I couldn't wait for my pre order of this trick to arrive and was unbeleiavably excited when it did.
The method sounded alright and the memory work was described well and throughly therefore making it
easier. In fact the writing in this book is very very easy to understand and very well put together.
That being said out of the thirty some times I've tried this effect I've only hit four times. I've
followed the scripting exactly and read through the entire book three times. Imho no matter how you
word this, it feels way too similar to 20 questions rather than a mind reading effect.
I am very sensitive to your compliment about the writing :-) . Thank you.
But I see clearly that you want to make this work. If you decided NOT to give up on this, which I hope, feel free to write to me: phedonbilek@hotmail.com
I'll take you there. I promise.
Phedon
That was a classy response, Phedon.
WarpedMind, you took the time to write something nice, with no obligation. That's kindness, and kindness is worth all the class in the world. Thank you... 😊
I want to sincerely help, as I came to realize my mistake in claiming Proteus was "easy". It is, but for experienced mentalists, having the necessary tools to make this work well.
So, to whoever may read this post: I extend the invitation above to anyone experiencing difficulties with this. Write to me, we can even organize a video call and I will guide you in such a way I guarantee you'll be performing this like a pro.
Thank you again.
Phedon
Alex, I agree with you. I had the same results and a lot of the mind reading that I do is propless. I put the accuracy rating at 50% but in reality it is much lower than that if you follow Phedon's script itself. Furthermore you really hit the nail on the head when you mentioned, " it feels way too similar to 20 questions rather than a mind reading effect." This is the truth, when it does hit, it does not feel like real mind reading the way that other propless effects do.
Hi "Reza"... Left the café and came here now :-) .... Nice....
I didn't leave anywhere, but I do appreciate you asking me to take down my review because it is unfavorable to you. Are you going to demand the same from these chaps too?
I have all the respect in the world for Phedon and for his effect. I guess this effect just isn't for me. I am very appreciative of the offer to help and to "Take me there". Wow, its not often that the creators are so classy and helpful. I guess the way I see it is that even when I nail this effect, the reactions from lay people feels similar to performing for other magicians. Instead of a "Reaction" they seem to go straight to working the effect out.
Thanks for all the kind comments and help it is greatly appreciated,
(Still might take you up on that offer Phedon!)
Alec
Alec, thank you for being such a gentleman. And my offer will always stand. It would be my honor.
Thank you again. And for the little note: I do believe that from the moment one decides to release anything, one has to realize it becomes a responsibility and a commitment. I decided to release Proteus, I BELIEVE in it, and whatever my obligations and how busy I am I am committed to answering to EVERYONE. It's a duty. And fortunately, it happens to be a pleasure. So, never hesitate.
Phedon
This is an absolutely great book.
I got it as a pre order, and have been using it ever since. A lot!
I'm on here, reading and posting reviews...and I already own/perform it!
Seriously, the excitement just grows. I look forward to performing this every time. Do I ever miss with it? Yup. But not much, and never once when doing two specs together. (Kinda cool that, imo)
To anyone on the fence, not new to mentalism, get it.
If you're new to mentalism, and want to jump into propless, get it and use it. Take a leap of faith, give it the attention it deserves, and you'll be happily shocked.
While I think this trick has merit (I've been correct 50% of the time), I also think that there needs to be a "WTF" section. The WTF section would explain what the heck you do when the trick doesn't work. I carefully followed the script and have a Ph.D. in psychology, so I'm not exactly a neophyte nor am I a complete klutz at mentalism. One person chose "bunny" and another chose "skateboard." I have actually secured a tenured, six figured job by explaining that social scientists should not say, "This is 100% foolproof in nature." Say what? Nothing is 100% foolproof.
I really believe that even Phidon would admit that SOMETIMES some people pick something off the chart. Then what?
Sdunphy: I too am in the field of psychology, I do agree with you that the ad might not have appropriately mentioned that sometimes it doesn't turn out as you would want it to.
I did have one person choose Bunny (my wife to be precise) to which I just took the loss. The first thing that I would say is that you should read Sean Water's Essay on this titled, "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" from his ebook "contemplations" if you are new to propless mentalism or have not already. It goes over what happens with propless when it doesn't work out.
If you want it to be 100% all of the time, propless probably is not for you. There will always be that .001% of a chance that it might not work out, even if it always does most of the time. There are plenty of propless routines that I know which have never failed me but I recognize could potentially fail someday. Like you I am in the field of psychology too (although not a PHD) and I should note that some principles, practices, and experience does translate over from psychology but much of it does not. Mentalism does involve psychology but it also involves showmanship, among other skills. Dare I say this but psychology is a rather expansive field and I think that the someone who is researched based as yourself, might not necessarily have the practical field time to have that translate over into mentalism.
If someone were an expert in CBT like Judith Beck, she might be much better at mentalism because she would have a lot of practice in thinking on her feet, reframing, predicting behavior, etc. Behavior psychology is my passion so yes I am bias but you can see the logic connect there.
Does this have a chance of failure, sure but in spite of Phedon and I having our differences before, I did decide to work with this system because it is good. It is worth the risk of failure because if you never take any risks, then you will never get the reward.
Feel free to Message me on facebook if you want to discuss how I increased the hit rate and I know that Phedon would be willing to talk with you about it too. Phedon and I started out pretty rocky in our communication but we are now good friends and he does have a lot of useful information. I would also recommend Michael Murray's suppliment to this and Fraser Parker's... both will give you additional tools that might be of use.
My name is Reza Mikhaeil just in case you want to message me. Yes I wrote a negative review before but I am working on having Penguin taking that down so I can put up one that reflects my current views.
Phedon (Cool name, by the way),
I just bought Proteus and hopefully, it'll ship quickly. I'm SUPER excited about it. I hope your offer still stands to help me master your technique. I can't wait!
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Perfect Writing, Disappointing trick.
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