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F.ambro New user 64 Posts |
Silent Running By Ben Harris
Reviewed by F.Ambro Before I begin, I would just like to note that this is the very first product that I have purchased from Ben Harris and that I have never contacted or spoken to Ben prior to purchasing Silent Running. Also, please note that I do not usually perform mentalism, therefore I can be consider new to this field of magic. Now on to the review! Overview of Silent Running: I purchased the ebook edition, which comes in a PDF format and totals exactly 64 pages. It comes with plenty of clear and detailed photos and illustrations. The overall quality is excellent, the design is simple, everything is clear and coherent and you should not have problems understanding what is written. The book starts with a nice foreword by Looch, who seems to be enjoying it very much. Then there is an introduction by Ben Harris which gives us a little bit of history of silent running and how it emerged from crossroads deck and also goes over some of the differences between these two effects. Silent running principle: After endlessly teasing us, Ben finally starts explaining the principle behind Silent Running. He goes over everything that needs to be known and, let's say, memorized. Most magicians will probably know beforehand some aspects of this and it is generally easy. After this, we move on to the devilish procedure that complements this principle. Silent running procedure: I will not go into detail into how this works but I will say it is based on Peter Duffie’s “Duffie Dodge”. Ben makes sure that he credits everyone accordingly throughout the book. The process here is integrated into the instructions that the performer asks the spectator, but everything is done silently inside the spectators head. You can easily go through this process with the spectator only nodding his head without uttering a word. By the end of this process, the card and suit will have been chosen. I will briefly go over the pro's and con's of this procedure: Pro's: 1-It completely eliminates the equivoque that was present in crossroads deck. This happens in a very sneaky manner. 2-You don't even need a deck of cards while doing this technique 3-A number is completely freely chosen 4-By the end of this technique, this is what the spectator will be under the impression: The card in her imagination is freely chosen and nobody else knows what she is thinking of (which is true) 5- This can be done in any language Con's: I am not sure if these are considered disadvantages, but I do not want to make this sound biased. 1-One thing that I am worried about when performing this is the spectator cheating, which can ruin the effect. Now, I see this as a disadvantage because unlike crossroads deck, nothing is said by the spectator up to this point, therefore you cannot correct him/her whereas for those who are familiar with crossroads deck this can easily be avoided. (Please note that I do not own crossroads, but this is something that has been addressed in several reviews that I have read). I will research a bit behind the psychology of this and ask Ben more about this and I will update this accordingly. 2-This really isn't a disadvantage but you need to practice your performance, try to find your own style and be comfortable with what you are doing. This is important because you need to be confident when performing this. Now we can move onto the 3 main routines: 1- The Dissolving card The performer starts by giving the spectator a closed deck of cards which is placed safely into the spectator's pocket (or anywhere else). The deck will not be used or touched until the end of this routine. Afterward, the performer does the Silent Running procedure and a card is mentally selected by the spectator, who is then asked to slowly imagine and visualize that card disappearing from the deck. At this point no one knows the card chosen and nothing is said out loud. The spectator is then asked to go through the deck and count them, and lo and behold, only 51 cards are present and only one thing the spectator can conclude, her card has actually disappeared. Pro's: 1-Nothing is ever said by the spectator 2-This is extremely easy to do, it is self-working and you can concentrate on your performance 3-You do not touch the deck 4-This is 100% surefire, you will always be dead on with this Con's: 1-You need to do some preparation with the deck beforehand, this will only take you a minute and everything is thoroughly explained on what you need to do. 2-I am being overly critical, but the only other con I can think of is that you need a deck and this doesn't fall into the mentalism field IMHO. 2- Direct mind reading The spectator chooses a card using the Silent running process. After making a few statements, the performer can reveal the chosen card. There are two ways in which the performer can reveal the card. Version 1: The first one uses nothing at all, no deck is used and no notepad paper is used. Also this version requires the performer to actually do an extra something in the silent running process but this is done without the spectator's awareness. I have actually tested this out and it worked perfectly. The pro's will overlap, so all I will say is that this feels like mind reading when mastered. Con's for version 1: 1-You need to be confident 2-You need to be a bit more attentive I can't really say much more since I have only performed this a few times and it worked for me without problem but the extra something you do in the Silent Running procedure may not always work, and this goes back to the area of cheating which I already mentioned but this is in a different nature. I will need to review this with Ben. 3-This version may take a bit more time and a maximum of 1 phase will be incorrect but this does not ruin the effect as the final revelation will be 100% accurate. Version 2: The performer will require a notepad and the revelation will be written on a piece of paper. I won't go much further into this as this does not really fit my style. 3-Spirited Card Stab One spectator shuffles a deck and mixes them onto a table, which are then covered by a newspaper. Another spectator chooses a card using the Silent Running process. Through visual process, the spectator is asked to transfer the thought of her card onto a knife which the performer then takes. After making a few statements very much like those used in the direct mind read the performer stabs the knife through the newspaper and the chosen card is magically found to be the one impaled. I haven't performed this yet but this will surely hit the spectators hard. I am certain that this will get amazing reaction because simply, it feels like you are doing the impossible. The only con's I can think about is that you need to do some prep work, you need to use a knife( you always need to be careful), and you need a surface in which you can actually stab a knife onto and not worry about ruining it. The next section of the ebook is an appendix with explanations of the prep. work you need to do in some of the routines. Everything is clear and illustrations are used for each step. Also, Ben goes through the Duffie Dodge by Peter Duffie. And finally, the several bonus contributions which I will later review and update this. Now I want to comment on the ad and the hype that came with this because some people are claiming that there was false advertisement. I would like to say that the ad was accurate and Ben couldn't have gone into much more detail or else he would tip off how it is done. The only difference which is natural is that the performance script will vary from one person to another, that's it. People also need to remember that this is only an effect and this is not real mind reading. This is priced around $40 for the basic ebook and book and in my opinion, this is underpriced simply because of the potential of improvement this has. Ben could have easily charged $40 alone for the spirited card stab routine. I want to personally ask Ben to take his time with the Run Silent, Run Deep sequel because the room for improvement,refinement and new ideas is great in a positive way. Also, maybe a private forum could be setup for the owners that bought this directly from Ben or other stores where we can also share and contribute ideas would be awesome, and I think this will be the perfect way to realize it's full potential. Customer service: Also an important aspect of a review, I think, should be some comments on the customer service. I pre-ordered this directly from Ben and I quickly received this as promised soon after midnight on the 30th. Ben has also been very helpful whenever I had questions before and after ordering this and he was quick to reply to me. So 11/10 for customer service! Final verdict: This gets a 10/10 from me, what makes this truly great are the minor subtleties employed in the silent running procedure and routines. I am not the first one to say this but Bravo Ben! *If anyone has any questions about this, I will gladly help you out as long as it doesn't involve exposure of the effect, just send me a PM or reply to this thread* |
Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts |
Great review, thanks.
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Ben Harris V.I.P. The Land Down Under 2126 Posts |
Hi F.Ambro.
Thank you for your careful and considered review. As you are new to mentalism I'm happy that you can see the potential in the "details" -- they are so important. Well done. Benny
+Inventor of the world famous Floating Match+
+Author: Machinations (Vanishing Inc, 2020)+ EVERYTHING BEN HARRIS |
El Mystico Special user 573 Posts |
F ambro defended Ben's advertising.
Back on 12th March on the Café, someone asked if there would be a video demo. Ben said: There may be a demo (time permitting -- I owe BackStory Members TWO downloads this month!) and it will show the following: Said to spectator... "Please THINK of a number from one to ten - BUT DON'T TELL ME WHAT IT IS. Have you done that? Good!" "Now, THINK of one the card suits--diamonds, hearts, clubs, spades--BUT DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING! Have you done that? Wonderful!" "Please combine the number and suit IN YOUR HEAD to create the image of a playing card, BUT DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING. Have you done that? Excellent." "Would you agree that NO ONE could know the number you have SILENTLY thought of, and that NO ONE could know the suit you have SILENTLY thought of? This card you are imagining can exist ONLY IN YOUR HEAD. Would you concur?" "Now, please CONCENTRATE ON YOUR IMAGINED CARD..." From here you can perform any of the effects detailed in the book, and will be able to create your own effects BECAUSE YOU KNOW the SILENTLY thought of card. That is misleading on two counts. A video demo would have shown the selection of the card to be more convoluted than this. And by the end of the process outlined above you do not know the name of the card. This is not a comment on the effect itself. I think it is OK - others here are clearly far more enthusiastic. Fine. But why did Ben choose to lie in this post? The rest of his advertising was hype, sure, but good hype, and basically honest. But his post on the 12th March was just wrong. |
Mike Ince Inner circle 2041 Posts |
I bought this last night. The effect doesn't come about quite as directly as described. However, I believe participants will remember the effect as cleanly as it was described, and that's what's important. Reminds me of something Bob Cassidy wrote here on the Café about clean procedures... procedures don't have to be clean as long as they are perceived and remembered to be clean (I'm paraphrasing).
If the process were as direct as mentalists would like it to be, we'd be performing real mind-reading. Some of the time I can accomplish that through good circumstances, body-language tells, odds and hunches. Silent Running can incorporate those methods, but with a more sure result. The cycle for purchasing this product, I believe, will be: read the ad copy and get excited, buy and read Silent Running (and be secretly let down that it isn't exactly "pure" mind reading), perform it and get strong reactions, and get excited about it again. Use a NW or PW to bolster the effect if you like. Bob Cassidy and Banachek both endorse this product. That'll do for me.
The secret of deception is in making the truth seem ridiculous.
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El Mystico Special user 573 Posts |
I wasn't criticising the effect.
I was criticising Ben's description of what a video demo would look like. If he'd said this is how 'participants will remember the effect', as you did, I wouldnt be griping. But he chose to say that this was what a video demo would look like. |
Mike Ince Inner circle 2041 Posts |
I hear you, and I understand why you're disappointed. Ben Harris chose not to post that demo video, maybe because he felt it could be too misleading. With editing, a demo video could easily have looked like what was described, but...
Should a demo always show exactly what the participant will see, or the effect that will be remembered? In order to sell to magicians, they must feel the wonder of the average audience or they won't buy the effect. Sometimes video editors use license to communicate that sense of wonder to us. Using that license in a demo video, though, is a practice on shaky ground and I'm usually against it.
The secret of deception is in making the truth seem ridiculous.
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El Mystico Special user 573 Posts |
That's a different issue.
These days I personally tend to buy stuff only when I know how it works. That way I know if it will suit me. I've got too much rubbish in my drawer that turned out not to be practical for me. In this case, without going into detail, Ben couldn't have provided a video demo without it becoming obvious to some magicians what was going on. (NB I do not say this as a criticism of the effect, there are plenty of wonderful effects where well posted magicians will know what is going on). It's a shame that he took the route of lying about what a video demo would look like. |
PatrickGregoire Inner circle 2239 Posts |
Technically he didn't lie, because he said that's what his demo video would look like. And it would have. He never said the demo video would represent exactly what's going on in a Silent Running performance. He said that if he made a demo video, what you'd see was what he described. And that's true. Yes I find it misleading but that's not my point and I like Silent Running so I really don't' care how I feel about the advertising.
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F.ambro New user 64 Posts |
I understand what you are saying El Mystico. But as you said, it would be illogical to make a video of this effect, that is why I think Ben chose to describe what will be remembered at the end of the effect by the spectator, which is what matters.
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El Mystico Special user 573 Posts |
Oh, right.
Well good luck to you guys. By the way - I've got a new effect coming out - I won't be doing a video demo, but if I did, it would show the magician (That's you!) vanishing CLOSE UP in front of a crowd of adoring girls. I wonder how much you are going to spend on (EXPLETIVE DELETED) over the next few years, due to misleading ad copy? Again, no criticism of the effect. No criticism of ad hype. But when advertising contains blatent lies, it shoud be shouted about. |
mrgoat Regular user England 115 Posts |
Quote:
Yes I find it misleading but that's not my point and I like Silent Running so I really don't' care how I feel about the advertising. That is an astonishing point of view. So, we all agree, the ad copy is misleading. We all know that Mr Harris didn't post a video because he couldn't do so and keep the ad copy he wrote. But because you like it, you think it's cool he lied? If you didn't like it, then it wouldn't be so cool? Is that what you are saying? I'm confused... Seems a shame the most creative aspect of the trick appears to be the lies in the marketing. People need to realise the ad copy is a lie. People need to be told that what is described is not what happens. It may be how the audience perceive it, but it is not what happens. |
Waters Inner circle 2508 Posts |
I understand that everyone is certainly welcome to their own opinion of the effect (and the marketing of such), but I was highly satisfied with the ebook (which I paid for) and was impressed with the thinking behind the method and the routine.
Obviously, I am interested in the "Mind Reading" presentation for "Silent Running" and think is has wondrous potential. I have three procedures that come very close to my goals for a perfect "think of a card" type routine. Although I am very happy with my own pursuit of this "perfect" routine, this one is definately a fourth method that I will be using. I will think through the process and decide how I use this exactly, but use it, I will. With a little thought, one could have a single card in their wallet or around their neck (in a ID case) and a card is thought of, and it is there (with no sleights, switches, etc). Ben/Peter's process is a wonderful tool to think about, apply, work and then re-think. I will be having fun with this for a long time to come. There are many psychological ruses to present this as nearly a perfect revelation, even without a notebook in play. Hint 1: Dan Garrett's card ploy (which can be applied to a business card) Hint 2: Derren's comment from Jerry Sadowitz about using the procedure in the Mind Power deck (this is discussed in Pure Effect, see "smoke"). Jerry's and Derren's ideas can be utilized in this routine as well. I hope those help. Sean |
PatrickGregoire Inner circle 2239 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-04-01 13:29, mrgoat wrote: I never said I agreed that the ad copy was misleading. I said I think his claims for the demo video are misleading. Like I said though, he never really lied. Still I find it misleading. Quote:
On 2010-04-01 13:29, mrgoat wrote: I don't think it's cool that he lied, what I meant was that since I've already bought it and I like the book, I couldn't care less now if I've been lied to or not. I'm not saying he should lie in his ad. Quote:
On 2010-04-01 13:29, mrgoat wrote: If I wouldn't have liked the book then yeah, I would have complained. Think of it this way: If an ad copy promises that you'll be able to turn invisible in front of your spectators, and you buy it and it's not quite as clean as that but still a very good method, you wouldn't really care if the ad copy was misleading/a lie because it's not something you want to return. You're satisfied with your purchase even if the ad wasn't exactly what you received. |
trixy Veteran user sweden 320 Posts |
Silent Running By Ben Harris WHRE to bye it? send me a pm please
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Olivier BIENVENU New user France 61 Posts |
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Bill Hallahan Inner circle New Hampshire 3222 Posts |
This topic is continued at Ben Harris' Silent Running - An In-depth Review.
Humans make life so interesting. Do you know that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to create boredom. Quite astonishing.
- The character of ‘Death’ in the movie "Hogswatch" |
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