Here it goes: the Shalosh booklet will be ready by the begining of June but you can get a peek at it's content in my site.

Nimrod , Israel

Sounds nice!

Is the book-test improbuto?

thx

amens

Semi-impromptu. can be done with their book (and no set up) but you have to bring your little something.

I've got all the 217 Shalosh booklets, and they are good and ready to go.


(The asking price stated on the web page is for the first 50 copies only. After that it goes up.)

I want to thank all the mentalists here who purchased Shalosh. I've been busy arranging all the shipments in the last three days but now they are all out and on their ways to you (I was told 7-10 days).

There might be some delays in the shipments of new orders till Wednesday, since I'm shooting the second episode of my TV series, but hopefully I'll have enough time for doing all the dirty work (writing is fun, shipping sucks).

Some members asked me if the "quit smoking" effect from the first episode is on those booklets as well. First, I wonder how they found out since the show hasn't aired yet, but I already understood that keeping a secret in this industry is impossible and I have my suspicions. Second, the answer is no, the booklet contains only the three stated tools and accompanying routines (although the Lair Peek had an crucial part in that episode too).

When the show airs, I'll put the quit smoking TV segment on my website as a tribute to the purchasers of the booklet (I'll email all the purchasers with the URL when time comes, and if you know a thing or two in mentalism you will figure it out easily and you have my permission to use it professionally).

Last thing, the booklets are all numbered, but will not necessarily arrive in any particular order since I distributed some of them among my lecturing friends.

I'll be happy to hear your comments and reviews next week, here or privately.

Enjoy the reading.


Nimrod Harel , Israel

P.S. I'd like to thank Menny Lindenfeld for superb art design and layout. You are wasting yourself in magic, lad!

Heh. Why's it called "Three?"

Look at the details of the booklet above or on his site. There are "3" secrets in the booklet. Also, he's been busy for the last "3" days arranging shipments. Ok, that last one wasn't really a reason for the name.


Brian

My own small BIASED review on this book---well, not really a review but my opinion.

First, before I begin, I must say Nimrod is a good friend of mine.

Whoever kept track of Nimrod's posts here on the Café knows he is a no-nonsense guy. He will not be ashamed to post his real view on things even if they are not in agreement with the other member's views here on the Café.

You can see this in the book as well. All the three "tools" are no-nonsense practical material that Nimrod (and now others...) use in real life.

Nimrod let me read the final version of his book, before he published it. I am a true believer in keeping mentalism more secretive, and at first I tried to convince him not to publish the book test. It is not hard to imagine why I thought so when you read it.

After failing to prevent the publication of the book test, I turned to a different strategy. I tried to convince him to include some more effects inside which are relatively less strong than the three "concepts" published. He refused, claiming that he wanted three of his best ideas to appear in that book(let) and nothing more.

Now most of us have to admit that when investing a sum of money, we want to get something in return. If you are mature enough and passed the point where you say things like "but the book has 300 pages and cost only $35", get this book, otherwise if you measure by size, forget about it.

The book also contains relatively little material---"ONLY" three ideas or tools as Nimrod calls them. Is that worth the price he is asking for? My answer is yes - big time yes. (I advised him to ask for $100 BTW.)

We are recently seeing in magic (an especially in mentalism) more and more magicians publishing by themselves quality material and also handle the distribution alone. These types of publications are usually of high quality (e.g., Bellon's OO).

Nimrod's "Shalosh" is no different!
If you are afraid of losing your money, don't worry. There are only 200 copies or so, and in a year you could get twice the price you paid for on ebay.

To sum up in one sentence--- small book, few routines, BIG secrets, extremely practical.

That was it. My very biased opinion on the book.

Nir Dahan

P.S. I can't believe he gave away the book test.

Just wondering, what does "Shalosh" mean? And why 217?

Nir, thanks for the kind words but you have one mistake though - hopefully Shalosh won't find his way to ebay...
highmagic, Shalosh is "three" in Hebrew. And about the 217 thing... this I won't tell for now but it has to do with what every mentalist should have.
By the way, we are 6 copies from the first jump in price (the new price will be 65$ for the next 50 copies) and this is without any reviews coming in yet (the first booklets should arrive tomorrow) and no pre-show at all !!! ;-)

Nimrod , Israel

p.s. at the end I've managed to get all the shipments on time. in the next booklet I'm hiring someone to do it.

17 steps to... no, that's not it.

217 pages, hmmm...

Strange but when I first visited the web site the number of books was 200...
If you google for Nimrod and Shalosh the third link also says 200 copies...

At the end 217 were printed at my request. no one bought his booklet when the 200 where advertised. the ad was updated before the selling began.

Nimrod

Any reviews by those who have purchased Shalosh ?

I received my copy this morning.

First impressions are that the booklet is nicely printed and staple bound. Good quality.

I began to read the booklet and in the first paragraph found the first of the booklets many typos and grammatical errors - yes I am picky, but if you're going to get a booklet printed, please at least get it proof read and edited properly.

Onto the first of the three: Reverse Book Test

I guess you could say it is impromptu (if you always carry the required something with you).

The method? As Nimrod states, the methodology is not new to him, as it has been previously published by esteemed others including some not mentioned in the booklet (Phil Goldstein for example if I remember correctly). Reasonably experienced mentalists will know this method already.

The routine? Well the routine published here is very well thought out and explained, including some great use of language for dual reality and I could tell that Nimrod has put a lot into this.

Overall? The methodology imho means that this can only be used for stage presentations, so alas it is not something that will work for me, but on-stage I imagine that it will play very, very strong.


The second of the three: The Lair Peek

Methodology? It's a peek!
A derivative of the work of Longman and Busch.
I found it amusing that this exact method is a variant that I myself actually considered while playing with a billet but I discarded the handling as inferior to Peek Encores handlings. There is no new billet used, no new folds or anything, just a different handling of an existing billet with one quadrant being the hot area.

Nimrod obviously thinks his peek is an improvement to the work of Busch but in my opinion it is not as clean. What I (and I believe my participants) like about Buschs latest billet work is that the billet is always totally in view - so there isn't the remotest possibility of foul-play (or so it appears). In my opinion, if the billet goes out of view you may be on the road to mental magic as opposed to mentalism - not where I personally want to go.

However, I may be talking about small details that some won't consider important.

I would reccommend Peek Encores over this peek.
I guess I'll have to wait for Richards third book for something beyond PE

The routine?
Well the routine published here is from Amir Lustig and is well thought out and there are ideas in here that I will use. So again I rate the routine above the methodolgoy.


The third of the three: Passive Participant Principle

This reads almost like a small example illustrated essay and probably requires reading through a few times to get the most from it. There are some very good ideas in here, particularly for phone magic - and again probably used to best effect on stage. For me this was the most interesting and stimulating part of the book (even though I primarily bought it for the peek).


Cost etc.?
Well Nimrod suggests that the limited run and relatively high cost are to retain a certain amount of exclusivity.

Personally I wish that more value was applied to "magical" secrets and think that most magic is under-priced (if you use it that is).

Therefore I am happy with the price I paid for the booklet as I did get something I will use out of it, and I enjoyed reading it.

However, I did not get the feeling that this book was a bargain and way under-priced like I sometimes do.

I do look forward to Nimrods future publications.

Thanks sludge for the review, glad you enjoyed it.
There is no real excuse for the typos excpet a promise that next time I'll use a better man for that job. I hope there aren't too many of those ***s to spoil the fun of reading.
As for the Lair Peek, I'm sorry it didn't suit you. There are many peeks around, but many mentalists I know rarely use any of them, mostly because most peeks aren't sure-fire and they take some guts to perform. I developed the Lair Peek so I'll never have to be tensed or afraid of peeking. The Lair Peek is all about the illusion created in the spec's mind and that illusion allows you to do the dirty work with no fear at all. If you have a peek you are happy with, stick with it, but if you are still looking for one, I STRONGLY encourage you to give the Lair Peek a try, you'll be surprised how strong it plays. I can asure you one more thing: it ain't mental magic.

Thanks again,

Nimrod , Israel

I'd just like to echo that Nimrod is right that the Lair Peek certainly is secure with no angle problems and some nice built-in justification(s) - I might just have to try it out, after all maybe Nimrods theory detailed in the booklet will work out for me as it has for him.

Nimrod, thanks for receiving my review as a gentleman even though I am brutally honest and opinionated Please keep me informed of any future publications.

Ade

This little booklet is full of great tools! The PPP principal takes standard effects and makes them play ALOT stronger.
The peek is also great and all the actions are justified. I also like the fact that the spectators can't possibly think you are peeking when you are, because the billet is completly hidden in your closed fist.
The reverse book test is also great. No the method is not new but the way he uses the method is. I can only imagine how clean this looks to an audience as I haven't yet tried it but I am very eager to use all these tools.
All I can say is the PPP principle will change the way I perform forever. In shows and close-up, this truely is a way to make people beleive in your abilty to know the unknown.
Nimrod thank you for making such fine work available.
Brent Braun

Thank you Brent for the kind words. You've made my day.

Nimrod

Where can I get it?

http://nimrodharel.co.il/english/pages/homepage.htm

Having played with and used the Lair Peek now a fair few times, I stand by my initial appraisal.

In fact I would go so far as to say that I consider the Lair Peek to be a backwards step if you already use OO or PE techniques.

Nimrod, out of interest, have you read OO or PE?