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magic maniac Special user 516 Posts |
I'm probably going to take a lot of flak for this but I was unable to find any decent reviews on this so I thought I'd share mine.
Always a lover of impromptu material, I was researching design duplications and Mr. Turner's Mind Plant came up a couple of times. I was sitting on the fence because I had purchased Isabelle Star and really didn't like it. Not that it was all that bad effect but it was a lot of mental gymnastics for a simple birthday reveal. Regardless, after reading the description for Mind Plant and seeing a few short testimonials, I pressed the buy button. As soon as I opened up the PDF and read the method my heart sunk and I felt like I just flushed my money down the toilet. Before going further, a little background information, I'm a semi-professional entertainer. Between my website and agent I book 4-6 gigs a month with the majority of them being strolling with the occassional 10-15 min 'stage show' as a finale. I like performing a mix of effects that are gaurateed hits (Free Will of Order) to more bold effects (Psy Forces) which that have no gaurateed outcome. There is also bold material out there I may never perform but appreciate for its cleverness, like Luke Jermay's 'Touching on Hoy'. Why I'm I telling you this ? Because I want to get across that I'm not opposed to taking chances. That being said, Mind Plant is something I would never use. First off, its not impromptu like the ad suggest - major points off there. Secondly, primarily being a close up performer this effect is just not feasible because your always dirty and DR isn't ideal for small groups of people. I know DR is a popular tool but I really feel it has too many weak spots that could damage the validity of you performance. If you miss on an effect its not great but its exusable as long as the method wasn't revealed. If people start chatting about the DR of the effect, you simply lose all credibility for everything you did. Mind Plant may work If you perform stage shows for I don't know, 75+ people who don't know each other or are loosely connected. If you're a casual performer, a hobbyist, or you perform friends or family, this definitely won't fly. Please do not read this as an attack on Mr. Turner's material. I've read he's a brilliant performer, passionate teacher and and down to earth gentleman. I only have two of his effects and he has quite a bit of material out there which I'm sure is excellent. I just wish I had spent the $20 I had on this piece somewhere else. |
Christopher Taylor V.I.P. British Columbia Canada 2314 Posts |
Thanks for sharing your honest opinion.
CT |
Mind Guerrilla Inner circle Queens, NY 2670 Posts |
Yes, an honest review is a nice change of pace from all the thinly veiled ads usually seen here. Thanks!
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bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
If you watch Mind Plant on freeform mentalism and follow along, you'll see it's scripted perfectly and the DR is well taken care of. Maybe grab a couple of people from different groups at your next gig who don't know each other. With careful management I can see this playing really well.
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Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
I tend to agree with Marc Spelmann on his Penguin lecture that DR effects are utterly unsuited to environments where the audience know one another. He refrains from performing even the TOD for just that reason. The argument that people who know each other will not talk to each other after the effect is simply silly- and based on zero evidence. After all, do the performers and creators who make this claim interview the participants friends after the event to find out if they have blabbed?
I think Mind Plant is one of Peter's weaker effects, but don't let that put you off the rest of his material. When he keeps away from IS and DR, I think he may be the most creative mind working in mentalism today. You just have to sift through the lesser material to get to the gold, but the gold is pretty pure! |
george1953 Inner circle Mallorca (Spain) 5943 Posts |
I have to agree that Mind Plant is one of the weaker effects, but then again I really don't like anything that uses DR. Just my opinion but I think most spectators will talk even if they don't know each other. Here in Spain I finish a show and often see families at the bar for example discussing what they have just seen.
They are naturally curious and try to make sense of it, I never use DR for that reason but I know there are many who make great use of it. Horses for courses.
By failing to prepare, we are preparing to fail.
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bahamagician Regular user 137 Posts |
I've always been intrigued by Mindplant. I'd read it originaly in Peter's ebook and it was the sole reason I purchased the Freeform Mentalism download. Seeing it in action as Bond mentioned is amazing. You start to realize how well the DR is constructed. He even has a moment in the explanation in which he asks you to close your eyes and listen to the wording to see how well it works.
That said, I've not used this as is. I ended up combining it with Colin McLeod's bookless booktest. One of the main reasons for this is that it helps get rid of the "dirty" bits so you're not doing your entire act with the evidence on you. Those who know about Colin's routine would understand what I mean. I performed my version of this in several shows and it was quite successful. The only reason I stopped is because my S@$#@a gimmick got lost in my luggage while traveling for a show. -=Chris |
bond19 Inner circle Blackpool, England 1338 Posts |
It's all too easy to read something, envision it playing out, than dismissing it as unworkable. I too am often guilty of this.
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magic maniac Special user 516 Posts |
Bahamagician - Are your shows platform or close-up. If close-up do you still perform this effect ? I would be interested in hearing from you if so.
I own Colin's piece, which is pretty much the same thing just better constructed(another reason I was dissapointed with the purchase). If I ever wanted to do this piece, which I'm still not conviced would work in a close up setting, I would be using Colin's handling - hands down. |
Mark_Chandaue Inner circle Essex UK 4187 Posts |
I'm not a big fan of mind plant and I wouldn't do this in a close up environment. DR itself can definitely work in a close up environment if well constructed. Patrick Redford talks about this in his penguin lecture. The further apart the 2 realities are the quicker it will fall apart after the event. Many DR effects focus on the language to create the DR but don't consider tying the 2 realities together. If done correctly it can definitely be used close up. I've seen Pete perform his PK touches routine in bars on couples and he ties it together beautifully and so there is nothing to find when they talk afterwards. In that particular effect it is only after the spectator opens their eyes that they get the effect, and they get it from the other spectator not from Pete. The guy insists that he felt Pete touch him and the girl insists that it was her that Pete touched and he was nowhere near the guy. Often Pete follows up with a frighten lay accurate reading for the girl which tends to become the talking point not the DR effect.
In fact if you want them to not discuss the DR effect, give them something bigger to talk about Mark |
Martin Pulman Inner circle London 3399 Posts |
DR is, almost always, an admission of failure on the part of creators. Almost by definition.
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magic maniac Special user 516 Posts |
I have Patrick Redfords lecture and agree with his sentiments. Patrick's Drac Suoitibma or RGM's structure creates a DR where the volunteer can state what he thinks he saw until they are blue in the face and because your tracks are covered, the audience reactions actually get better. With Mind Plant, if you get called out, your done.
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sandsjr Special user 840 Posts |
An effect I just spent a long time learning and working on is Michael Murray's ATM. I will perform it this weekend for the first time. As it "feels," this is DR at it's finest. I hope it "plays" as well as I think it will. It's obvious a lot of thought went into this. The DR is covered/hidden brilliantly. The more the post-show talk, the stronger the effect becomes. (at least on paper or in my mind)
After much hard work, I certainly hope the effect proves to be a keeper. I'm interested in hearing any feedback from anyone who performs this. DR "can" be powerful if done right. |
Peter_turner V.I.P. Bradford, West Yorkshire 1355 Posts |
This was very early thinking of mine infact I created this when I was 16/17 I think. I had not performed this for a number of years before I performed this on freeform mentalism and if I am honest the performance wasn't the best (I am open and honest as best as I can be).
I was naive when I created this, but don't think it doesn't play out strongly I used this for a year in my stage show and nailed with it every single time. Anyone that has followed my progress knows that 90% of my work is solid from the days of "Devious Realities" and "Dare to be BOLD" I have learnt a lot since them and continue to learn every single day. DR Can be amazing if applied correctly and I do have a toolbox of these effects that from time to time use if the situation calls for it. Look at the Bob principle, its simple and elegant and there is nothing to talk about. If anyone would like to skype about anything, I would happy to try and share a few things. Pete x |
bahamagician Regular user 137 Posts |
Hi Magic Maniac,
My performance of this is a stage/platform version. I've never tried performing this close-up. -=Chris |
sandsjr Special user 840 Posts |
Right. WIth DR it seems in "most" cases, large audiences where people don't know each other are mandatory. Unless of course you develop a routine that covers the bases as beautifully as ATM. Without giving too much away, I will say I added some hypnosis ideas with ATM as well.
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