takes these concepts a step further, producing an unlimited ability to read a mind with the minimum of hypnotic pre-show work.

Concepts

* Become The Hypnotist. Learn an observation/attitude-based hypnosis model.
* Learn how to perform with hypnosis. Apply it to magic and mentalism.
* No history and theory lessons. Just tuition and demonstration
* Mixture of interview-style discussions and public performances.

Contents

Part 1:
Through clear demonstrations you will learn a solid but flexible approach to hypnotizing. This is covered in detail in the following segments:

* Introduction and approaching a group
* Subject selection
* Set Up
* The set piece – magnetic hands, magnetic fingers & the heavy card
* Inductions – eye to hand fixation and the handshake induction
* Fractionation
* Testing
* Re-Induction
* Suggestion
* Catalepsy
* Corpsing
* Amnesia

Part 2:

Further explanation and demonstration to cover in-depth more specialized knowledge and the applications of hypnosis to specific genres of magic and mentalism including:

* Hypno Forces
* Hypno Peeks
* Hallucinations
* Control
* Post-Hypnotic Act
* Managing reaction
* Permanosis
* Covert pre-show applications
* Reverse mind reading

This will be put into the context of typical magic settings including impromptu, street, walk around, stage and TV. Also included are in-depth discussions on how to practice, what to do if it does not seem to be working and important health and safety and performance information and tips.

Also included are three bonus PDF documents that expand on some of the ideas covered on the DVD’s as well as some further techniques and routines.

With five hours of tuition, live performance and in-depth explanations, this three-disc set is bound to become a definitive classic for a new and exciting genre of performance that blends magic, mentalism and hypnosis. So order your copy of "The Manchurian Approach" today!

 

[Wonder]

The Manchurian Approach DVD

Grate review I will being getting this but not just yet, as I've just got "The Chapters Of Marc Spelmann".

 

[Sean_Raf]

Incredible review. Many thanks for putting this up here

- Sean

 

[Chicken]

Nice, but I kind of wished you hadn't reviewed it here. Now look how many people will have this power.. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Jokes aside, great review

 

[praetoritevong]

By and by, many such products are reviewed here over time; but the continuing trend is that most people just can't be bothered to put work into anything. In one ear and out the other, so I wouldn't be too concerned. Most also have difficulty judging good from bad advice, as shown by the 1834729734 "What's your hardest hitting effect" or "Trilogy or Surfaced?" threads. Nice review though.

 

[DLeerium]

I have looked into this once I heard news about it a few weeks back. Thanks very much for the review!

 

[jpmorganjeromy]

how usable do you feel this is and how long timeframe wise do you think at a bar it will take to hypnotize a few people? Also would this be great for little home parties doing magic and to include this into your performance? Thanks for any input at all, i really want to get this but want to know a little bit more about it..

 

[jpmorganjeromy]

because im trying to figure out if i should go to a class here in florida to real hypnotism or if i can just get by with these dvds. Their is a OMNI class here in Deland florida i can go to that cost about 1700 and i just want to be able to do hypnotism with confidence and be able to do quick and power routines with it. I once saw an x rated hypnotist show that just about floored me and would like to be able to do this at home with friends or at bars... just want to be good at it and not sure if these dvds can really get me to where i want to be

 

[romeo sierra]

because im trying to figure out if i should go to a class here in florida to real hypnotism or if i can just get by with these dvds. Their is a OMNI class here in Deland florida i can go to that cost about 1700 and i just want to be able to do hypnotism with confidence and be able to do quick and power routines with it. I once saw an x rated hypnotist show that just about floored me and would like to be able to do this at home with friends or at bars... just want to be good at it and not sure if these dvds can really get me to where i want to be

Although it's possible to learn the basics of hypnosis through a book or DVD, I don't think they really compare to the benefits of attending a live class. I'm admittedly pretty new to the field, but I'm able to incorporate it into my work pretty regularly to satisfiable success. Some while ago, I attended a live class and supplemented it with a few books and DVD courses. While the material was presented in similar fashions, I believe I got the most support and practical application out of attending the class.

I know they're pricey, but they're worth every dollar.

RS.

 

[Wonder]

The Manchurian Approach

because im trying to figure out if i should go to a class here in florida to real hypnotism or if i can just get by with these dvds. Their is a OMNI class here in Deland florida i can go to that cost about 1700 and i just want to be able to do hypnotism with confidence and be able to do quick and power routines with it. I once saw an x rated hypnotist show that just about floored me and would like to be able to do this at home with friends or at bars... just want to be good at it and not sure if these dvds can really get me to where i want to be

Anthony Jacquin has over ten years experience as a hypnotist and is the author of the best-selling book: "Reality is Plastic". The Manchurian Approach Is also about giving you the confidence to START DOING hypnosis - a big issue for many magi out there I'm sure. The product assume no prior knowledge of hypnosis and You will be able to hypnotise after absorbing the material.

 

[Sorax]

Is it possible to make them think their name is Jenny Camelhumper III for more than one day?

 

[AsherF]

this is what I'm talking about... I literally just purchased this dvd... and two seconds later, the thread pops up...

 

[SHANE BLACK]

This is a great review, very in depth and thought out structure in every detail. I'll be looking for this one.

 

[revelation77]

Yet again... fantastic review, Akirafist. I really think I might pick this up.

 

[wenloong9]

Anyone able to perform this successfully ?

 

[jpmorganjeromy]

no i can not, but i don't think i put in the time it deserves, but i also plan on going to classes for hypnotism, so not sure if i ever will on this dvd set, but maybe i will this weekend devote the whole weekend to it

 

[Randy]

You really need more than a simple weekend to absorb the material on the DVD. Before you even begin trying to put people into inductions, just have your friends and everybody do the Magnetic palms/hands thing and follow along with what Anthony says. The more you do that, the better your confidence will get with it and then you SHOULD be able to start putting people under and making them do a few neat things.

If anything it should take around maybe 2-3 months of just rehearsing and watching each DVD a month to absorb what he says.

 

[jpmorganjeromy]

thanks, i will give that a go. I am also thinking about taking the Gerald Kein classes here in Deland FL... i think that would totally speed up the process which would be awesome, i totally want to do this on the side with my magic... totally should be killer if i learn to do it