FWIW, I have read The Jaffi Read some time ago after Adrien sent me a copy - freely.

It's "decent". That's not to say it's bad, it's just not my cup of tea as I tend to gravitate towards more visceral and direct approaches. The method works as designed and Adrien's been honest about the exact type of situation it has been described as best used for.

I suppose my biggest turn-off is when an author starts to make claims about making "real connections" in their promo of an item. Frankly, I think it's nonsense and a disturbing trend seen all too often these days. If I want to have a "real connection" with someone, then the last thing I'd want to do is an effect of any kind. Just be yourself and discuss the things that occur naturally during the conversation. It's false pretenses if all you're really doing is looking for an opportunity to steer things in a direction that allows you to display how "gifted" or "special" you believe yourself to be and have ulterior motives. No effect of any kind has the inherent ability to make "real connections". While it's true that the nature of an effect can help with creating this feeling of a "real connection", it still comes down to the performer, person involved, and moment - not just the effect itself. Again, this also doesn't change the fact that this moment has been entirely scripted. It's simply pure puffery to suggest otherwise. And therein lies the main problem, because this is an effect that neither a professional or amateur social performer will perform unless they're of the "reader" variety, which I strongly believe is an entirely different can of worms.

But for those who understand these considerations and enjoy this sort of environment, then I'm quite sure that this is something they will find to be of interest and it accomplishes what it sets out to do; which is to reveal a star sign under very scripted pretenses. How much of a "real" connection it establishes has already been discussed. Again, I think there's far faster and more direct ways of slipping a star sign reveal into an actual (and real!) conversation with a person if the moment arises - but each to his own.

So there you go. There's a completely unbiased and honest review. Frankly, I don't have a problem with anyone publishing anything in any field and by any means they choose. That's the nature of free enterprise and capitalism. Over time, any market determines whether a company, person, or their products hold merit in the long-term. Nobody holds a gun to anyone's head and forces them to buy anything they don't wish and let's face it, authors and creators exist because there is a demand.

Just my two cents.

I wish Adrien the best of luck with this.

So you're saying when you don't feel like connecting with your audience you perform effects instead and that you never try to connect with your audience while performing? Your post is well written, but it sounds like you're just trying to appear holier than thou.

I'm speaking from 39 years of experience in this art.

Your interpretation is based on your own preconceived ideas of both myself and what I've written instead of seeing it as being entirely objective and another person's opinons and feelings. Then you wonder why people like Ed Wood raise a point about friends coming to the aid of authors/creators so frequently here. I've not trashed neither Adrien nor his release but raised what I feel to be a fair point yet you accuse me of a "holier than thou" attitude.

Do you not see the irony here?

Hi Sudo...

Would it not have been better to tell your thoughts to Adrien in private (considering that he sent it to you for free as you stated)?

Of course, I am not saying negative reviews have to be hidden from the rest of us, but some of the things you said would have really helped Adrien when he sent you the review copy.

Just saying...

I'll post my thoughts later tonight, Adrien offered me a copy as he was curious about my thoughts...

Uh-oh...

*dramatic music plays*

Why? I haven't said anything outrageously negative or "wrong" here. In fact, I was trying to help the situation. Ed Wood was discussing a phenomenon which happens all too frequently here. I could have written a review a long time ago about this release but didn't because I did have a minor quibble about it - as you've seen now. I felt that it was better to saying nothing instead in the interests of being a gentleman. After seeing Ed's comments here, I decided to provide my own thoughts on it as a way to show that not everyone who is gifted something is forced to say something nice. Again, the quibble I had is more related to the marketing puffery itself than the actual effect. Not trying to be a jerk, but I really don't see why I am being questioned about a subjective opinion.

As an aside, I didn't get around to reading this until AFTER Adrien released it.

If people want to get their knickers in a knot over this, have at it. It matters not one iota to me. I know where my heart and intentions lay.

Sudo, I sent you this months before the release and not only did you gave me zero feedback, you even blocked me. So as much as I respect your opinion, you'll understand that I take with a grain of salt the fact that you only chose to voice it when you found an audience.

Besides, you raise points that are addressed in the book, so I'm not sure how much attention you payed to it.

Regardless, thank you for your opinion. I guess what I take from all of this is that authenticity is a very relative term. I find that the framework laid in the book makes the star sign guess authentic in the sense that you are literally taking a guess and using your intuition to figure it out. There is no deception. The advantage is that you're taking small guesses and you can adjust your course to make sure you always end on a strong note.

Feels more authentic than having them going through calculations and arriving at a "random" number. Or putting a paper on the table, reading them and revealing you had guessed their star sign all along. That feels too much of a setup to me.

But, as I've said, I guess this "authenticity" will change from performer to performer.

Silly Steve! interpreting what someone wrote based on what they wrote!

Well Adrien, if you REALLY want to go down THAT road....

You were removed and blocked from my Facebook for doing the very thing I am addressing with my quibble with this release. Which is to say, that while I was attempting to have a "real" connection in my private conversations with you, you had ulterior motives and were being less than genuine with me in return after I discovered snippets of our chats on other places on the net. And now you're surprised that I am seeing more of the same in your marketing puffery as well.

Any art, has the potential of reaching and making "real connections" with people - not just Magic or Mentalism. In fact, they likely have an even better chance at doing so than this art does.

And yes, Steve does have a clear bias being your friend and all. It's funny how between the two of you, accusations of both "self-righteous" and "holier-than-thou" have been spewed forth against both myself and Ed - and despite the fact that I was actually trying to help you.

I'm PM'ing you about this, as these are serious concerns and I'm not OK with you believing that.

oooh, ok - I'll use this as my jumping off point, and side step the arguments for as long as I can...

right, Adrien PMd me the other day and asked if I would like to take a look, as he was curious as to what I'd make of it...after I read it, I emailed back with some thoughts and ramblings, and a copy of my readings compendium as I thought that was kind of a fair swop...


so....what I liked was, that the process part was kinda light and fairly conversational...that was pretty fair and wasn't too much back and forth or trying to reframe anything... the presentation is based around "energy"...and the whole thing works, and it doesn't take too long from start to finish...

that's the mechanical side of it over with...if the above works for you, then go for it...

my personal thoughts...

i've spent many years working out what mentalism is and isn't (from my perspective) - I want to perform things that represent and sit will with who I am, because from my POV, its about sharing that viewpoint, hooking people with it, and finding and maintaining your audience, whether that's socially or paid...finding your spot on the ground and claiming it as yours...i've also spent years playing around with the psychic end and the psychological...i'm boring you with this so you understand what I'm about to say...

the energy part, meh... whenever you introduce terminology that is alient to the participant, I think unless that's explained at the start in some way - you can have people become glassy eyed or rolling eyed as they try to guess as to what you mean...one of the terms used linked with energy really doesn't work well for me on a logical basis - I am trying to not give anything away, so just as south is the opposite of north, the two terms used don't quite gel well enough for me personally (and that's all we can do)…


there were a couple of things that confused me, in that Adrien mentions "going for it" and using intuition for an A-Z element of the work, but then later says he tends to use 1 of 3 words...which is it? don't read that in an angry way, just that for clarity, it would have been useful to say one of them, and stick with it...

secondly, Adrien has mentioned in this thread and I've quoted it, about putting a piece of paper down. Yet, in the video performance, he writes something down near the end...

so though I think this is certainly better than a lot a propless "guesses" for star signs - and better than a P.A. too, I still don't think it beats a more traditional way of getting the star sign correct as part of a reading...of which there are many! And I disagree with him about the idea that because its conversational, and there's no paper involved, its better...here's why...

having a single envelope, or folded billet looks like you have committed to something...its a really clear physical statement that "this is what I think" or at least, asks a question of "oooh whats inside there...its not...its...oh cmon on...it can't be..." and its those little things that make a big difference to me (I have to keep saying that to stop others projecting!) - it is a statement and not a lucky guess.


I used to do the star sign guess thing, but using traditional methods, I had two I liked best, sw*mi or an 1ndex...nice and simple and as I say, it looks very fair. Even socially, stick the billet under someone's phone and give a reading and gain the info you need during that...


that is what I think...

again, if you think what I've described at the start is for you - then pick this up...

oh and while I'm here - the bit that made me ask questions at the start of this thread (I think this thread?) - was the "magical conversation"...really hate those woolly non-meaningful terms, so I asked some questions...the "magical conversation" turned out to not be so magical, and you need to ask them to make a couple of statements to the questions you pose...and that's mixed in with the reading to an extent...I still don't really get why it had to be labelled as such - it made my 46 year old brain churn around and around as what that could entail...it was why I didn't buy it...

if I had bought it - I would feel that $35 is a bit too much for what it is...$15-20 would have felt more fair to my pocket.

It's interesting how one's tastes change over the years...

I strongly dislike ana's in any form. Strongly. Not saying that they can't be used well or effectively, but that I have a natural and immediate aversion to them. I mentioned earlier in this thread that I'd prefer a faster and more direct approach to a star sign reveal. Well, darn it. I hate to admit it (because I dislike ana's), but I'd use Peter Turner's "Astronomical" for this job. It's simple and gets the job done quickly and admirably. I have actually grown very fond of this thing.

This way, I can have an actual conversation about anything with a person and if I want to "show them something" because it comes to that or whatever, then great. I'm in, it's done, and we are back to conversing again. No elaborate or lengthy build-up to do a simple thing. Hopefully that makes sense? I'm just trying to clarify what I was stating earlier and it isn't intended as a slight or knock against Adrien's release.

The only ana I use is one atlas kindly helped me design for something else...

I said this to Adrien, that in readings I like using an assumption vs the real answer to leverage info during a reading if I want to...

by that I mean I would say "when I look at you get I strong feelings of...a leo about you..." and they tend to say (if wrong) "ah no..i'm a pisces…"

so I can then follow that up with "that's interesting, because leos tend to be xyz, and I feel they are relevant and important to you too, so maybe because you're a pisces its more a case of abc then..." and move on...but now I've got info for free and I can use that in some way or another...

anyway - that's for a different non-existent thread!

but for this presentation, I'd just have a folded b1llet out from the start, not mention it...give the reading and ask "by the way, what's your star sign?" then if what's out is theirs, then you're golden...if not, go to your *nd*x and do what's needed as you hand them the folded paper...

as I say, a physical item can solidify what could be seen as a guess, into something else...

Thanks for the honest and unbiased feedback, IAIN.

Just to clarify a couple of point: the presentation in the book isn't set in stone. You can present this in any way you want. In fact, I go into 3 very different ways to dress the routine in the book.



That's the same as someone saying "I have 3 pairs of shoes, but I wear these almost everyday" and you telling the person they should say they only have one pair. The option is there. You do this long enough, you start to get more comfortable with some words and start using them more, that's what I meant.



Personally, putting a prediction on the table before the reading and coming back to it at the end is completely different than going through the reading and saying "let me see if I can get this" scribble, scribble "what's your star sign? Pisces? Perfect" and showing the paper. Notice I said "different", not "better" or "worse".



I never said that and I don't agree with it in the slightest. Why do people keep putting words in my mouth?

Thank you for taking the time to read the book and post your thoughts on it.

Well OK, if you don't think it's better, fair enough... I guess my question is, if you don't think it's better, why use it?

Not said to infuriate you...

Just been reading this thread and Sudo, mate, you deserve an award for quit simply the most sensible parts on the matter I've read on this forum.

If only more people realised the simple truth. If you need an effect to connect with people then you just aren't connecting with them.

And the fact that such scuzzy sales techniques clearly work for this author and many others showed that most buying mentalists are the biggest marks around.

Again, people who haven't read the book talking about what they don't know...

The book is precisely about that issue and not about a "method" to connect with people. It's about leaving your trickery and deception and scripts out of the way of really connecting with someone and still be able to share an authentic moment of magic with them... If it fails or succeeds in doing so, that's a different point. Your point is just a misinformed opinion biased by your preconceived ideas.

Here you're saying it's not better or worse to have a paper on the table before the reading:



But this seems to be contradicted by the earlier:



In this context, authenticity is desirable. This means that more authenticity, in itself, and by definition, is "better".

So, having noted that subjective measures of authenticity may vary, it sounds like *your* opinion is that "the framework laid in the book" is better than "putting a paper on the table..." etc., at least on this measure.

This may have been what IAIN was referencing, or at least it may explain some of the confusion.