Is anyone aware of a review on Bruce Bernstein's Taboo ?

It is hard to imagine this work will not be brilliant based on his exceptional track record.

It was shipped yesteday...
So ask again not tomorrow but maybe in a month to let people read it ans maybe have some thinking and perform it a bit-

Has anybody purchased this yet? Any thoughts?

(crickets chirping)

Too Taboo to discuss?

Does anybody have this? Thoughts?

As it's the second time in 10 days you ask it maybe you can buy it and give you thoughts about it

I have this on the way like others and will digest and review if nothing's surfaced in a few weeks.

Oh Parmenioin, once again your comments are both helpful and insightful.

Perhaps no adult ever taught you that if you don't have something meaningful to say, perhaps it would be best if you didn't say anything at all.

I have not yet seen any reviews of this product. This is not an inexpensive purchase and I do like to do a little research before investing a significant amount of cash in a mentalism product. I assume that this is the perfect forum for asking if for such a review.

I do look forward to drawfull's review. Thank you.

I have this and offer the following review. First, I bought it and do not know Bruce in anyway. I am a huge fan of his new book and based on the strength of that book purchased Taboo. Bernstein states clearly that this is not for a hobbyist or someone looking to peform for his family. This is for a serious performer who has a stage show and is polished enough to pull it off. With that being said I feel like Taboo is a very strong act that is likely to be remembered by the audience if performed correctly. There is nothing difficult about the act but a strong stage presence is required. Bernstein gives you everything you need to perform. It certainly will come across differently than most acts and I think more than anything will really grab everyone's attention. If you are a serious performer I highly recommend it.

Thank you Brehaut. Any other reviews ?

I have this also and agree with Brehaut. His review was dead on.

TABOO – BRUCE BERNSTEIN

Upon reading the description of Taboo on Bruce’s site, I, like many, was intrigued. I was especially interested since it reflected a plot I had seen performed only a few weeks before, as part of a Q&A.

I had one or two pieces from Bruce and decided to order this and Unreal at the same time. As mentioned above, Bruce signs the work.

Taboo is an interesting beast. There are multiple layers of deception in play, and whilst all but one are relatively simple, they work well, even on paper, to hide the method. For info, the ‘hard’ bit is also in print in Unreal. It’s not that it’s particulary ‘hard’ to grasp but I do feel that when Michael Weber pointed out that 99.9% of us wouldn’t have the balls to give it justice, it was this part to which he was referring. It would be hard for many to perform well (myself included).

I had a few issues with the description of the effect on the website too, but they are not major. Needless to say, the description of the effect from an audience perception point of view is broadly accurate. There is DR in play and that is not referred to in the first part of the effect description.

I will say that many will find information value herein, but a very high percentage of ‘many’ won’t ever perform this as written. It will sit on a shelf but you will turn to it from time to time, until such time comes that you are ready to perform it. Overall Bruce’s writing is easy-to-understand. It is a very clever and well-thought-out routine, and undoubtedly powerful in the right hands.

With shipping this cost me around £70 and I would say it’s worth a little more than that TO ME.

Excellent review, thanks.

I have also recently ordered Taboo and Unreal together.
Just waiting for them to arrive.

After ordering I read that Taboo as a stage piece rather than the close-up stufff I normally prefer. But even though Bruce offered to cancel the order and refund the cost I decided to stick with my initial instinct and see what it has to offer.

I'm curiously reading all reviews as I wait for it to arrive.
The tone of the reviews remind me of psych-chronetic by Alain Nu which was another effect that was described as something that most purchasers would never perform.

Steve

Bruce Bernstein is a genius. This fact is accepted by everybody who knows his work. Where others put out minor variations of popular and frequently over used themes, Bruce’s published effects consistently range from innovative to groundbreaking. It’s not that he doesn’t draw inspiration from prior creators. All creators do that. What makes Bruce’s work stand out are two things. First, he sees the potential in ideas that the rest of us breeze over without noticing. Second, he combines these ideas in such a way that the result is vastly greater than the sum of the parts.

Taboo is a perfect product of Bruce’s devious mind. Within the method, there are elements that we all will recognize: The tossed out deck, Hummer’s Mathematical Three Card Monte, a strategy from Robert Nelson. But wait, what’s that Nelson idea? I thought I had read everything Nelson, and I didn’t recall this. Where most of us just browse the literature, Bruce reads deeply. True to form, Bruce has uncovered a principle from mentalism’s past and applied it to devastating effect.

And what is that effect? It’s practically the holy grail of mentalism. When people find out that you’re a mind reader, they worry that you’ll be able to divine their deepest, most intimate secrets. Thanks to Taboo, you do exactly that. Amazingly, Bruce stages things so that you reveal their secrets in such a way that they will never be publicly embarrassed, and yet there is no doubt that you have received impressions you really should not be able to know.

When Bruce first shared his idea with me a few years ago, I was delighted with its boldness and simplicity, and I hoped to one day be able to do it. Since that time he has refined the routine and added subtleties that make it even stronger. It ranks, in my opinion, among his best work.

I have one caveat about Taboo. The characteristic that makes Bruce’s work stand out is that he understands the difference between mentalism and magic. His best effects rely on subtle methods that require a bold and confident performance to pull off. No sleights are required, but you must be able to bluff with impunity. Because of this, brilliance of Taboo will probably go unrecognized by the beginning mentalist or mental magician. That’s bad news for Bruce in terms of product sales, but great news for the rest of us. Those who study and perform this will have a miracle that I predict very few others will be doing.

It is to my discredit that I'd never heard of Bruce until fairly recently. First I ordered Unreal -- because I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I read it all in one night...and will spend many years to come digesting it. Brilliant. Then I got his PSI deck, which is SO good that I can't imagine doing a stage show without it. Seriously.

So I was intrigued enough to order Taboo. I've read it several times and am struck by how ADAPTABLE these...adapted...concepts could be. There's no question that the same system Bruce reveals in painstaking detail is adaptable to a myriad of different presentations.

But what REALLY struck me is this: people often ask what the difference between mentalism and mental magic is. The answer is clearly defined in TABOO. Taboo IS mentalism. Pure brilliant mentalism...fresh thinking...and layer upon layer of showmanship, deception and technique. I am not often in awe of a routine. But this one floors me...maybe because the learning curve it demands is so steep.

TABOO isn't just one thing...it's many things, blended together to result in what audiences will believe to be a miracle.

You often read things like "If mindreading were real, it would look like this." In TABOO's case, it applies.

Sure, you have to be bold and precise. And you absolutely better have some serious acting chops and economy sized b*lls to pull it off. But this is something I'm going to be working to develop very hard over the next little while...because it's worth it. This routine, properly presented, is going to blow my audiences out of their socks.

I'm not seeing a broad audience for this either because there's nothing lightweight about it. TABOO isn't going to be 'easy to do' or one of those 'you'll be performing it ten minutes after you open the box' effects. This one is going to take time to prepare and present properly. But it's like the difference between a Pop Tart and a gourmet meal featuring foods you've grown yourself.

Bravo, Bruce. Bravo! Please give me a few months before your encore, okay? Cause I'm going to be busy. Thank you for gifting us with TABOO...now kindly raise the price. A lot.

David