Hey everybody,

I would like to officially announce that tomorrow, my 4th e-Book to the mentalism community will be officially released. This release is LIMITED to just 40 copies, 20 of which are already gone!

The Unholy Grail contains some of my strongest signature prop-less mentalism effects and I am truly proud to be finally releasing this underground material to the mentalism community.

Below is the list of effects contained within this release.

1. Perfected Day for Any Date: As many of you know, my first release to the mentalism community (“Secret Files”) contained a method that I believed at the time to be the easiest version of the Day for Any Date effect. I now fully believe that the method in “Secret Files” is the 2nd best method available, second only to the method contained within this work. The methodology used to accomplish this effect is truly astounding and there is no reason (with some practice, of course) that you won’t be able to perform this effect in fewer than 5 seconds with the method contained within. It’s extremely organic, easy to learn, and even easier to perform. You will never deal with big numbers and complicated calculations. Everything is truly streamlined to provide the easiest method on the market today!

2. The Ultimate PK Touches: The Ultimate PK Touches is my signature take on the classic PK Touches effect. What you will receive in this work is the ultimate method that draws no suspicions from the audience whatsoever and allows you to concentrate solely on the presentation. Speaking of presentation, the unique presentation take contained within this work makes 100% logical sense and in my opinion, it’s the “ultimate” way to present this classic effect!

3. Triple Drawing Duplication: This drawing duplication is truly different than anything you’ve ever seen! It requires no props and there is no actual drawing done at any time. And yet, a spectator will be able to guess a drawing that another spectator was freely thinking of. Sounds impossible? Yet, it’s entirely possible with “Triple Drawing Duplication”, which is my signature take on prop-less drawing duplications that can be a standout of any mentalism show.

4. The Presence: This effect is my take on ghost effects and is eerie in every possible way. As a participant stands with his eyes closed, he will be able to feel (and in most cases SEE) the presence of a ghost of someone who was once near and dear to him. It’s as simple as that and yet, it never fails to garner the strongest of reactions, especially because the whole experience is so personal. It can be combined with any number of effects to enhance them or used on its own to huge effect. I only ask that anyone who uses this effect does so responsibly. It’s that powerful!

There will also be an essay that will open many people's eyes regarding the Holy Grail in mentalism. I believe it's a truly profound essay that will change the way you think about mentalism.

The e-Book will be officially available tomorrow (October 12th). Please allow 72 hours to receive the e-Book as each of the copies will be individually marked for piracy protection purposes.

Please feel free to contact me regarding pricing and other information either through PM or directly at vzyuzin1@yahoo.com

This e-Book, as well as all of my other e-Books will only be available directly through myself. You will never see this e-Book on any other site.

Kind regards,

-Vlad

Super... I am eager to read it!

Hey guys,

Alex here, with yet another review, and this time is is for the limited release of Vlad's The Unholy Grail.

For those that know Vlad, he has released other e-books such as Reverie, and Secret Files, and Tres.

As someone who actually performs these types of effect,especially from Reverie, I can say that I was eagerly looking forward into reading this new piece of work.

The e-book is 41 pages long, and contains 4 effects.

I will go over each one, one by one:

1) Perfect Day for any Date = if you are a fan of this type of effect, in which in literally 5 seconds or less you are able to tell someone the day they were born, or a day in the past, or a date they are just thinking of, then this effect is for you. Vlad goes over everything you need to be able to do it just like he does in 5 seconds or less. Come on, these types of effects need to be done quickly, and with no hard math, or calculation involved. This is this type of effect. Vlad goes over every intricate detail in explaining what needs to be done, and what needs to be memorized. don't worry it is not hard, and it pretty easy, I read this last night, and I already have half of it memorized, it is that simple. He explains what to do about leap years, and also basically any year chosen in the 1900 or 2000. This is great, because you will be able to add this to your arsenal, along with for example a star sign divination anagram, or other propless effect.

2)The Ultimate PK Touches

This effect has been performed by many people in the past, wiht gimmicks, propless, different ways, different presentations, and different styles. What Vlad offers you in the new offering is different, you as the performer get any heat taken away from you. The tap is felt by the wife, and the husband confirms it. This is again repeated, and there will be no logical explanation for this. Though I have performed PK touches, and I suspect many of you who will buy this work will be for this one effect, I feel that the change in direction that Vlad puts on this, as well as his own way to present this and explain the modus operandi is genious. Something worth looking into, though I feel, as far as my performance style and persona, I will be adapting this in my own way. Many of you might read this, and disregard it, due to the simplicity factor, but it seems to me that Vlad has thought of everything and has performed this dozens of times to great response. I am not at liberty to disclose more, since it will give away part of the method, but the new change in thinking is what makes this one effect standout, though it is not my favorite from this work.

3)Triple Drawing Duplication

In this effect, as you probably read above, one spectator imagines he is drawing something, and the other divines it. There is more to it than that, but Vlad goes over both possibilities. What happens is the other spectator nails it, and what happens if he doesn't get it right. Everything is justified, and you are covered either way. The method is something that I never thought about until reading this, but I can see it working.

4) The Presence

And last but not least, we get to my favorite from this work, The Presence. The participant will feel the presence of a ghost near him, and then actually see him. Well, a loved one that has passed, so not a scary ghost or anything of that sort. The method employed here is something that once you read it, you will want to actually go try out, since many will doubt it. I will be trying this out, but this type of work reminded me a bit of something that Jerome Finley woudl put out, something along those lines. This is genious thinking. And no, you do not need to learn Hypnosis to be able to do this. This works without hypnosis, and can be done during your parlour or stage show, and by the looks of it, it looks like Vlad has performed this during his shows. I am trying this out immediately. Good job!

Last part has an essay that is focused on finding the Grail, in any effect that you do. Basically, alter your performances, and do the very best mentalism/magic, and be the best in what you do, or set out to do.

Thanks

Alex Alejandro

Ottoemezzo (Vlad Zyuzin) kindly sent me a review copy of his latest offering and asked me to post my honest thoughts.

1. Perfected Day for Any Date

This one I was very excited about - a supposedly new method that brings down my average speed from 10 to 5 seconds?
And all this with only the easiest calculations?

Well, on the upside: the ad is perfectly true! It's a fast and reliable method in which parts of the tedious year calculation are replaced by simple mnemonics, thus reducing the total time.
I found out that in all day calculations it actually breaks down to how much emphasis one puts on either speed or memorization.
A purely arithmetical approach can never compete (in terms of speed) with one that employs mnemonics for faster processing. The presented method represents an adorable blend of a few easy mnemonics and even easier calculations, resulting in very fast results.

However, I was a wee bit disappointed nonetheless... simply because the method in its entirety was nothing to me!

I did some research myself and, for example, found a French book from 1833 (readily available to everyone on Google Books) describing the same method (with different mnemonic words, of course).
Also, Hans-Christian Solka's oustanding compendium on date calculation (although written in German, I don't grow tired of recommending it to anybody with only the slightest interest in the subject!) covers this aproach among others.

Don't get me wrong - there's absolutely nothing wrong with Vlad's "Perfected Day for Any Date", it works as advertised.
But it isn't new or original.

Admittedly, Vlad added some minor tweaks to speed up things, and since I honestly believe we have a case of an independent development here, my initial disappointment has diminished.

Finally, let me remark, though, that personally I consider the years of 19xx as more frequent in my performances than those in 20xx.
Consequently, I have set the years of 19xx to the base value of 0 instead of the years in 20xx as Vlad did. But that's just a matter of preference.

2. The Ultimate PK Touches

Just as before in 'Tres', Vlad again puts his hands on the fascinating topic of PK touches. Granted, I have not too much of an expertise regarding this classic but I always find Vlad's way of thinking extraordinarily fresh, creative - and bold!

'The Ultimate PK Touches' employ a pinch of dual reality and impress with their ease of method.
However, I think I liked the deviousness of Tres a bit better, so I'd definitely follow Vlad's advice and combine 'The Ultimate PK Touches' with a method in 'Tres' that also utilizes time as a misdirection.

Let me add again that to pull off routines like that, one has to be confident and convincing at the same time and have a persona that would also withstand a failure if it comes to the worst. This no beginner's stuff!

3. Triple Drawing Duplication

This is a tough one. Based on an original idea published in 'Reverie', the idea of a drawing dupe without anything actually drawn simply sounds awesome, doesn't it? Too bad, it is far from 100%, though. Vlad offers an out and claims it isn't needed in most of the times but frankly I didn't make it work unless with extremely simple scetches.

While I really wanted to like the concept, I fear it is stretched over its limits and possibilities here.
I'm really curious to hear the success rate of others performing this - maybe it's just me doing it wrong?


4. The Presence

The basic premise of this effect is profoundly simple: a spectator stands in the middle of the room with his eyes closed and feels or even sees the presence a ghost.

Wow, what a claim! This is probably the most anticipated item in the book and indeed: it shines!
Well, you will have probably guessed already: selecting the correct participant for this effect is absolutely critical as it's all about suggestion here. The script really delivers but prepare to invest dedication and rehearsal before going out with this; you have to be spot on in what you say and do.

I feel I need to add as sort of disclaimer that due to the tight time frame for this review this is the one item in the book that I have not yet tried out, so I owe a real life report to all readers. Hopefully I will encounter the needed performance circumstances in the near future.



Thanks for reading my honest opinions, of course others may have differing views. But although I received a complimentary copy I tried to be be as open and fair as possible.

Sorry if I missed it. Can I know the price without sending pms?

I was told it's limited to 40 copies only. $150.

Oomp...that's kinda 'unholy' price for me, assuming any of those 40 are still remaining.

This is why he asked to PM for pricing. To keep out the crybabies and nay sayors.

Thanks for the reviews everyone! This work has received the best reviews I've ever seen. Most of my buyers sent me private messages regarding the extremely high quality of this work and I am honored to share this material with the close knit mentalism community and I'm excited that the LIMITED EDITION run of this e-Book will keep it underground.

There are still some copies remaining and if you've been on the fence with this release, now is the perfect time to get it. Remember, only 40 copies of "Unholy Grail" are available.

If interested, either PM me or contact me directly at vzyuzin1@yahoo.com

Kind regards,

-Vlad

I posted this on another thread at Latest and Greatest..... haven't heard back yet. Are there any copies remaining??? Can't wait to get my hands on this. Big fan of all three previous releases.

Has anyone been able to get in touch with OTTO the last few days??? I sent a couple PMs with no response. Any more copies available of this work???

Here2009,

Thank you so much for your support. Just sent you a PM. There are still a few copies available of the "Unholy Grail" available and I've been really pleased with the response so far.

Kind regards,

-Vlad

Thanks so much, Vlad.


Over the last week I've had the chance to read, digest, and try some of these effects out in the real world. Here are my thoughts.

I'd like to say that I've read every work Vlad has put out and I enjoyed every one of them. Not all of the effects from his previous works were to my liking, but his thought process always appealed to me. It reminds me of some modern greats, such as Peter Turner, Joshua Quinn, and especially Jerome Finley. In fact, I haven't been this inspired from a mentalism release since I read some of the early Jerome Finley work, which was complete genius.

With that out of the way, let's move on to the actual review. The eBook starts with a nice introduction and then delves right into the 4 propless effects.


1) PERFECTED DAY FOR ANY DATE

I've been using Paul Brook's method for as long as I can remember and thought I would never need another method in my life. However, I think Perfected Day For Any Date might be the "Perfect" replacement. It's quick, easy, and I was able to learn the method within less than an hour. And with the way it's presented, I don't think I will ever forget it. If you read this work, you'll know what I'm talking about. It might not be the simplest method I've ever seen, but I do believe once learned, it's the most efficient. This will be going straight into my repertoire.


2) THE ULTIMATE PK TOUCHES

This is where it truly starts to get interesting. I love PK Touches and I think I've read every single (or almost) work on the subject. I would rank this alongside Vlad's contribution in TRES, both of which rank as top 5 PK Touches methods I've seen. However, the method presented in UNHOLY GRAIL is slightly more "on the fly", if you will, and is perfect for impromptu performances. The presentation makes perfect sense and I love his idea for making a participant feel a touch (which appears to happen to the audience in real time!) while nobody is near the person. With that said, I will not be employing the method presented here as I think it's quite risky. I also think that the method (though they're similar) in TRES was slightly better and more suited to my persona.


3) TRIPLE DRAWING DUPLICATION

Again, great effect. I'll be honest that I haven't had the chance to try this out yet, but it seems to be a total killer! It's an opener and a closer all in one and there is subtlety upon subtlety in this one. You can tell that Vlad put a lot of thought into this. Basically, the audience member will (in some cases) be able to name the drawing another audience member is thinking of. When that fails, Vlad has a spectacular fallback. I don't want to say too much, because I haven't had the chance to try this out yet.


4) THE PRESENCE

This is where things get truly spooky. Though this effect makes big claims (the spectator could see a ghost!), I think this is by far the most complicated effect in this work. So far, I tried it out 3 times (granted, I probably should have practiced more before trying) and I was successful 2 out of 3. Though it looks like the success rate is not terribly high, let me just say that one of the times I was successful, I saw the biggest reaction I've ever seen in mentalism. I performed it in a casual setting and the girl I performed it for was in complete shock and disbelief. She couldn't believe what just happened and that she was able to see the ghost of her grandpa who passed away. With an effect like this, you have to be extremely careful. Luckily, I have experience with effects of this nature and was able to make the experience extremely positive for her, but this is one of those effects that mentalists should be careful with. I feel like you need to be an advanced mentalist to make it work and keep in mind that you have to make the experience positive and memorable. If you're a beginner, I wouldn't bother as this effect just requires a lot of expertise from the performer. However, if you can make it work, there's nothing stronger, as I've witnessed. As others have mentioned, I also think this is the strongest effect in this eBook and was the main reason for my purchase.


All in all, this work truly inspired me. It's been a long time that I felt exhilarated from reading a work on mentalism. In my opinion, this is one of the best releases I've seen in a long time and I hope it never gets re-released after the limited release is over.


Overall Grade: 9.5/10!

How does The Presence compare to Kiss of the Clairvoyant?

It's not really comparable. Kiss of the Clairvoyant is more of a hypnosis routine whereas The Presence has more of a solid mentalist (though not 100%) method. What I mean is that they are in slightly different genres.

Besides that, whereas Voodini's Kiss of the Clairvoyant is a great effect, The Presence is a world class effect and one of the Top 10 effects I've ever read!

I was underwhelmed by it. It's practicality in a commercial world is questionable IMHO. You would need to have extremely wanting spectator to pull this off. The PK touch added so very little to the Banachek version I had to go over it a dozen times in case I missed something. Obviously here2009, after having this less than a week but performing so much successfully in such a short time you must be an advanced mentalist LOL!. Just adding my thoughts to balance things here for people thinking of spending $150.

Takeachance,

You are right that there is not a huge difference, but the extra touches that Vlad added for the PK Touches are quite good, especially the idea of having the participant feel the touches when no one is clearly near him. I think that subtlety alone makes the effect a worthwhile contribution.

With that said, the PK Touches presented is clearly the most risky effect in this work and I slightly prefer the version in TRES. With that said, all the other effects are extremely practical and the PRESENCE is a world class effect!

Thanks for your support everyone. The feedback has been truly incredible for this e-Book, especially regarding the "Presence" effect. I've been performing this effect successfully for many years and it truly garners some of the strongest reactions I've ever seen.

I would like to announce that I will be doing a rare Christmas SALE for this e-Book. It will be offered at 10% OFF for the next 7 Days only (ending December 23rd)! This is the only sale I'll have for this release! There are only 13 copies remaining!

If interested, please either PM me through here or contact me directly at vzyuzin1@yahoo.com

Kind regards,

-Vlad

Only 3 days remain until the SALE is over. There are only 12 copies available of this LIMITED EDITION release.

If interested, please PM me or email me at vzyuzin1@yahoo.com

Kind regards,

-Vlad

I performed the PRESENCE and TRIPLE DRAWING DUPLICATION at a show earlier this week and both effects received incredible reactions. The PRESENCE is my favorite Mentalism effect to perform right now. It jazzy, exciting, and garners the strongest reactions I've ever seen. TRIPLE DRAWING DUPLICATION is good too, but not as good as the PRESENCE.

If I didn't own this work, I would jump on the deal Vlad is currently running.