Colin McLeod was in my office and we were looking on the Internet for something – no, not THAT! - and went on to Paul Brook’s web site to check something out… where we stumbled across some effect or other that Paul Brook had come up with –one that involved a padlock. Ooops, we reckoned. A padlock isn’t a particularly “invisible prop” – too “magicy” for us serious mentalists. Despite some of the truly great effects Paul has come up with in the past, I must admit that I thought that perhaps – just perhaps – he was just trying to rush something out that used a magic prop at the heart of it.

Well, this morning, I got a package from Paul. Now, I have one of those magic prop padlocks that only open at a particular number on the first tumbler. Never used it. Never will. So, of course I tried to work out the gaff with the padlock I had received. Nothing. Not a thing.

So, against my better judgement, I logged on and downloaded the instructions… Wow! Brilliant. There IS no gaff – as such. Paul offers the perfect – and reasonable – reason why you would introduce a little padlock into the conversation. And then goes on (through his excellent observations and notes – with, yes, a few typos again) to set out, step by step, a wonderful, wonderful effect.

Somebody sets the padlock to a number they will remember – could be their date of birth, I suppose – and clicks it shut. You then, apparently by calling out the numbers zero to nine and watching their reactions, tell them, number by number, what the code is – then open the padlock. Brilliant.

And, as mentioned earlier, the padlock does not a have a wee secret rivet that springs it open, neither does it open at any number, or open at special numbers… you TELL them what the code is.

How cool is that?

I’ll be interested to see what others have to say about this. (By the way, I have met Paul, but have nothing to gain from a positive posting. In fact, there have been a couple of effects Paul has brought out in the past which I didn’t think were as strong as his others, and I have kept my mouth shut. So there!)

Drew

Postie delivered mine about 20 minutes ago. Very interesting...

Looks very very interesting,

It could be presented as a way to ''crack open'' someone thoughts ,
I like those kinds of effects, as long as the method is simple I'm up for it.

What I'd like to do though is the reverse, I set the lock to a number, and the spec finds it and opens a prediction box or whatever.

Max.

Aww Drew you are going to make me blush

Thanks for letting me know about the typo PDF; I had accidentally uploaded the unproofed version.

Tis all sorted now!

Kindest (and blushing),

-Paul

I have to wait for my return from Beijing to rip open my jiffy bag :-(

The blurb looks good and sounds as though you can carry it with you on your key ring. Nice...ought to be fun at the airport too!

Okay - I've been out with a couple of journalists and I tried it out... and there IS a problem. They were so fascinated with the demonstration and the fact that the same technique could be used to ascertain bank pin numbers that it was all they wanted to talk about, rather than the theatre show I have coming up and my incredibly fascinating life and loves!

Oops!

I've had a chance to glance through the manuscript now, and I must say I'm genuinely quite excited about this effect.

I've been waiting for this ever since I heard about it last Blackpool...Just ordered mine. This could be awesome. I think I am going to love it!

Is Colin McLeod coming out with anything?

I have his ‘Force be With You’ and think that it rocks!



best
ray

I received one of these out of the blue this morning. I remember Paul showing me this in a pub earlier this year. I will be downloading the accompanying booklet later as I can for the life of me recall the method

Ah Drew! you beat me to it..i was gonna start a thread...

Anyway folks, I really am very aroused at this effect; it's coming out with me tommorrow night for a gig I'm that confident of using it.

Good quality lock, looks like those locker type or baggage locks you get from Staples and other types of shops. Perfect.

http://www.paulbrook.co.uk/heknows/lockedinthought.htm

I'm genuinely very happy with this - Paul should be very proud of himself; I know how long he took in developing this effect and I hope he's sitting back, eating a Flake and feeling very contented.

Wonderful effect sir, fantastic thinking...bravo!

What is the difficulty level?

It says on the link I provided my friend...

I got it sorted in under ten minutes practice..

"Is Colin McLeod coming out with anything?

I have his ‘Force be With You’ and think that it rocks! "

He should be visiting this thread anytime now - depending on how bad the traffic was on the motorway on the way back up - he's ALWAYS coming out with stuff. Colin...are you there? (First stop...girlfriend, by the looks of things.)

Drew

It's BRILLIANT!

I wasn't sure what to expect at all with this at all, but the thinking behind it is wonderful! You can guarantee that if you ever see me perform 'impromptu' this will be one of the things I would do! It's so simple that you can just fully focus on the presentation.

I'm not going to lie, I'm still 'mastering' the handling, however I genuinely can't rate this highly enough (a statement that gets thrown around too much, however this simple concept and premis uses a strategy I've never seen applied to mentalism before and definitely takes the method in a new direction). Paul continues to impress me with his thinking, and this sums up why. I definitely think this is one of your best works, so congrats my friend!

Plus if Drew has it... expect to see it on Trisha soon . (I should also do a quick plug that I have seen the line up for Drew's theatre show and highly recommend as many of you as possible get yourselves along to see him as possible! You will have an excellent night. He's very approachable, signs posters and gives group hugs.)

The U.K. price is 45 pounds

45 pounds converts to roughly $78.00 U.S.

The U.S. payment says $95.00 plus free PP (postage?)

If the conversion is $78.00 and the cost to U.S. is $95.00 why does it say free shipping?

I can understand paying a ship charge to the U.S. but why is the price different if there is no ship charge?

Am I missing something? (probably)

I like lock effects, I just don't get the Free PP and the extra $16.00?

Yes, it seems to be great, but I see the same that Roth, and this extra 16$ are for usa, for spain,.. for all the world..

in the books section there is the same thing...

Thanks for the great reviews guys

As for good ol' rothy, roth, roth, wrath, well I shall quote;

"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams!"

There are myriad factors not involving P&P that set the prices as they are.

I know it must be getting difficult thinking of ways to make my products look bad rothy, but P&P, has it gotten that desperate lol

We can play at a p*ssing contest if you like, but I think its getting old too.

I like the saying, "quality speaks for itself". We are both known for our quality products and there is no need to nitpick at my stuff. Be solid in your own status without having to denigrate others work.

As I say, the price is set as they are for a reason. No person is forced to buy anything and can think for themselves.

I shall now prepare for a response from you under a pseudonym, nom de guerre, or sock puppet of your choosing!

Kindest,

-Paul

This isn't the ol' Guess the Telephone # math trick with psych subt is it?

Paul it's a legitimate question.

Your paypal button says free postage to the U.S. (no postage charge when you click to pay for postage in U.S. dollars just $95.00)

That's $17.00 more than what they pay in the U.K. I think that's a fair question.

Just put $78.00 plus shipping, wouldn't that make sense?

I was about to buy it when I saw "U.S. Free P/P" and saw it was $17.00 more for U.S.

Look I think you're a brilliant guy. I love Alchemical Tools but, "a myriad of factors not involving P&P" charge?

It's shipping my friend just say it. We all pay it and quite frankly, we expect to pay it.

BTW this has nothing to do with your work Paul. It was a question about the pricing to the U.S.

We're not THAT suggestible here .

The real
Roth