I know of all the rave reviews of Mr. Rowlands cold reading book. However, I am curious as to how it differs from the Knepper book?



I have not heard anyone mention any of Kentons material, any opinions on it?







_________________

Thanx,

Ichazod



All the worlds a stage,

And the men & women merely players;

They have their exits

and their entrances,

And one man in his time

plays many parts.

I have not read any of Ian’s work, but... I have quite a bit of Kenton’s material (Don’t buy his latest... You won’t get much out of it... I promise... trust me... )



The very first thing I bought was "Completely Cold" and I couldn’t believe the price! WOW! That was steep.... then I got it home and said; "WOW! What a DEAL!!!"



Need I say more... I am listening to Wonder Words ( again... ) as I write this in fact...



I have never gotten anything from Kenton that did not far exceed his claims...



And the material works every time... (ok... most of the time...)



Just my opinion... I could be wrong...





_________________

Yer Ol’ Pal - The Dead Ranger

~ Embrace the Dragon ~

http://reddragonranch.hypermart.net/

Kentons book is brief. He uses key words to elicit desired responses. I guess one could call it a "system" for cold reading.

Ians book is a study. Gathered from his research and personal experience it's an in depth look at many systems and ideas. Much more detail. One could assemble a "system" from the ideas presented in it.

I have and use both and find them both valuable.

IMHO, if I had to own only one, Ians book would be it.

I'm certain others here can amplify on my puny thoughts. How 'bout it?

Look, let’s not beat around the bush here. Cold reading – books… techniques… It’s a huge subject. What Mr Rowland’s book does is take all the aspects of CR and explain them in plain English, from a nuts-and-bolts point of view that misses nothing out and contains no padding. It’s a 200 page working manual that is so stuffed full of no-nonsense teaching and practical hints and tips, that it will take you months to work your way through it, and will be read, and read again. It’s everything you need to know, in one small bundle. If you have any interest at all in sitting down with a Spec and telling them all about themselves, their past, their present, their character - and getting it right on the button – then THIS is the book you need.



Let’s face it, when people like Randi, Teller, Derren Brown, Banachek, Marc Salem and Graham Jolley tell you that this is as good as it gets, then it’s time to immerse ourselves in it – not sit round discussing whether it’s worth getting hold of!

So is it good or not?

I give in!

So, what are you trying to say Drew?

The two books could hardly be more different, but both are terrific.



Completely Cold is a simplified but incredibly powerful system that allows basic cold readings off the cuff in any circumstances. More of a pamphlet than a book, it will have you giggling with insight and ready to go. It doesn't give information for long, detailed readings, but it will show you how to knock somebody's socks off with a 5-10 minute exploration of their soul, anytime.



Ian's book, on the other hand, is highly detailed and systematic, leading you through all the ins and outs of the various techniques that can be used in cold readings. This is the book to study if you want to be able to sit down with a client and deliver an in-depth 30-60 minute reading.

Thanx guys for all the help.

Re: Completely Cold, I've found people who dont do readings for money love it. Those who get paid for readings feel it's worthless
from
Ford

Thanks, Ford, you read my mind and wrote what I wanted to write!

Ben

The "yes, and..." approach is too close to a "yes, but ..." to be of any impact. Feels like a cop out, looks like a cop out... Must be a cop out.

I have Ian's book and I can tell you it is worth the cost of the book and then some. I was interested in this topic, but did not know where to start. I did some research and decided to get Ian's book.

I read his book and I am here to tell you, I am in the process of getting in hardbound, so it will always be in mint condition. I read his book, just to read it and learn from it, whenever I have a spare moment.

I am going to buy Kentons stuff, more for GP then any other reason.

I do have a question: Herb Dewey's books had some Scripts for reading. I would like to have a few sample scripts to develop and work from. Any help or suggections would be nice.

Just me,

Kevin

Without giving any negative comments about Completely Cold (I think it was...interesting...), I´ll say this: You have to be good at talking "out of the blue". This might be the wrong way of describing it, but it´s a way of talking that I can´t readily do, and that´s the reason why I can´t use it as a sole method of Cold Reading. Don´t misunderstand me, I´m VERY good at talking, but the way it is described in CC, the way I understand it, feels totally unnatural to me. I´m anyhow satisfied I bought it, and I will be buying more stuff from Kenton.

If anyone is interested in trading CC for anything else I might be interested in, send me a mail. I have no use of it since I don´t have the natural characteristics that´s needed to use it.

Mikael

To me Ian's book is the bible of Cold Reading. I can't say enough that hasn't been said by Drew...well put.
Just to give you an example...I did a show a few weeks ago,where I had a participant, think of a child hood memory, either good or bad. I held their wrists or hands (for the ladies)
I then proceed to describe to them in what seems to be a perfect detail of their memory. With one woman I described the scene , summer day , theirs a pool near by,...I stoped ,,,I told her I didn't want to continue...She said go ahead. I say .."Is this a drowning" She fliped. She could not believe it. She went around the whole day telling people what I did. ( The reading I did was not that short, I just spared you the procedure) THis was an event that went from 12 nooon to 8pm. I did this kind of stuff to about 10 people 8 very succesfull . Two people apparently didn't understand me to well, when I asked them to actually picture the scene in their mind.
The one big failure was with this one woman. I told her I'm not getting anything. It turns out the memory she picked was when she was told she was adopted. She had no other recolection of where she was. I asked her to picture the scene in your mind. She just remembers the words, she didn't know where she was at the time or any memory of the place . She says she only remembers the words. I got out of that one nicely though.

I got the idea of doing this from another "psychic" performer I saw recently. I've also seen other "psychics" pull this stunt before in a similar way. I finally decided , hey I think I can do this.

What I'm trying to say is , .. if it wasn't for Ian 's book I would not have been able to pull that stunt....stunts.

Not all the memories I got were bad. It was a 50-50 split.

It is a fantastic book. Don't buy it.

Hi,Boy im glad I found you guys,I am new to mentalism, and I have thought about investing in the course on cold Readings (WonderReadings) by Kenton.

I also would like some futher recommendation by the best on the subject, can you help a fellow out thats on a limited budget,but willing to study the heart and meat of the craft?.....Michael.

You missed the testimonials page on my website. That's what I believe Drew is quoting from.

Hi again,It seem to me,that Mentalism is about the Message,The draw and the Effect that the public is interested in and should be a concern to be knowledgable and well able to perform,educate,and inspire a futher understanding of Human pyshcology and our wish to understand ourselves as well as the Magic and wonder that is found in being who we are,and if their is one thing that makes magicians, better and justifies our making a living through performing and doing cold readings,better than the pyshics who make their living as well by some of the same means,its in the education,and demonstration that this maybe as good as it gets, and it in understand of ourselves better and learn to work on our own growth and the real power of our mind,rather to be dependent upon another individual in trying to make a buck,and repeat business,instead of thinking and reason for ourselves and the will to believe that we already have these answer within ourselves. Its Some Thing To Think About anyway,and maybe that is what we are missing.....Michael

Hi Ford.

The folowing I found some time ago, and now I found it again:

http://www.randi.org/jr/08-31-01.html

It´s about Ian´s book, and I would say it´s an endorsement, but again, I´m not an expert.

Mikael

[quote]On 2002-03-04 13:56, fordkross wrote: