is jks mind power deck worth the $30. I know its a trick deck but it seems to be totally awesome. Most of my mentalism effects are totally impromptu

I didn't think so, infact I've hardly used my Mind Power deck and am probably going to sell it soon. I was very disappointed in it, but there are many people who aren't. Jeff Travilla on these forums really likes it, so you might want to PM him and ask his advice

[quote="] didn't think so, infact I've hardly used my Mind Power deck and am probably going to sell it soon. I was very disappointed in it, but there are many people who aren't. Jeff Travilla on these forums really likes it, so you might want to PM him and ask his advice [/quote]

i wasnt exactly thrilled with it but i wouldnt sell it. you might not want to buy this tho. i would reccomend you spend the $30 dollars on something more usefull.

Yay, my name got dropped, woohoo... yea I LOVE this trick... I don't know why no one else does, but that's ok... more for me... anyway, I can't explain why I love this so much... I just do. The gimmick wasn't what I expected, and I admit a slight disappointment at first... until I tried it on someone, and blew them away... its all about the reaction for me!

Ok chaps, listen up! I have a big revelation regarding John Kennedy's Mind Power Deck.... well, it's more of a comparision to another product.

As some people will know, I was very disappointed in the Mind Power Deck, especially considering how expensive it is.

I just bought the third volume of Max Maven's VIDEOMIND DVD series (the Stage Mentalism volume) and there is an effect on the DVD called "Tossed Out Tech". Despite this being on a DVD of stage mentalism, this effect can be performed anywhere that you have two spectators.

The effect is the same as the Mind Power Deck, but in my opinion is BETTER. Why? Let me describe the effect of "Tossed Out Tech".

The magician shows a deck of Bicycle cards (or your favourite style of cards) and thumbs through the cards to the audience. The magician wraps the deck up with rubber bands. This is the LAST TIME the magician will touch the deck. He passes the deck to one of the spectators and asks him to choose a point in the deck and remember the card he chose. He then asks the spectator to square the deck so that the other spectator doesn't know where the first card was. The second spectator then does the same - he picks a point in the deck, and peeks at the card, remembers it, then squares up the deck. The magician asks for the deck to be thrown back to him, but the magician deliberately does not catch the deck - this is to emphasise the point that the magician has NOT handled the deck since it was in the spectators hands. The magician then procedes to tell the two spectators what cards they had chosen.

The same effect as the Mind Power Deck, but better because of these reasons:

The deck is made from Bicycle cards, without the use of gimmicks. THe deck is EASILY produced by the magician, no specially made deck is necessary. The cards are shown to the spectator. The SPECTATORS handle the deck. THe magician DOES NOT handle the deck. The fishing involved at the end of the effect is a LOT more efficient than the Mind Power deck. If the deck ever wears out or becomes tatty, it is very easy and cheap to make another one.

The Mind Power Deck: Cannot be handled by the spectator. Can be SHOWN to the spectator. Magician handles deck at all times. Does not come in Bicycle (or other popular card styles). It will eventually wear out and become tatty, and to be replaced a new one must be purchased. Fishing for information CAN BE quite apparent.

So, giving the same effect, but BETTER, is a great thing. The fact that it comes in whatever cards you want is also great. The fact that the spectators handle the deck is brilliant, and the fact that the cards are not gimmicked in any way (set up YES, but not gimmicked) means replacing it, or customising it, is a breeze. To top it off, the $30 for the cost of the DVD the effect comes on is a bargain - you get a video performance and tutorial, plus about four or 5 other amazing mentalism effects.

I LOVE this DVD, and this effect is now going into my routine. Mind Power Deck has just gone on Ebay

Sorry, I had to shout that out, I am soooooooooo impressed with the Tossed Out Tech effect

I too saw that video, and thought the same thing. However, there are two advantages that MPD has that TOT doesn't.

The MPD is completely visible. Meaning, you can spread the entire deck, and let them view a regular deck of cards. Let me see you try that one with TOT.

Also, cards can be selected by more than one person at the same time. Now, you can do that with TOT, however, you would need a greater variation in the setup than what he explains it as. Not a big deal.

The fact that everyone can SEE a regular deck of cards, right away with no switches, is the big convincer for this one. I've actually had people catch the gimmick with MPD, but then spread it out, and said "let's make sure it isn't like you think it is", and convinced them that they saw wrong.

It's not the effect that is just great about this, it's the ability to 100% convince the spectator that everything is on the up and up.

David.

Max Maven does actually spread the deck when demonstrating the Tossed Out Tech effect but does it nonchalantly so as not to say "look, I've definately got a regular deck here". Granted you can't make as much of a show of spreading the cards as Mind Power Deck, but it's a lot more subtle.



The TOT deck will cope with 2 people quite easily, as demonstrated, and is easily fixable to work with more people if need be. It all depends on how many people you are likely to need to perform this for at any one time. Two people is enough for me, but it may not be anough for some other people as you said.



Well, as far as showing it as a regular deck of cards, I had - on a couple of occasions - people notice that the deck was "odd" because the colours used for the Mind Power deck are different to that of Bicycles (which I use for everything else I perform). One person actually said that they new it was a different deck because "the red was more orange than before"... I just think the MPD is produced quite cheaply, it's a shame John Kennedy didn't get it printed by the US Playing Card co on Bicycle stock, but then again he would have needed to get 10000 packs printed...

All down to personal preference I suppose, but I am far more impressed with the TOT than MPD. I've just bought enough cards to prepare 4 Tossed Out Tech decks for just over half of the amount I spent on my Mind Power Deck, and the TOT looks and feels a lot more convincing than the MPD does.

I think there's a lot to be said for being able to run through the cards instead of rubber banding them up... I know if I were a spectator I would be thinking... why can't he just show them to me? There must be a way that he's limiting my choices.

Second, I don't think that the fishing technique on MPD is suspecious at all. I pull it off every time. I guess I'm just bias cause I'm head over heels in love with this trick.

First and foremost, let me state that Max Maven has some truly incredible effects. Mockingbird, anyone? But- and this is a big but- John Kennedy's MindPower Deck is one of THE strongest effects that you can do.

To the layman (and anybody, really), you simply spread out a deck of cards and have as many spectators as you'd like, to look at, and remember any card they see. You then gather the deck, and proceed to tell them exactly what card they are thinking of. It's a thing of genius.

Some complaints people say about the deck in addition to the price, is the fact that the deck has a rather strange looking back. I asked John Kennedy about that one day, and he said that Bicycle backs were too expensive, and that he rather likes the uniqueness of his back. You can bring out the pack and present it as a special deck, rather than an ordinary deck that everyone would expect to be normal, and want to pick up. Well- that thinking works. The high price of the deck itself? Simple- he doesn't want it to become a Svenagli deck- one where everyone knows the principle, and the secret to how it works.

MindPower is a thing of beauty. If you don't like the trick and/or aren't getting good responses from the spectators- you're doing it wrong, plain and simple.

How often does someone end up picking the wrong card?
Or to be more to the point, what's your failure rate for this effect?

My failure rate is about 1 out of 50. I've done the effect for over 30 people at one time- all succesful. It's realy how you set up their mind before you do the trick to make it work consistently.

For people who think they have to ask too many questions, I've eliminated one right from the start. I'll quote below.

This is said as I am gathering the cards back up to put them into my pocket

Now, everyone has selected a card, and we are ready. However, the first part of this trick isn't really magic, it's about Statistics. Studies have proven that men and women prefer certain colours. About 80% of the time, when given the choice, men will have a tendency to choose a darker colour like black, and women lean towards a warm colour like red. In this case, was yours black (if asking a man), and yours red (if asking a woman).

If you are right, then mention that the statistics have generally always been right, and if you are wrong, then just say that they are part of that 20% that has been identified as been different than the rest, and then move into the effect.

David.

Additionally- If you are doing the trick for a large group (9+), an easy way to get rid of the red/black question is to have people who are thining of a red card on one side, and black on the other side. Large groups tend to be quite easy- as you tell one person what card they're thinking of, have anyone else who is thinking of that same card move to the side. Make sure that you mention the coincidence in them all thinking of the same card, and move on to the next one. After the trick- spread out the cards again to reinforce the fact that they have in fact picked a card from a standard deck of cards.

I have not seen my Max Maven dvd's yet. Maybe right now as a matter of fact. Anyways. Answer a rubber band query posed earlier .. the rubberband is there because he throws them, not because he doesnt want you to see the stack. He is one smart mo fo . thats not swearing i hope

The rubber band is for both.