Magic Tricks

The lecture is presented in a conversational format with Krystyn being interviewed by Erik Tait.

First, let me tell what I liked about this lecture. Krystyn begins by explaining her philosophy on giving readings including being authentic, honest, kind, compassionate and lifting the person up. Her mindset of being honest and compassionate resonated with me and is a great approach for anyone to embrace.

The discussion on cold reading includes and explanation of a handful of concepts taught in the book The Full Facts of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland, which Krystyn recommends. During the discussion, Erik Tait tries to take a couple of the concepts taught and create a cold reading statement on the fly so viewers can see how the concepts may be applied.

Three effects are demonstrated via clips from a live performance: Tarot Impulse, Q&A and Dreams. Watching the 12 minute Q&A performance was probably the highlight of the lecture for me. In her Q&A, Krysten answers audience questions - a true Q&A, versus the audience reading approach many performers use today. Tarot Impulse and Dreams are explained more thoroughly than the Q&A, which is explained conceptually at a high level.

What I didn't care for:

This is my opinion. Your perception and mileage may vary. Did you ever read a 300 page book and then think to yourself, they could have covered all the points in 10 pages? That's how I felt about this lecture. Krystyn had two pages of notes on a table next to her, and clearly had an outline of content she wanted to present, but she really takes a long time to get to her point. She constantly goes off on tangents trying to get to her point. When she finally does start making a point, again she goes off on tangents. And when she finishes making a point, again she keeps talking and going off on tangents, making it really hard to follow. Some lecturers are great at getting right to the point and explaining a concept clearly and concisely, then moving on to their next point. Not the case here. A lot of excessive talking that is not needed and makes it hard to follow.

Krystyn does explain her philosophy on cold reading ethics: be honest, authentic, kind, compassionate, up-lifting which is all good. But you can only make these points so many times. Make your point and move on. When it comes to teaching how to do cold reading, there are only a handful of concepts taught. This lecture covers maybe 1% of the concepts taught in the book The Full Facts of Cold Reading. Again, she has a hard time getting to the point. Just too much rambling for my taste. Kind of reminded me of watching a Peter Turner lecture. If you like Peter Turner's style, you might like this lecture. Someone new to cold reading would learn very little in the way of practical concepts which they could go out and apply.

The Q&A explanation left me wanting more. The basic approach is explained conceptually at a high level, but there is no detailed walk-through or show and tell of the complete methodology. Experienced mentalists well-read on the Q&A will understand what's happening, but someone just starting out will be left scratching their head as she only speaks conceptually about what to do, but does not show how to do it. For example, the method for secretly obtaining audience questions is only briefly mentioned but not full explained. Yes, Krystyn uses a commercial product that is not hers to explain, but there are many other ways to do something similar using DIY methods that could have been shown to achieve a similar result. She also only speaks conceptually to how the information is accessed during the performance, but does not show or explain details. This I found disappointing.

To net it out for me, I enjoyed the parts of the lecture that discussed ethics and mindset of cold reading, and also the Q&A performance. The rest of the lecture I found frustrating due to constantly going off on tangents and excessive talking. Those well-read in and experienced with cold reading will not learn much new here. For those new to cold reading, a much better starting point would be Richard Webster's Quick and Effective Cold Reading because it teaches a complete system for cold reading one can learn then go out and use. For those new to Q&A, Bob Cassidy's Q&A Masterclass is phenomenal.