THE NUTSHELL: It is a nice effect with an intriguing method, but is grossly limited.

THE REVIEW: I received Psychokinetic Touches with unsure expectations. There are only a handful of reviews, and few are clear. I mostly put my faith in Banachek, a magician who I’ve come to trust and admire. Upon reading the booklet (you get a manual of about a dozen pages bound by those annoying plastic rings) I was impressed by the method and eager to try it out. The routine works as follows: You have two people standing at opposite ends of the room, as well as any number of spectators viewing from the side. You go over an eerie story about an uncle who used to tap your right shoulder, making you turn right, when he was on your left side all along. You “call upon” the spirit of this deceased uncle. Both spectators close their eyes, and you tap one of them on their left shoulder, on one side of the room. When they both open their eyes, you asked each of them what they felt. Each of them say that they felt a tap on their left shoulder. The audience swears that you never went over to the other side of the room. It truly is a convincing demonstration of psychokinesis.

There are several pros to this effect. My favorite is that it is does not use any gimmicks or overly-elaborate methods. The method is clean and simple and very hard to catch. My saying that there are no props included should not imply that it is impromptu. There are no stooges, which was a big relief for me. Buying it, in the back of my mind, I considered the chance that there would be someone helping you, a conclusion that would ruin the trick for me. I assure you that you accomplish this effect all by yourself. It mixes involvement of the spectators and witnesses. Two spectators are part of the effect, and the rest have the luxury of watching your every move. Spaghetti and meatballs. Their reactions build on each other and snowball into complete astonishment, as you stand watching. It is not difficult to do, although, like anything, Psychokinetic Touches requires a good deal of practice and a lot of experience with performance and mentalism. The price is very fair, which I admire. It may not be a versatile trick, but at worst, you learn a revolutionary technique for ten bucks.

Here’s the problem: You can hardly ever perform it! The mood of the effect requires a certain atmosphere that limits Psychokinetic Touches to only a few ideal occasions. You cannot or should not perform this effect in the following situations: Walk-around, school, street, restaurants, fun/upbeat parties, and family gatherings. Most parties are not good for it, because people don’t want to be put in a serious or grim mood. Any laughter makes a mockery of the trick. Family gatherings force you to change the entire patter of the trick, and because they know you so well, it will probably be spoiled anyway. This trick is designed to scare people; that’s it. You don’t go into this right after your favorite card trick. If you do it right, the spectators should not even see it as a magic trick. If you are not a performer, if you cannot have total control of your spectators the effect goes to waste.

Before you buy this, consider everything I’ve told you. Are you a beginner? If so, skip it. Are you a serious mentalist? If not, probably skip it. Can you picture yourself performing this in a lot of situations? Probably not. Psychokinetic Touches is an excellent effect with an incredible method, but I don’t recommend it to most of the people reading this. I give it a 4.


(Tomorrow’s Review: Out of This World)

nice but 4 u was it worth the money>

Yes, the price really saves it, becuase ten bucks isn't much just to learn the concept, without even performing it.

great points you brought up dan. If you are not a serious mentalist....do skip this. This is one of the best effects ever created IMO and it is because it explores the dual reality principle so beautifully. Banachek is brilliant...(and he is not a "magician"). I perform a slight variation of what is written up in the manual. For me this effect is a 10. Why? Impromptu, Simple, Revolutionary method, uses a brilliat concept (DR), and devastating. You can't get much better mentalism.

Question:

can u just make someone feel a tap, or do you have to go through the whole routine

im not sure what that question is trying to get at. wouldnt you want to do the routine??? if someone just felt a tap that would be stupid. remember, mentalism and magic is 90% presentation. dressing up this effect gets you the big reactions. I don't use banachek's method anymore, however, i still do use the pk touches premise in another routine. it is very very strong...i think if you ae not a serious mentalist you will never see the true power of this routine. banachek's booklet gives you the basic handling but (and i like it this way) he does not emphasize how powerful this truly could be.

of course i wouold want to do the routine, but i merely was trying to find out the effects versatility

The concept of Psychokinetic Touches explores can be applied to various other feats of mentalism. Touches just puts it in an ingenius context, creating a true feeling of a ghost. This routine is perfect for this effect. If you alter it (beyond modifying the patter or making minor changes), you run the risk of altering the end effect as well.

for those interested in a more streamlined, direct, and superior handling of pk touches, that does not rely on DR, you may want to look into the work or a true pro and friendly israeli, lior manor. his work takes the pk touches effect light years ahead of his time. he has one such effect published, and has an upcoming booklet (i think a private release) in the near future.

do they have to close their eyes?

The person who feels the taps must close their eyes, yes.

i dunno, it seems like the people who were watching would just assume that the people who feel the tap were just in on the trick and are just saying they got tapped.

Yeah I get that all the time (especially on stage). It is hard to disprove that. The best thing I can think of is just before you go on assure the audience that there are no stooges and this is completely impromptu.

Questions. I saw this done, and iwas wondering. Would this be possible to do during a kids show? Hear me out. If i were to change the patte rand make it a more non-spookey atmosphere, would it work? I dont know what this patter would be, but i could definately think it up.

Also, do you need to know mentalism? Im a beginer in mentalism. ARe there any "sleights" tyaht you have to know. IF so, is it taught in the book?

I was about to ask the same question as above. Wouldn't people think that your just using stooges who are acting for you?