Weather or Not is another release from Devin Knight. I was one of the
privileged ones to have been able to read the new routine "before its
official release. I can happily report that Weather or Not is just as clever
as the other releases form Devin.

You will find the description of the routine here:
http://www.hocus-pocus.com/magicshop/pro......tem=6787


One of the nice things about the routine is that it is very visual and
extremely commercial. There are few mental effects that are visual as this
one. It fills the stage and gives your audience something to look at. It is
routined in such a way to keep everyone's attention while building to a
visual climax. It is suitable for either mentalists or magicians looking for
a mental-magic type effect. No difficult skill is required, but you do need
to know to handle and control spectators on stage.

Weather or Not is based on several well know, but proven principles, of
which Devin take no claim for him. Devin's contribution is the addition of a
a NEW AND UNIQUE force involving a new principle, and the routining of several standard
idea around this clever new force.

Devin's stuff is always very well thought out. Great Routine. Highly
recommended.

Franky

Thanks for the kind words Frank. BTW Hocus Pocus now has this in stock for immediate delivery.

I recently ordered Weather or Not and I should be receiving it today. Based upon the decription of the effect from Hocus-Pocus, Weather or Not is a very visual, unusual and entertaining routine that invovles a great deal of audience participation (and precipatation). It just seems to be a lot of fun to perform. I have many of Mr. Knight's items and I have always enjoyed them and used them. His effects and routining are created by a real working performer with the main focus on entertaining the audience. I am looking forward in receiving Weather or Not and will post a more extensive review after I have had an opportunity to use it.

Best regards,

Michael

I received and used Mr. Knight's Weather or Not. Let me start by saying that this is an extremely visual, unique and entertaining effect. It involves two interesting and fun topics that most spectators are interested in: sports and weather. Mr. Knight combines thee two topics to create a very enjoyable and interactive routine.

The effect is that two separate spectators freely select a sport and the weather conditions. A third spectator then freely selects a closed paper bag from three bags each of which contains a different weather outfit hoping that the bag selected contains the appropriate outfit to be worn for the weather conditions that were freely selected previously. Prior to the effect a CD was shown and said to contain a weather forecast alert and is inserted into a regular CD player and is left on stage.

When the CD is played by a spectator after the three spectators have made their free selections, the CD correctly announces and accurately predicted the exact sport that one of the spectator's freely selected and the exact weather conditions as well. Then the paper bag that as freely selected by a third spectator is opened. It is shown to contain the appropriate weather outfit that needs to be worn ie. a raincoat for a rainy day, whereas the other bags are opened to show that they contain sunglasses and other apparel not suited for the weather conditions freely selected by the spectator and played on the CD.

There are several methods used by Mr. Knight to accomplish this very entertaining and incredible effect. Some have been used before and some have not. The manuscript provided by Mr. Knight is extremely well written and comprehensive. Every move, technique and nuiance is described is detail, even what to say and what not to say and what type of facial expressions to make during each revelation.

You get everything necessary to accomplish this effect, including a raincoat and a professionally made CD. You do not receive a CD player and an erasable board to write down the spectator's choices on.

It is not a difficult effect to learn or to master. However, the performer must be able to comfortably manage the spectators. Therefore it is not a beginner's effect but it is also not an effect only suitable for the more advanced mentalist performer. Anyone can learn and perform this routine. Reading the detailed manuscript will provide you with a good learning tool on how to properly manage an audience and spectators and will provide anyone with excellent mentalism tools and methods.

This effect, the detailed and comprehensive manuscript, and the materials supplied make the asking price of $69.00 a real bargain. I highly recommend this very entertaining and unique effect.

Best regards,

Michael

Thanks Michael for those kind coments. I wanted to Clarify something. Some people at first may wonder what the connection between the sports and weather is. The spectators come and stage and one of them FREELY names a sport to be played that day. (No preshow here)The other people decide on a random forecast fot the game to be played, as weather is very important in regards to outdoor sports. In a very comical and amazing way, the CD not only has the same weather forecast but also reveals the FREELY named sport to be played. Just wanted to clarify that as some people didn't see the connection at first.

Devin

I am a BIG fan and user of Devin Knight's material and have read the posts about this effect with great interest. The only concern I have is, working here in the UK, would it affect the routine if the sports stated by the participant were non traditional British sports i.e Basketball or Baseball?? Hopefully any sport can be mentioned, no matter how obscure or obvious. A YES for YES, or a NO for DREAM ON, would be appreciated.

Many thanks,
Paul McCaig.

Paul,
Without tipping the secret. The people in the UK are NOT normally going to call out US sports. They will call out something relative to the UK. Once you understand the secret' and I have to talk in riddles here, the routine is no problem. In fact I can safely say this will work in any country in the world. Those who have the trick and know the method can attest to that. I have something that is radically new here and it works regardless of the country it is used in. My detailed manuscript covers EVERY possiblity that can come up and give you the work around.Nothing is less to chance and there are no failures. No matter where you live the trick is foolproof and will always work. There are no multiple outs, the end effect the audience see is ALWAYS The same.

Thanks Devin,
that is just what I wanted to hear. I now know this will definately suit my style...Now where is that Debit Card??

So, if someone names Lazertag lacross Fizzzbinn style, this will work? Marshmellow hail also count?... if so, where is my debit card...

The routine would NOT allow anyone to say that. I can't go into details without tipping the method, but the above scenerio just isn't going to happen. Yet the person does freely call out a sport.

The routine and method(s) are structured so that the freely selected sport will be the one played on the CD. I agree that the scenero mentioned by Dr. Spektor will never happen. It is an excellent, well thought out, visual, unique and entertaining effect. It is a real bargain at $69.00.

Best regards,

Michael

I just purchased this item. I am looking forward to it.

John

I saw the description of this at Hank's, and I must say, it sounds VERY well thought out and entertaining.

Please clarify.

Is the CD started and played by the spectator?

I assume that the spectator is only told to put in the CD and hit play on the player and nothing else?

James Adamson
http://www.seam2006.com

That is correct, the spectator can put in the CD and is told to hit play and nothing else. Any CD player can be used, even one borrowed. ONLY one track on the CD and the
CD can be examined afterward by anyone if wished. Only one CD is used and it is in FULL view before anything is done on stage as far a selections. In other words NO multiple CDs or tracks to match what sport is chosen. This is very baffling to many magicians, and many in know have been very complimentary about the technique I devised to pull this off.

Respectfully,
Devin

Raincoat? Obviously this is part of the price, but could the effect be purchased without the raincoat for a lesser amount? Or is this a special magical raincoat?

Thanks,

Jay

Sounds very cool - I'm thinking Becker style prediction ala Casino Royale done with a new theme and new forces! And light and fun - in any case, looks like once I recover from my latest spending spree of magic - another item to get!!!

$69 with a raincoat? How can ya go wrong??? If you flub and they start throwing soggy vegetables at ya, you can don the coat and escape!

Devin Knight’s “Weather Or Not” continues in the tradition that Knight has established, in my mind, of providing entertaining, thoroughly thought-out mentalism effects that contain a combination of old, dependable techniques and a large jolt of bold new thinking. “Chess Gambit,” “Tri-Epic Deluxe,” “In the News,” and now “Weather Or Not” are all of this type.

The effect: three spectators are brought onstage. The suggested patter has you talking about how weather and sports are the two most frequent topics of conversation between strangers, and how weather affects sports. You bring out a CD that contains a recording of a weather bulletin. The CD is placed into a CD player, but not played yet.

One spectator names a sport; it’s written on a whiteboard or any other easily-viewable display. Another spectator selects one of three or four closed paper bags, each one of which contains different weather gear, and retains it. One of the spectators chooses, from a clear bag of slips, a windspeed; the third spectator also chooses, from another clear bag of slips, a type of precipitation. The windspeed and precipitation chosen are both added to the whiteboard.

Now the conditions have been set up. A spectator hits “play” on the CD player, and an authentic-sounded recording of a Weather Service Alert plays. The recording mentions the windspeed, the type of precipitation, and describes the precipitation in terms related to the sport that was freely chosen at the beginning of the effect.

As a kicker, the contents of the paper bags are revealed. The two bags NOT selected contain gear for different sorts of weather, but the bag that the spectator selected contains gear especially, and only, appropriate for the weather conditions described by the wind and precipitation.

The dealer ad could honestly mention:
NO preshow work
NO stooges
NO “double reality”
NO nailwriting
NO envelopes
NO switches or sleights
NO gimmicked CD or CD player – any player can be used (or a tape player, if you want to transfer the recording to a tape) and the spectator can handle both freely.
NO gimmicked paper bags

In fact, I would go so far as to say that, from a technical standpoint, this is a lead-pipe cinch. A fairly slight amount of spectator management is all that’s required, but for the most part, you’re free to concentrate on presentation throughout the routine.

Devin’s new thinking here comes into play, most specifically, with the selection of the sport: it is a truly free choice. Despite that, let me reiterate: no stooges, no preshow work, and both the CD and CD player are completely ungimmicked and NOT switched anywhere along the way. The CD you show at the beginning of the effect is the one the spectator plays.

There is a miniscule risk that the sport selection may not work the way you want it to. Devin has provided for that as well, with an absolutely sure-fire backup that, should you need it, will fit into the proceedings as if it were always meant to be there.

As with Devin’s other releases, Weather or Not is really exhaustively described in the 24-page manual. Virtually every move is explained, the words, the subtleties, and a couple of pages of jokes and gags suitable for the routine.

Almost all of the needed props are included: the CD, the bags, the slips, and the contents of the paper bag that matches the prediction. What’s not included (and it’s hard to expect otherwise at this price) are the CD player - any player can be used as long as it’s loud enough for the audience to hear – the whiteboard or other display board, the markers for the board, and the contents of the two UNselected bags, which can be whatever you want them to be -- as long as they don’t match the predicted weather report.

The CD can even be duplicated should you wish to give it out as a souvenir, proving that it has no other predictions on it.

All in all, another gem from Devin Knight for working performers, with a succession of climaxes and a topic that lends itself to entertainment.

I wanted to point out that the spectator that selects a sport does so BY JUST CALLING OUT The sport. He is not shown a chart and asked to make a selection from it. He writes nothing down. He freely names a sport, yet the size of the ball used in that sport predicts the size of hail on the Cd. The effect on the audience is unbelievable. Yes it is basically that clean. He freely calls a sport and that sport
is on the CD.

I have just received my Weather or not product. It is excellent. It is everything mentioned in the topic so I don't need to rehash any of that.

I do have one comment however that confused me before my purchase and it's the fact that a sport is called out. While it's true that A SPORT is called out it's not ANY sport. It certainly LOOKS to the audience that A sport it called out and this is the ingenious part of the effect. I would say that this small bit of routining is worth the price of the entire effect. It's clean and very workable into other routines you may be putting together.

I like Weather or Not and I will use it.