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George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
I have noticed a Human Abacus effect now being marketed—a stand, a set of vertical numbered Planks, with.a Pi book as part of the kit. I.have found no reviews. Is essentially the classic Mental Logs revised, or is it an advancement?
Thanks, George |
61magic Special user Sacramento California 775 Posts |
I'm interested in a review? I haven't found anything online, has anyone purchased this?
Professor J. P. Fawkes
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Philemon Vanderbeck Inner circle Seattle, WA 4694 Posts |
Link?
Professor Philemon Vanderbeck
That Creepy Magician "I use my sixth sense to create the illusion of possessing the other five." |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
After this much time, no news or reviews may speak volumes.
George |
61magic Special user Sacramento California 775 Posts |
I found a couple of reviews on the www.alakazam.co.uk site but was still looking for more detailed info.
Also nothing on youtube to view a performance. I'm surprised nothing has come up on this one.
Professor J. P. Fawkes
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Thomas Henry Inner circle Minnesota 1394 Posts |
Hello George,
Your suspicion is justified. Looking at this picture... https://www.alakazam.co.uk/the-human-aba......cus.html ...I can even tell you the two missing digits on the bottom row. (The other two are indeterminate with many possibilities.) A couple years ago, I made a similar set (52 double-sided ones, thus 104 for the participant to choose from) for less than $5. (See attached picture). In fact, these are color-coded so one needn't even see the actual digits at all; good for those of us with rotten vision! Throw in the homemade Pocket Guide to Cartomancy, and you could duplicate that book test, too. Of course there are other natural fo****g books kicking around. So my take is, I'd rather spend ten dollars making both the placards (which look like a child's educational game, and hence don't seem like a magician's prop) and the Pocket Guide. But the ones you mentioned are indeed handsome. Thomas Henry Click here to view attached image. |
61magic Special user Sacramento California 775 Posts |
Hello All, I took the plunge and purchased the Human Abacus so I think a review is in order.
First off let me tell you why I purchased. I'm not a mentalist, I do a standup act with light humor. I have been working on adding a mental routine to the act and have tried a few things finding I really liked the speedy calculation type effects. This fits into my character very well. I first saw the Human Abacus advertised and the look of the props fit what I was looking for along with the two routine concept also was interesting to me. After checking the Café and not finding any review and reading what was on the dealers web site I took some time to think it over and purchased. Let me start by saying the quality of the props are really good and appear to be durable so I expect to get a lot of use out of them. The methods are simple allowing you to concentrate on your presentation. I found the Pi book to be actually larger than what it looked like in the dealer pictures which was a plus. Some people feel mental effects should look totally natural and use as little formal props as possible, I'm not one of these I believe the props should look professional. Yes you could construct your own and the method is already known in the magic community but for the cost of this and the look of the props I recommend it to others. If you have any specific question feel free to PM me I'm happy to answer any and all.
Professor J. P. Fawkes
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Steven Conner Inner circle 2720 Posts |
Still no review. Which is better, this or Trachtenberg by Kieron Johnson.
Best Steve
"The New York Papers," Mark Twain once said,"have long known that no large question is ever really settled until I have been consulted; it is the way they feel about it, and they show it by always sending to me when they get uneasy. "
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Calvin Tong Special user 718 Posts |
Professor
Thanks for the review and for confirming the quality and professional look of the props. Validates for me that this will be good for small stage. Cal
Cal Tong
President Emeritus IBM Ring 216 Silicon Valley |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Two years later, I spring for it too. The kit arrives next week. I will post my impressions later.
George |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Well the kit from Penguin arrived Wednesday--minus the "handmade wooden stand".
I sent an email to Penguin. Their site said it rejects emails from my server So I called them; no one answered. Same with a second call. This time I left a voicemail message stating the problem, and gave my name, order number, email address, street address, and cell number. No response yesterday or today, so I expect to ship it back to them tomorrow. I suppose they will reimburse me for the cost of the kit and my mailing, but who knows. One small point. A sheet referred me to Alakazam's UK site and gave me a password. It did not work, I gained no access to the video instructions. The kit has been out at least three years, perhaps Alakazam has made room for newer stuff. This is a small point though; it is possible to discover the methods by spending time with the book and the boards with numbers. I wish I could commend Human Abacus to other magicians. Naturally, if it turns out wonderfully after all, I will post a followup report. George |
Rhewin Loyal user 250 Posts |
Penguin support is usually quite responsive, though my last help ticket did take a roughly 9 day response. They don't have a ton of support staff, and some might be on vacation. Outside of the stand, how is the kit?
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61magic Special user Sacramento California 775 Posts |
As I said before the stuff was top notch, but I had purchased through Alakazam's site. It sounds like you received a return and the online link had already been registered to someone else.
Human Abacus seems to be just fine, Penguin fell down on this one. Funny I had a bad experience with Penguin before and haven't done any business with them since. Feel free to PM me if you want some information on the working, be glad to help.
Professor J. P. Fawkes
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George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
I mailed the kit back to Penguin today.
My usual experience with Penguin has been good but this time, since no one at their shop checked if it was all there before sending it, and then with no response from them the last three days, I sent it back this afternoon, and have lost interest in it. I am likely to continue doing business with them, with caution. George |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Update. Penguin has undoubtedly received my return this week, but still no response.
Early next week, I may write to one of Penguin's owners--Acar and/or Maxwell. Does anyone anyone havee either's email address? George |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Still no response from Penguin, so yesterday I sent a snail-mail letter to Acar Altinssel who appears to be a top executive there. I encouraged some "management interventions" to Make Penguin Great Again."
George |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Update: Someone from Penguin left a voicemail message on June 2, but on our land line--which, in the spam age, we seldom answer, and NOT on my cell phone--which is the number I gave them.
So please ignore some of what I have written above. George |
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Yesterday, I received a good email from Penguin, reporting they had refunded the purchase price.
Since I never performed Human Abacus, and was unable to access the video tutorial, I lack the grounds for recommending the effect to other performers. George |
DJG Inner circle The northern hemisphere of Earth 1295 Posts |
The video should be in your Penguin account. This is essentially a pared down version of Sean Taylor's Absolute Recall. Alakazam gives you a very, very basic instructional video. The "planks" are essentially two sided Mental Logs. I absolutely love mental logs, but I have yet to find the right patter. For me, the best part is the Pi book. Someone can read out loud a row of numbers, and you can tell them what digit was left out. I use this part as a stand alone effect.
I'm not sure if I got my "money's worth", but I do not regret my purchase.
Your choices in life can be compared to watching a magic trick: You can continue to believe the illusion in front of you, find the intrigue and desire to learn more, or quit paying attention the moment you feel deceived.
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