Title: Mind Control by Bill Abbot
Medium: Effect with DVD instructions
Arena: Close up mentalism
Available: Any shop, distributed by Murphys Magic Supplies


I’m not familiar with Bill Abbott. He may be the same gentleman who does the routine with a monkey puppet but there could be two Bill Abbotts doing magic. What you get is a complete set up for a mentalism routine using common items that are specially made (and of course supplied) that add to the over all effect of the routine on the specs. You are provided with three items but in the dvd you are informed of another pretty creative item you can quickly put together for a forth. All you do is get the spec to pick one of the items you have prepared and the rest is presentation. Oh, the items provided are pretty decent and will serve the purpose as intended and are items most would have with them.

You get the instructions on dvd with routine suggestions. First the production quality of the DVD should be addressed. The camera work is fine, no problems there other than it being too dark (as is too common). The sound was an issue because Bills voice had a bad echo to it. They must have filmed in a warehouse or other big empty space because the sound never got better. It is not a deal killer but I’m sure it irritated Bill but he didn’t react to it. Bill himself was comfortable presenting the information and did so w/out hemming and hawing.

This may be a strange statement I’m about to make but it is clear that Bill did not want any complaints about the amount of material on the DVD because he makes a clear effort to provide all the routine ideas he could think off, which I liked. He tells you how to, using common methods of magicians choice, you can get the spec to believe they have up to ten items to choose from. I also liked his method of presenting the items, thought it added a nice look and bit of class to the whole thing.

What Bill did was take some pretty pedestrian mentalism and provide better items to perform them with. This is something that would fit nice in a magic show for teens and older or as an mc piece. Kids won’t care about it. If I had one complaint it is that the writing on the provided items can be difficult to see if you don’t have good enough lighting or have trouble with the small print like me. Other than that it is pretty cool and with the common items it will find its way into a lot of pockets for use during the teen shows, may also fit in with a strolling act.

I love the way Bill Abbott releases stuff he has tried out himself in the real world.No pipe dreams here....This is a fantastic spur of the moment effect.
You can borrow someones watch [and not mess up the hands or wreck it with a
m+++++! 10 out of 10!

Bill is a fantastic magician and a real thinker. MInd Control is easy to do and has great impact.

I got busted on it one time ( which has nothing to do with Bill's effect ). The fellow that busted me on it saw a Colombo episode with Jack Cassidy as a Magciian and they expossed the effect.

Yes, this is the same Bill Abbott who does "Chico the Mind-Reading Chimp" for kids, as well as "The Thing" which is a terrific version of Zombie (with an invisible floating ball.)

Very interesting. I saw that Columbo about 10 years ago, and then again two nights ago (at 3 AM - couldn't sleep). They exposed several other magic effects in that same episode. On the one hand I cringed because I hate exposure of ANY magic principle. On the brighter side, they really only exposed extremely old principles, one of which is the underpinning for this effect. So I expect that the basic principle has not just been exposed on Columbo. It is among the oldest and probably most universally known principles of magic.

Gianni

Gianni

This Colombo trick can still fry people. But once discovered relaized it is a big let down for specatator.

OH, it works big time. You take a chance on these type of effects with an older crowd. 20's-30's and younger, no problems.

I saw that epsiode when I was a kid and fell in love with it.

I love mind Control I use it all the time it's right om my everyday key chain great effect !

It's on my key chain too!
Gigi

I love this effect as well. I bought it as soon as I saw him lecture on it. The only drawback is the Pen you get with it. So I went and had some custom Sharpies made to get rid of the pen.

I saw Bill last night down at Marc DeSouza's place and I want to say that despite not seeing this effect Bill is an absolute blast to be around and watch perform. The Thing was totally insane to watch and learn from him and Chico, well Chico is right up there at the top of the most hilarious routines I have ever witnessed. Chico is not just for kids either as I was in a room full of adults who were roaring with laughter throughout this entire routine.

If you get the chance to see him live or meet him at a lecture it would be wise of you to make every effort to attend. It was a memorable experience in my magical experience to learn from him. The thing I like most about Bill is that he stresses making a connection with the spectator as opposed to just showing them a trick, something I think is extremely important and often forgotten today.

The Boyd Mystery (Edwin Alonzo Boyd), Ctrl+Alt+Delete, and Flash are three other effects that were stunning and highly recommended if you are looking for more of Bill's material.

--Jim

Does Bill offer anything new in using this principle?