The Road (ebook) by Rick Maue $22.00
94 pages, 29 photos, 6 illustrations
Available at: www.deceptionsunlimited.com
This ebook consists of Mr. Maues lecture notes from the 2006 MINDvention and RAW, his 2008 lecture notes. All but one of these mentalism effects are designed to be performed in a stand-up or stage setting.
The author writes very well, in an appealing, conversational voice. He judiciously sprinkles in details of his personal life and adventures. Ive never met Mr. Maue, so I enjoyed learning a bit about him.
He does a very good job of teaching the material. I applaud his attention to detail. He dutifully credits his inspirational sources.
The photos and illustrations are clear and helpful. A delightfully repellent photo of John Archer kissing Luke Jermay is damn near worth the price of admission!
Mr. Maue discusses why he constructed the effects in this manner and why he presents them as he does. I appreciate this glimpse inside of his head. It reveals a creative, intelligent, psychologically insightful man
The author earns bonus points for including complete performance scripts for each of the effects.
Group Dynamic: The performer invites four participants onto the stage where a row of four chairs awaits. The participants sit in any seat that they wish. The performer displays a small pouch which contains five paper balls of different colors. He removes four of them and hands the pouch (with remaining ball) to a member of the audience and asks her to keep it closed. The performer places the paper balls on a table and sets an open book in front of them to block them from the audiences view.
The four participants each select a paper ball, without the audience or the performer seeing who has taken which color. Keeping the paper balls cupped in their hands, they are given the choice of returning to the chair that they were just seated in, or trading seats with any of the other three participants.
Under very fair conditions, one of two effects occurs. The performer correctly divines which participant is holding the ball that matches the color of the ball remaining in the pouch. Or, the performer correctly predicts which participant is holding the matching color ball.
The methodology is sneaky and the effect is strong. Mr. Maue covers all of the contingencies that may arise. I like it.
Leftover Stories To Tell: The performer asks the members of the audience to call out single-digit numbers. He writes them on a dry erase board until there are three rows of numbers, with seven or eight numbers in each of the rows. The performer writes something on a sketchpad and tables it face-down.
He hands pieces of cloth to two participants. They blindly erase portions of the dry erase board. The performer turns the face of the board to the crowd, displaying the remaining numbers. He displays the sketchpad which contains the same numbers, in the same positions.
While the dry erase board methodology is not new, Mr. Maue employs several subtleties that set this handling apart. His presentation creates an impromptu atmosphere that enhances the feeling of fairness and heightens the effects impact. I like it.
Heads & Tales: The performer displays a sealed coin envelope which he states contains a folded piece of paper with one word written on it. A participant freely names either heads or tails. Lets say she names heads. The performer tears off the end of the envelope and hands it to the participant.
In preparation for potential failure, he opens a straight razor and holds the blade against his wrist. The participant removes the paper from the envelope and shows the crowd that it reads heads.
The author states, This piece is my opener because it allows me to start defining not only my character, but also the theme of my show. The goal of this piece is to create an intriguing character in an intriguing situation.
I definitely believe that Mr. Maue achieves his goal with this effect. However, I dont want my audiences first impression of me to be of a guy suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. I neednt provide them with more cause for alarm.
And I believe that Mr. Maue entertains and amazes the masses with this effect. But I cant get around the fact that this is merely an even-money proposition. Thats not an impressive enough feat for me. I dont like it.
Body Language: The stage is set with two rows of four chairs, one directly behind the other. The performer tables five sealed coin envelopes. Four participants select envelopes and sit in the front row of chairs. Four more participants sit in the second row of chairs. The performer explains that each of the envelopes contains a one-word message. Three of the messages say Sit, and two of them say Stand. The four people with the envelopes are asked to secretly read their messages and then close their eyes.
The performer walks behind all of the chairs. He quietly instructs each person in the second row to either sit or stand. These people represent his prediction. Lets say that the person in the first seat stands, the two in the middle remain seated, and the fourth person stands.
He states that the first step to being correct would be if the remaining message says, Sit. Another participant opens the fifth envelope and the message says, Sit. The performer instructs the participants in the front row to open their eyes and do exactly what their messages say. The first person stands, the next two remain seated, and the final person stands. A perfect match.
The envelopes arent marked or specially prepared. Mr. Maues clever method relies upon an age-old playing card principle. I like it.
Subconscious Poker: The performer hands a participant five cards, stating that they represent a hand of poker. She freely selects one of the cards, and then mixes it back in with the others. She deals the cards into a face-up row, naming each card. Then she closes her eyes. The performer picks up one card. The participant opens her eyes and announces her card. The performer is holding her card.
The author again employs the aforementioned playing card principle. I dont care for his procedure for causing the participant to execute the dirty work. It strikes me as being too obvious. Subtler methods exist. I dont like it.
Insignificant: The performer asks a participant to remove any five cards from a borrowed deck. The performer averts his gaze and the participant deals the cards in a face-down row on the table. She looks at one card and replaces it face-down in its original position.
The performer faces the participant and asks her to turn the cards face-up, one at a time, naming each one aloud. She then closes her eyes. The performer turns four of the cards face-down, leaving one card face-up. The participant names her card and opens her eyes. The lone face-up card is her selection.
Mr. Maue acknowledges that this effect wont always work. Unfortunately, he doesnt specifically address what to do when it fails. He asserts that each performer needs to ponder and answer that question for himself. Gee, thanks. This method is just too scary for me. I dont like it.
Intermission: The performer introduces a blue deck and a red deck. A participant determines that the blue deck will be used. The performer removes the blue deck from its case and tables it face-down. He removes one card from the red deck and tables it face-down. He picks up the blue deck and deals cards into a face-down pile on the table. He asks the participant to say stop. He stops dealing and tables the deck. The performer removes the top card of the deck and tables it beside the face-down red card. He turns the red and blue cards face-up, revealing the perfect match.
While there is nothing new here in terms of method or effect, the authors presentation is a winner. It fosters a performance that is stronger and more memorable than the effect itself. His bit of business about taking a break from the effect to loan his pen to a man in the audience demonstrates his ability to control the actions of others, without ever saying a word. Its a powerful, yet humorous moment. I really like it.
Collect Call: The performer produces a stack of note cards and some envelopes. He asks audience members to name objects commonly found in a living room. He tears three of the cards in half, giving him six pieces to work with. He prints the audience responses on five of the cards, leaving one card blank. The five cards are each placed inside their own envelopes, which are sealed and mixed. The performer prints all five items on the remaining card. Without letting anyone see, he circles one of the items. He attaches the face-down card to a board and then hands the board to a member of the audience.
A participant comes on stage, calls her friend and puts her on speaker-phone. The person on the phone freely instructs the performer to discard four of the envelopes. The performer opens the remaining envelope and removes a card that says TV. He pins this card face-up below the other card on the board. He hands a marker to the person holding the board and instructs her to write the selected item on the board so that the folks in the back of the room can see it. The participant removes the face-down card from the board and reveals that the performer correctly predicted TV.
This is a well constructed, powerful effect. I really like it.
Celebrity Impressions: Four participants call out the name of celebrities. An onstage participant writes the name of each celebrity on the inside of four folded cards, which the performer seals inside envelopes. These envelopes are given to four random audience members. The onstage participant writes the same names on four index cards and folds them. She takes the cards into the audience and instructs another participant, the groupie, to select one, without looking at it.
The performer instructs the people holding the envelopes to open their envelopes and silently read their celebritys name. The performer correctly pairs the groupie with her favorite celebrity.
This effect utilizes a sublimely devious method that may have first been published by Dr. Jaks in 1940. I wasnt previously familiar with this simple, yet powerful method. Im delighted to have learned it and my mind is racing with potential applications.
The effect of the performer psychically assisting the groupie in meeting the celebrity of her dreams is a novel and fun premise. I like it.
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