I am a fan of Luca Volpe, but this book was a letdown. It relies mostly on New Age things like
Pharoah Cylinders, a Crystal Wand, a Tibetan Singing Bowl, and more. There are explanations to the
rose petal act, a drawing reading, and a psychometry routine, but much of the rest depends on you
making the audience "feel" like something happened (a stone got hot in their hand, their heartbeat
moved to a metronome, etc), so this is more of a suggestion routine rather than real mentalism. He
also gives you suggestions for "reading" people, though this is again one of those "you should dive
in and try this" moments.
There is a drawing reading that is explained but then a drawing
duplication is only hinted at after buying another product.
I bought this because of the
hype surrounding the "experience", expecting a nice set of usable routines. Instead, this is mostly
just a lot of suggestions to the audience that you have to hope they'll get or play along with. He
stresses that this act is an experience that depends on the intimacy of the audience (13 people),
the surroundings (proper music, crystals, mirrors, etc), and your ability to guide them. If you are
heavily into New Age props like crystals and such, you will probably be inspired here. If you are
looking for direct mentalism you can add to a regular show, you will be better off spending your
money on something else.
HI Brian, thanks for being a supporter of mine, but I have to honestly say that you probably miss the point here. As suggested in the ad copy : "If you are looking for the latest mentalist trick, then this book is probably not for you. However, if you would like to learn a full emotionally fueled show and simple methods which will help you to connect deeply with your audience, then SHABARA' is what you are looking for!"
This is NOT a book with direct mentalism routines, but a full experience, so you probably miss that bit in the ad copy before purchasing....
I have published books with really powerful direct mentalism (TRIAD is one of the lates ones where you will find routines straight from my TV Shows) and other books as Emotional Mentalism (Volume 1,2,3) which have been very successful, and also in that case they approach mentalism with more a "new age" feeling. Anyway, even in Shabarà you will find routines that will a little thought (like the psychometry one and the Rose Petal) can be easily adapted to a more commercial show. I think you should try it, you will be amazed by how the people react. Sometimes we need to let go trick and try other ways too to perform mentalism.
I wish you all the best.
Luca
Suggestions but few solutions
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