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MadisonH Inner circle 1752 Posts |
Wow wow WOW. That's about all I can say right now.
First off, most of you have probably heard of "MIND5" convention put on by Michael Murray. It's a convention for mentalist in the UK. This year it is June 30th and July 1st. WELL! One of the names who will be lecturing is "Manos." You've probably heard of him from his releases "V" and "V2." So far, he has released a plethora of which hand plots. As such, he is virtually the guru of the "which hand" plot (after all, he has literally wrote the book on it... in fact, he's wrote two of them.) I was privileged enough to get a sneak peek of the lecture he will be giving at MIND5. Manos went over all of the material with me, and I am dumbfounded. It is going to be a lecture you don't want to miss. It's called "Death to Electronics" because each of the tricks Manos will be teaching is his gimmickless way of performing effects that usually use electronics. (Thanks to Atlas Brookings for the wicked title haha) The effects obviously aren't IDENTICAL to the electronic versions, but they play just as strongly and accomplish the same effect. There was one trick in particular that I WAS FOOLED BEYOND BELIEF with. SO fooled, in fact, that I literally had no formulation of a method at all. I could not work out how it could be possible, and the more I thought, the more confused I became. I haven't been this fooled in ages. I just laughed and then went silent then laughed some more then back to silence as I contemplated how it could be possible. I know it sounds like I'm trying to hype this up, but I swear, this was my experience. I'll save that trick for last. Here are the other's he shared with me (which were all hard hitting workers.) The first trick Manos showed me needed two people so my girlfriend and I hoped on Skype with Manos. Essentially, we hid a coin in one of our hands, chose the role of liar or truth teller, answered one question in character, and each thought of an object based on which hand had the coin. Manos was immediately able to reveal the object each of us were thinking, which hand had the coin and which three hands were empty, and who lied and who told the truth. But that's not all. He then proved that he influenced our selections all along (I won't say specifically how because I want there to be a bit of a surprise for those that see this for the first time.) When I saw this, I immediately told him it was the best which hand effect I had ever seen (boy was I wrong! But more on that later.) It takes several ideas and blends them together beautifully to make a really solid worker. Each one of the methods marries so nicely with the other methods. In fact, the layering of methods make classic processes seem more fair and honest than the usually do. I really want to add this routine into my stand up mentalism show. It has such a strong effect. I have a very similar effect in my show currently, but admittedly, mine is a bit more convoluted and more involved for what is ultimately the exact same effect as this. I think making this change will be the smartest thing to do. The next trick he shared is his peek method. I won't say TOO much detail, but the spectator writes a thought on a blank business card, mixes it amongst other cards, finds their card with their intuition, and the performer can immediately reveal whatever information they wrote down. It may not sound like much based on that lack-luster description, but what makes this so amazing is that the spectator does everything and the performer doesn't even touch the selection at all until AFTER he's written down what he thinks the spectator wrote. It truly seems impossible that the performer could have seen what the spectator wrote at any point in the trick. It's perhaps the most hands off peek I've ever seen. The card with the peek information never leaves the spectator's possession. It doesn't go in an envelope, wallet, business card case, stack of business cards, nothing! In fact, it stays under the spectator's hand the whole time. It uses only 4 blank cards and something to write with. No gimmicks necessary. I like it a lot. I will use it. It's got a great number of methods mixed in to really make it seem out of the performer's control. NEXT! Manos showed me principle which can be used for endless tricks. He showed me a routine he uses with it for stage (which I love and am considering adding into my show) but ultimately, it's a principle. It's a principle to control a coin toss as you see fit. It is similar to some other work that has been published previously, but Manos has added a special something which makes it 100%. I have tried the method this is most similar to, and I never felt confident in the method. With Manos's touch, I can perform it confidently without fear of failure. Manos also shared a stage routine using 6 people, 6 balls of different colored paper, a prediction, and an imaginary die. I like this routine a lot. The spectator rolls an imaginary die and chooses a color based on that die's number. All of the other papers are opened to reveal mildly unpleasant (and comical) punishments. The selected color is opened to show they won the only good prize (with a catch.) In the end, the performer shows he had predicted which number the spectator would freely roll on their imaginary dice. This is pack small play big at its finest. It's simple to do and packs quite a punch. It is reminiscent of several past works, but this particular combination is very workable and impactful. It does require a special something that most magician/mentalists will have. And I believe there are alternatives as well which wouldn't require that special something. It's great. I have sense tweaked the presentation a bit to fit my character a bit more, and I am now in love with this routine. FINALLY the moment you've all been waiting for! The trick that FOOLED ME SO BADLY. It gave me the most magical experience I've had in years. I am purposefully going to be vague, but I am going to be 100% truthful in all of my statements. I'm going to go ahead and warn you, if I had heard the description I'm about to give without actually seeing the effect, I would think something HAD to be left out. Something HAD to be false, but I promise, everything I'm about to say is 100% accurate. Manos introduced two envelopes, looked me over, and ultimately settled on one envelope putting one in front of me and the other away in his wallet. He had me hold a coin behind my back and I put it in EITHER ONE of my hands. He then told me I could switch the coin to the other hand or keep it where it was. I HAD A TOTALLY FREE CHOICE. He said the final choice is what really matters. He told me he wanted me to bring one of my hands forward in a fist--the empty one, or the one with the coin. He even told me which choice most people go for. So now I had to mentally decide which hand I would bring forward and therefore I was also debating whether I was going to be like everyone else or be unique. I had a TOTALLY FREE CHOICE of which one to bring forward. Manos then removed his prediction from the envelope (there was nothing else inside and nothing written on the back) and had me read out what he had written. To my disbelief, he had predicted the EXACT choice I just made. ONLY THEN did I open my hand to show whether it had the coin or was empty. To reiterate: I had a free choice of which hand to put the coin in. I had a free choice to change hands or keep it in the same hand. I had a free choice of which hand to bring out at the end. Before I revealed my choice, Manos had me read his prediction which perfectly matched the decision I made. No questions were ever asked. No liar/truth teller characters. None of the choices were influenced by Manos (as in he never said, "if the coin is in your RIGHT hand, do this..."etc) each choice was totally independent of all the choices I had made previously. I had LITERALLY no idea how he accomplished. Not the foggiest. Not even the slightest idea. It was the fairest demonstration I have ever seen. It felt real in every way, shape, and form. I never gave any information to him at all. Again, I know if I had been in your shoes and read the above description, I would have thought that wasn't an accurate depiction of what happened. But I swear on my life, that is EXACTLY how it went down. The only thing I left out of the description was the presentation (at Manos’s request.) But I left NO process out. I have not altered the time line at all. I would have had no idea still if he hadn't taught me the workings. Since he taught me it Thursday night, I have performed it on my girlfriend (she, too, was totally clueless and had absolutely no idea how it could have happened) and I have performed it on my girlfriend’s mother (same reaction; in fact, she just stared at me in silence at the end and then proceeded to give me a look that basically said “I hate you for being able to get that right.”) I have since put the two envelopes in my wallet so that I can perform it all the time. This is going to be my new go-to. It's an interesting premise, and even though it's technically just a 50/50 odds, it feels like SO much more than that. Because the performer isn't predicting a random, arbitrary choice made. The performer is predicting a deliberate choice, a psychological choice, a choice about how they will be viewed by everyone, a choice about their inner psyche. It genuinely feels like the performer has a profound understanding about the spectator's inner self. An understanding even the spectator doesn't truly have. That last trick will be worth the price of admission to MIND5. No joke. If you don't like it, you are missing out. The method is diabolical. It will never get cleaner than this. This is the ultimate solution to the which hand plot. I wish everyone could experience the moment of magic I felt when Manos performed this on me. Guys... if you haven't booked your ticket to MIND5 yet, you need to! I don't know what everyone else is offering, but if their lectures are even half as good as Manos's lecture (and judging by the line up, I'm sure they will be) it will be a convention you'll never forget. It is rare to see a lecture and want to add every single trick into your repertoire, but that was the case here. I literally have a spot for every one of these, and I WILL be using all of them. So go to MIND5 to learn these great tricks! Plus, support Michael Murray. He's one of the good guys in our field. One of the best. Manos, congratulations on a job well done. I predict much success in your future. Thank you for entrusting me with these beautiful pieces. I'm so glad I'll be one of the only people performing them (until July.) And most of all, thank you for reminding me what it feels like to be a true laymen. You have gained a new fan. I will be watching for anything with your name on it in the future. Madison |
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tomd Special user 747 Posts |
Will this stuff be included in a seperate release later down the line? I doubt I'll make it back to England for MIND5.
Thanks for the review, V2 was great. |
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SleepyMagic Inner circle Hopefully I'll pass my exams with 1646 Posts |
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On May 5, 2018, tomd wrote: Same question |
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Manos Kartsakis Loyal user 240 Posts |
Hey everyone.
Fist of all, Madison thank you so much for the review and your kind words. It was a pleasure sharing my thoughts with you. A few people have asked if this material will be available after the MIND5 convention. The answer is definitely yes, but there is no way to tell when and how exactly. I would definitely suggest making it to MIND5 if you can, otherwise keep an eye on the mindfx website. |
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tomd Special user 747 Posts |
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On May 5, 2018, Manos Kartsakis wrote: Wish I could! Having my passport replaced overseas unfortunately rules out going, so I'll keep a keen eye out on Mr Murrays site for sure 😉 |
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TheDirectionalist Special user I predict that I will have this many posts when you read this: 930 Posts |
I’m pretty confused about the last routine.. Why two envelopes? You said he settled on one then put one in his wallet and one in front of you.. Why wouldn’t the one he chose be the one in front of you and not put away in the wallet?..
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MadisonH Inner circle 1752 Posts |
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On May 5, 2018, TheDirectionalist wrote: He pulls out two different colored envelopes from his wallet then looks at me. Then puts one in front of me and puts the other back away totally out of play. No funny business there. The eliminated one doesn’t have to go in the wallet. You could throw it away. I’m just saying, he chose one for me and put the other back where it came from. And put the wallet away. As he does this he says “hmm... which one... I think this is the one for you.” And indicates the one on the table. It’s very clear that the one left on the table in front of them is the performer’s choice. The other one is eliminated. But if you don’t like that, you could also perform it with only one envelope. You could come up to someone and say, “last week I made a prediction about someone I would meet. I put it in this envelope. I think this is meant for you.” Manos just uses the two envelops to make it clear he is making a choice based on the spectator. Madison |
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Manos Kartsakis Loyal user 240 Posts |
The use of the 2 envelopes is just a presentational detail but I would strongly suggest to do it this way otherwise a paradox is created in the specific performance. The envelope containing the prediction is in reality only one and is in front of the spectator the whole time. The following is an excerpt from the lecture notes as I want there to be no confusion about the reason why two envelopes are used:
"The fact that you are using two envelopes of different colour implies that you are making an on-the-spot decision regarding the spectator’s behaviour. Because you just met the spectator, it would not make sense that you pre-prepared just 1 prediction that would work with anyone. In my opinion, choosing between the two envelopes (based on the characteristics of the spectator you have in front of you) is completely congruent with the premise."* *This is not necessarily true for all the routines using predictions but I believe that it is appropriate with the premise of this routine. |
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MadisonH Inner circle 1752 Posts |
Thanks for clearing that up in a way I couldn’t do, Manos lol
Madison |
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TheDirectionalist Special user I predict that I will have this many posts when you read this: 930 Posts |
I just realized I read it wrong.. I thought it said “he removed the prediction from the wallet.” Which explains my confusion.. Sounds awesome!
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Manos Kartsakis Loyal user 240 Posts |
Yes, I thought you misunderstood that part but no worries.
I know very well what it's like to read the description of an effect and end up being something completely different when you buy it. I have promised myself never to be that guy so I always want to make sure that all the descriptions of my effects are as accurate as possible and I am always here to clarify when necessary. |
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BMWGuy Inner circle Texas 2563 Posts |
Hey guys,
I have known Manos for a few years now, and let me say that he thinks about his effects quite differently than most. The smallest detail in effect is often what gets overlooked, and Manos is a genious. You probably know him from his V release or V2. If you don't I suggest you pick those up. New and fascinating presentations for the which hand plot plus a routine that I have been closing with from V2. Think Which Hand, and mix in some Colin Cloud, and Ted K. Anyway, was up until 3AM with Manos and I can second Madisons thoughts This material is a worker and all 5 pieces are crafted and structured in a way that are genious. I wont describe the effects since Madison already did a long review, but I can atest to the material and that it is strong Those going to MIND5 are lucky, wish I lived in UK Alex Alejandro
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SleepyMagic Inner circle Hopefully I'll pass my exams with 1646 Posts |
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wish I lived in UK Na bro, you really don't.lol. 😂 |
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DrewBstoss Special user SLC, Utah 581 Posts |
I too have had the joy of knowing Manos for some time now. We regularly “talk shop” and a few months ago he made me privy to the material that he’ll lecture on at MIND5.
Madison and Alex have pretty much said all that can be communicated about Manos’ work - but I’ll just add one or two additional thoughts: First, this is ALL real world material using techniques that he has been refining over the years. Alex mentioned “the little details” and to me, that’s what makes Manos’ work so solid, effective, and entertaining. Not only do you learn versatile techniques, Manos also shares engaging presentations and WHY he’s made certain decisions within the routining/structure of these pieces. Second, this is all unpublished material and those at MIND5 are in for treat! They’ll get to witness these performed by the man himself (and likely experience many moments of wonder like Madison shared earlier) AND THEN peek behind the curtain to learn just how clever Manos is. I’m happy to live in the states... but I DO wish my travel budget was large enough to attend all of the fantastic lecture opportunities that the UK has to offer! Best, Drew
"The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before." Neil Gaiman
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BMWGuy Inner circle Texas 2563 Posts |
I live in Mexico.
Monterrey to be exact
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MadisonH Inner circle 1752 Posts |
Drew,
You are 100% correct with your evaluation of his work! In fact, after he showed me, I stayed up until 4:00 AM coming up with ideas and variations on what he showed me. When I would show Manos the ideas, he would tell me why he made the choices he made and why he layered the methods and why they are all so effective. By the end, I would realize how my idea had gotten rid of some of the beautiful subtleties that Manos had spent so long perfecting. There’s not a SINGLE part of any of the routines that wasn’t maticulously chosen to serve a purpose. In the end, you end up with 5 routines that seem as fair as fair can be. Madison |
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BMWGuy Inner circle Texas 2563 Posts |
I agree Madison
Currently sitting having lunch and aching to get home to start working on the routines My mind is spinning with ideas
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TheDirectionalist Special user I predict that I will have this many posts when you read this: 930 Posts |
It’s times like these that I wished I lived in the UK or had enough money to travel more than my backyard... 😂
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leosx1 Veteran user 337 Posts |
Wouldnt it be nice if this convention was broadcasted live over the net, ( alakazam style ) , I would sure be willing to pay an appropriate admission price.
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Lseeyou Inner circle 1271 Posts |
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On May 5, 2018, leosx1 wrote: GREAT IDEA! That would help many of us who can’t physically be in the conference either due to work schedule or something else. Hope Michael Murray read and make it happen! Congratulations Manos!!! Best |
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