Mentally Unstable (PDF) by Matthew Shepherd 12.95/$18.00
45 pages
Available at: www.imentalism.com
Naturally, I was intrigued by the title. Who is this guy? What disturbing mental marvels have erupted from the dark and scary recesses of this fellows purportedly troubled mind? I confess that I was disappointed to discover that Mr. Shepherd appears to be a healthy, pleasant young man from the UK. In this, his first book, he offers six mental effects from his working repertoire.
For the most part, he does a good job of teaching the material. He cites his inspirational sources, and offers tips and additional readings. Each effect comes complete with the authors patter, which is unfortunately merely descriptive.
(A note to all aspiring, young performers from your cranky Uncle Tom. If your patter consists of merely describing what you are doing and what is happening, either use your brain and write entertaining, engaging patter that reflects your personality and enhances the effect, or adopt a silent act. Thanks for listening.)
Im amazed that despite the fact that the author had four people proofread this booklet, it is still riddled with typographical and compositional errors. If the author intends to publish other material in the future, I suggest that he look elsewhere for proofreaders. For an exorbitant fee, Im available.
Working Nine to Five for Gilbreath: A participant shuffles a deck of cards. The performer distributes the deck among four other participants who each shuffle their portion. The four packets are tabled. The performer turns his back as the initial participant freely chooses one packet and assembles the remainder of the deck and sets it aside. The performer correctly divines each card in the selected packet.
Mr. Shepherd credits Max Mavens effect, The Mockingbird, as his inspiration for this offering. Im not familiar with The Mockingbird, so I cant comment on the extent to which Mr. Shepherds version differs from Mr. Mavens.
In the process of identifying the cards, the performer will make several mistakes. This is an unavoidable consequence of the methodology employed. Mr. Shepherd contends that the misses make the effect seem more real. This view has been endorsed by various mentalists over the years.
Its interesting that when magicians who refer to themselves as magicians make a mistake, its a bad thing. But when magicians who refer to themselves as mentalists make a mistake, its a good thing. But I digress.
A stacked deck is required and you must be able to think on your feet. But the potential impact of the effect is worth it. I like it.
X-Ray Spectator: The performer asks his participant to close her eyes. He puts her into a trance that he claims will endow her with x-ray vision. When she opens her eyes and looks at the performers arm, she can see his blood vessels through his skin. The performer then passes a candle back and forth in front of her eyes, allowing her to see inside of her head and to view her own brain.
Mr. Shepherd recommends using this item as your closing effect of an occult-themed show. If you choose to do so, keep in mind, this is a 1:1 effect between performer and participant. Thus, it is the performers responsibility to encourage her to react and to verbalize her experience to the crowd, so that they can hopefully appreciate what is happening.
To allow your participant to see the blood vessels in your arm, you must mix up a chemical cocktail consisting of two volatile chemicals. The author provides a link to a Chinese chemical company where you can supposedly buy the chemicals. I entered the names of the chemicals into the sites search engine, but could not find them.
You rub this liquid compound on your arm, in the midst of your performance, while your participants eyes are closed. Naturally, the crowd will see you do this. Mr. Shepherd offers no presentational justification for doing so. Is the crowd supposed to be in on the effect? Is this like mental Paper Balls Over the Head? I dont know.
The author issues this painfully phrased disclaimer: I take no responsibility for any repercussions as the result from any effects performed by an individual who decides to perform them.
But he doesnt offer us any safety tips or warnings about the potentially harmful consequences of working with these chemicals. This constitutes negligence on Mr. Shepherds part. Be afraid. Be very afraid. I dont like it.
TV Magazine Test: The performer borrows a participants watch, pulls out the stem and twists it to demonstrate that he is changing the time. He puts the watch behind his back and continues twisting the stem randomly. The participant calls Stop and the performer displays the time to the participant, without viewing it himself.
The participant is given a copy of the current, local TV Guide and is asked to look for a program that is broadcast at the time displayed on their watch. Without looking at the TV Guide, the performer accurately describes the TV show.
Mr. Shepherd developed this effect for UK mentalists. If you live in the UK, youll probably like it. And youll be pleased to know that youll have the effect all to yourself, because it doesnt work in the U.S. So, until I move to the UK, I dont like it.
ESP Predicto!: A participant shuffles a deck of ESP cards. The performer briefly examines the cards prior to writing a prediction, which he gives to the participant. The performer deals the cards onto the table until the participant tells him to stop. He turns the next card face-up to mark the location, and the deck is reassembled. The participant removes the two cards on either side of the marker card and they match the performers prediction.
After the participant tells the performer to stop dealing, the performer must do something sneaky with the talon prior to assembling the deck. Methodologically speaking, this is a huge step backwards. There are numerous, superior versions of this effect in the literature. As a starting point, I strongly recommend that Mr. Shepherd study Bill Simons Prophecy Move and Simon Aronsons Mark a Place move. Hell be glad he did. I dont like it.
Whats My Birthday?: The performer asks someone in the audience to think of their birthday. After asking the participant several questions, the performer writes something on his business card. He turns the card over, revealing that he correctly divined the exact month and date of their birth.
The author employs two well known mentalism techniques. If you are new to mentalism, Mr. Shepherds brief description of one of the techniques is adequate. However, his flow chart depiction of the other method will leave you tearing out clumps of hair in bewildered frustration.
But fear not. Mr. Shepherd has written a 30 page PDF booklet in which he does a good job of teaching the fundamentals of this technique. If you contact him and request the booklet, he will send it to you for free. I commend the author for both his work and for his generosity.
In fact, I like the booklet better than this effect. The effect is not bad, but its rather common, and it just doesnt break any new ground. So while I dont like the effect, I definitely like the booklet.
Mind Over Mobile: The performer calls a participant and asks her to deal four piles of cards of an equal amount. She can choose any amount of cards and she does not tell the performer how many are dealt. She notes the bottom card of any pile and assembles the deck in any order. She deals cards one at a time onto the table as she names each card. The performer correctly identifies the selected card.
Again, there is nothing new here in terms of method or presentation. In fact, keen retrograde analysts may be able to deduce the method. Part of the method involves fishing, which the author concedes does not always result in a direct hit.
In the case of failure, he suggests that we downplay the failure and emphasize how close we got to succeeding. This spin is sometimes used in mentalism, and is often used in politics. I dont like it. I much prefer the Silent Transmission Telephone Mystery from The Greater Artful Dodges of Eddie Fields.
Im always interested in discovering the work of young performers and I try to encourage their creative process. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm and ambition sometimes causes them to publish material before they have adequately studied the published record and gained some seasoning.
Thus, despite their creative efforts, they often end up developing and publishing effects that are not necessarily bad per se, but they do not improve upon similar effects that have preceded them.
I believe that this offering from Mr. Shepherd falls into that category. I have no doubt that these effects bring the author success, and I imagine that this booklet will find favor among the Caf crowd. But compared to the work of past and present masters of the art, it simply doesnt stack up.
Not Recommended