The Game (Booklet) by Jay Crowe $29.99
Softbound, 5 x 8, stapled. 14 pages, 4 photos.
Available at www.whosmagic.com
Jay Crowe is back, and Ive got some shocking news! Allow me to quote from his Preface.
Since my last release I decided to take a step further and changed my stage name as some of you noticed. Ive always been a low profile person, but for some time it was my intention to find the perfect stage name. The search is over.
What? So Jay Crowe is not really Jay Crowe? Well, he is now, but he didnt used to be. Who was he then? Who is he now? I feel confused and betrayed. Its like discovering that your aunt is really your mother!
Here is Mr. Crowes description of The Game.
Imagine if you could approach someone you have never met before, and instantly perform one of the most perfect mind readings in history. You ask the spectator to focus lets say, on their age, just imagine it, and dont say a word or write it down. Instantly you reveal your spectators age. Next you tell them to concentrate on someone they love, someone they care about. And you start revealing the name. You ask them to merely THINK of their phone number, you take your cell phone and start dealing digit by digit. Their phone rings. Its you.
You can also reveal their home and email addresses, social security number, and physical descriptions of their neighborhood
I am pleased to see that Mr. Crowes writing has improved somewhat. He does a good job of describing the various, related methods. The photos are fine, but not really needed. I commend him for citing Lewis Jones, Dave Koenig and Doc Hilford in the credits section.
Mr. Crowe offers 5 methods and 7 reveals.
Method #1 involves pre-show work, so the participant need not answer any questions. You simply go into woo-woo mentalist mode and tell her the information that youve previously mined. Nothing new here.
Let me paint a presentational picture of methods 2, 3 and 4. After youve asked your participant a question or two, you go into woo-woo mentalist mode and are preparing to read her mind. You are in character. Suddenly, in the midst of your performance, either your phone rings or you receive a text message. How do you respond?
In method #4 you bring your performance to a grinding halt, and stand there and read a text message. When finished, you resume your performance and read her mind.
In methods 2 and 3, you excuse yourself, walk away from your participant and answer your phone/check your text message!! In the middle of your performance!! After youve finished, you return to your participant and dazzle her by reading her mind.
Oh my God, this is outrageous! Are we to believe that the participant is not going to notice that you received a phone call/text message in the middle of your performance, right before you read her mind? Unbelievable! Fitzkee is whirling in his grave!!
Now, I know as much about mentalism as the next card guy, but even I am aware of superior methods that do not require the performer to be rude.
Mr. Crows reveals are clever for the most part. However, I question his advice regarding revealing a persons age in a public setting. He states, This should obviously be performed to strangers. Really?
I asked my wife how she would react if a mentalist announced her age in a public setting. She quickly quipped, I would take great umbrage, then kick his ass. What a gal!
Her response is mirrored in Banacheks assessment of The Game. This manuscript is dangerous in the wrong hands. I mean deadly dangerous.
I felt creeped out after reading The Game. I felt like a leering stalker in training. The methodology is very invasive. In performance, you violate the privacy of complete strangers by announcing intimate details of their lives in public. The booklet is not worth $30.00.
Not recommended.