Jerome Finley - Random Acts of Kindness
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Effect: This offering is all about our time spent with an audience and little things we can do to dramatically increase the rapport, impact and magical moments shared with our participants.
-While there are routines in this book, it is really meant to give you a set of tools to strengthen your performances. How often do magicians and mentalists tell a spectator to pick a card, think of it, and then it is named by the mentalist. Honestly, who really cares This book will help you to change uninspired and unemotional performances into to something much, much more. This book is about making a performance memorable.
揋odspeed a psychological illusion for effectively 搒peeding time up for a person.
-Jerome Finley knows what he is talking about in this effect. Finely goes into detail about some basic biological psychology processes and why they help this effect to work.
-揋odspeed can be performed for 1 person or 200 people. Finley tells you how to practice this on yourself. Try it. It works. He also gives you a real life example of how this worked for him on his wife and for a random man on a very long flight.
-You need to be creative to incorporate this effect, but if you already have a routine where you speed up time, then Finley's patter can easily be adapted to your existing effect and make it about 10x stronger in the process.
揂lways on my mind Tools and techniques to assure we are REMEMBERED by our spectators and create natural interest, intrigue and rapport wherever we go.
-As per the description, these are scripts one can use to build rapport with their audience. The first script is very good if you do cold readings. Although I抦 sure that Jerome Finely didn抰 intend for this to happen, this script is very effective if you are trying to pick up girls (thanks Jerome).
-The second part of the script can be used to quiet a heckler and resolve the issue he is having with you. Rather than confronting him in a way that may seem aggressive or confrontational, the script provided comes off as very light hearted and as if you have a sincere want to do whatever is possible for the heckler so that he will stop heckling you and enjoy your performance.
-The last part of the script is used as a closing speech to your audience. Really, really good stuff here. Basically, this script will make your audience feel like they had a hand in making your show great and that you appreciate everything they did for you. This is an excellent way to depart and these few lines of script alone will probably get you a few shows in the future.
揂 Bright New Outlook My take on the 揟eardrop effect in magic and mentalism and how I use it to seal my private readings; a very special moment to be shared when you want and need to create the deepest impact possible. For entertainment purposes only and with DT3's blessing of course!
-This is a method for producing tears from your eyes. If you are doing any type of an effect with an emotional hook, this would fit in nicely. It also includes a great line to end your cold reading on.
揑n the Madhouse an imaginary scene is created in the mind of a participant and EXPERIENCED in real time by the performer! Easy to do and garners wonderful reactions, this piece is ripe with psychological subtleties and ruses. One can apply this work to virtually any drawing duplication or covertly obtained piece of information for a very 慠EAL feeling revelation.
-This effect is worth the price of the book! A spectator thinks of a random place and then you describe the sights, sounds, smells and emotions they are feeling as they relive the moment in their mind. The technique can also be used in a drawing duplication.
-Included in this routine is a special list that will make you get a hit on almost everything you say when performing this routine. You can use this list to make it seem like you are actually viewing, in real time, what the spectator is merely thinking of.
-There is about a a minute of set up, but it is very easy.
揟he Crimson Wall of Lictalon 揃uilding Blocks type strategies for creating extra phenomenon within all of our performances.
-In this, Jerome Finley shows one how to give the audience suggestions, which in turn, they will interpret and feel in various different ways during your performance. It is like pacing and leading: you tell the audience what they will experience and they will!
-There is also a section on breathing techniques and how to use them on your audience to induce states of relaxation and light trances. While I wouldn抰 use this on my audience, I have tried it before on myself and it works.
揚laying Card Readings a simple system that any magician or mentalist can use to begin giving effective readings with playing cards immediately.
-This is a method for giving a character reading based on a card the spectator picks (and you do not see). It is a really good impromptu effect and something I will consider using.
揑nto the Twilight My own take on the classic Paul Harris effect, 揟wilight Angels for use in magical flavored mentalism and celestial bizarre magic. Comes with GREAT praise from Mr. Harris himself!
-This is another one of my favorites in the book. You need gaff cards called 揟wilight Angels, which were made by Paul Harris. They cost about $4.50 for 10 of them.
-The effect is similar to 揟wilight Angels in that the performer makes the two angels on the back of a bike card join together in one circle. However, Finley's script and the handling is what makes this effect so strong.
-While I do not plan on buying the gaffs needed, I already made up my own way to use this without the gaffs. It is really easy to do this with no gaffs and in my opinion, would be much stronger without them.
揟he Ideometer Key a presentational ploy for the 揌aunted Key effect. I also tip my hypnotic induction technique with the key as a tool for mild trance like states.
-This is a great routine where you make the spectator feel as if they are moving the key with their own mind. A simple induction is used and it will make the spectator very relaxed and in a light trance state, which is the reason why the spectator will feel like they are really doing the magic here.
And much more!
Price: $60.00, but worth so much more.
Teaching: The quality of teaching is exceptional. The writing is crystal clear and everything is easy to understand. Jerome Finely provides real world examples of when, how, and why the effects work the way they do. There are no stones left unturned.
Quality of materials: While this is an ebook, it is nicely produced and easy to read. I don抰 think there is a single typo!
Difficulty: I think that one needs to have good presentation skills to make this material as good as it really is. You need to actually be sincere with the scripts in this book. If you just memorize the patter and speak like a robot (like 90% of magicians do) these routines will be useless for you. The effect must look, feel, and SOUND real in order for it to work.
Keep in mind that this book is more of a set of tools than a book of routines. You will need to be creative and apply the techniques learned in this book. If you like being spoon-fed material, then look elsewhere.
Applications: There are so many different pieces in here that can be applied to every aspect of a performance. From opening to closing material, it is all here.
I will leave you with Luke Jermay抯 thoughts on this book:
揓erome is one of those who lead the way. I have had the pleasure of seeing Jerome perform his material in a wide and varied set of conditions from loud nightclubs and bars to formal performance. I can safely say I enjoy watching Jerome perform and I always take something from his written works and 慠andom Acts of Kindness is no different. I have enjoyed the material Jerome sets out within this manuscript in his performances. I took several ideas and inspirations from the book. I recommend this to any serious thinking performer.
We will see you further down the path. - Luke Jermay