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Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 8th, 2005, 1:32 pm
by Guest
I just thought I would write a quick review after signing up for Cogitations. I have never met or conversed with Steven Youell, this is an unbiased review.

I should point out that I work 3 nights a week in restaurants, primarily with cards. I have worked for the past 12 years at one restaurant, and have waded through hundreds of books looking for the right material. It is very rare now that a new routine makes it into my repertoire.

Upon joining, I first downloaded Steven's lecture notes WMD and read them. It is easy to see that the routines are workers that have been tested before many live audiences. I have already added two tricks from these notes to my repertoire and so far the audience reactions have been terrific. Not only are the tricks well constructed, but the presentations are extremely well thought out. A good example is The Image Fades. What technically is a very simple trick, with the added presentation, this trick gets amazing reactions.

Included are some extremely good articles that will make you think of the magic you do, and HOW you do it as well as some very interesting stack work. These lecture notes are a workers dream. Very top quality, with some real gems. I would have easily paid $20.00 for the notes alone.

The current articles on the site contain some very entertaining magic, including video clips to go along with some of the explanations. The articles do not focus solely on tricks, but also contain detailed explanations of sleights, as well as a bit of theory.

I look forward to more additions, comfortable in the knowledge that I have already gotten my money's worth. Anything else is gravy! I think one thing that would be beneficial is have a forum set up for members where they can discuss the content, maybe this can be used as a brainstorming forum.

I highly recommend cogitations to any card worker. Although the information on this site is not aimed at beginners, it will give most everyone at any skill level something to work with. I look forward to new additions to the site.

Aaron

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 8th, 2005, 2:27 pm
by Guest
Thanks for the kind words.
I sincerely appreciate them.

For those who wish to subscribe,
here's a link: Cogitations

Steven Youell

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 9th, 2005, 2:19 pm
by mark
Aaron,
I got to see The Image Fades performed by Steven for laymen in a restaurant atmosphere. It simply killed. In reading Weapons of Mass Destruction, it might be easy to pass this one up as being 'simple,' but attending a workshop in a restaurant I got to see the difference between what reads well and what plays well. You are certainly correct - the effects in WMD are workers, and the bugs have been worked out. I had as much fun seeing the effect on laymen as I did in learning what I did during the workshop. Hey - maybe that is the *most* important thing I learned at the workshop!

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 22nd, 2005, 8:42 am
by Guest
I was also very impressed with my Cogitations subscription. It's a great value. The Weapons Of Mass Destruction lecture notes had some very usable material and I absolutely LOVED Paul Cummins' Punken Droker routine. It was well worth the money and there's still more to come. I highly recommend subscribing.

Caleb

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 23rd, 2005, 2:17 pm
by Guest
i'm a frustrated "cogitator", because i can't download the files, so i don't have acces to "the weapons" and the others files, and nobody helps me, despite my emails...
snif...i'm sad... snif.

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 23rd, 2005, 5:00 pm
by Guest
Originally posted by Jacques:
i'm a frustrated "cogitator", because i can't download the files, so i don't have acces to "the weapons" and the others files, and nobody helps me
Well, that's strange. I've emailed you three times and even
provided an alternate download directory. Out of several
hundred subscribers, you seem to be the only one who hasn't
been able to download the files.

Why is that?

Steven Youell

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 23rd, 2005, 5:40 pm
by Guest
Jacques, I had some problems with "Cogitations in the beginning...Steve was just fantastic in helping me get rolling.

Now, everything is great. Don't get frustrated. Talk to Steve and I am sure you will become a "fan".

Steve, thanks again for all you help.

Joe DeStefano

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 23rd, 2005, 9:40 pm
by Charlie Chang
Jacques,

Steve will go out of his way to make sure everything works for you. Don't sweat it. :)

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 23rd, 2005, 11:17 pm
by Glen Guldbeck
Hello Steven,

I signed up for Cogitations a couple of weeks ago. After signing up, I realized that my old e-mail address was on my PayPal account. You probably sent me a password to that one. My new e-mail address is gguldbeck@adi-dist.com. Can you send it to me there? I e-mailed you at syouell@cardguy.net but received no response. Maybe that's an old address for you. Anyhow, can you please check the status of my subscription. If there was a problem with PayPal, let me know and I'll re-subscribe. Can't wait!!! Thanks Steven.

Glen Guldbeck

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 25th, 2005, 11:31 am
by Guest
:) you know what? i'm happy now and no more frustrated. Steven Youell have fix the problem and i thank him here for his fast reaction (hum, excuse my approximative english) ...and now i can see really what "cogitations" is : big and generous. i will read tonight Weapon of Mass destruction, it seems to be an exciting book (because it is, a book!)

jacques

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: February 25th, 2005, 1:15 pm
by Doug Koffel
I would also like to encourage people to subscribe to Cogitations. I too had problems viewing the videos. Steven took the time to try to fix it personally (which says a lot for the kind of person he is). Even though my problem is not fixed I am still grateful for the help and will remain a subscriber as long as Steven offers it.

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: March 3rd, 2005, 7:54 pm
by Mike Masaveg
How long does it usually take to get a subscription? I sent mine in on 02/27/05 and still haven't gotten a response yet. I also sent an email to Mr. Youell but haven't yet received a response. Does anyone know if he is out of town or something?

Thanks

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: March 3rd, 2005, 8:53 pm
by Robert Kane
Hi Mike: I believe that Steve has been dealing with a family emergency recently. I am sure that he will respond to you soon. :)

Re: Cogitations - A review

Posted: March 7th, 2005, 8:17 am
by Guest
My best words for Cogitations.

It is an incredible e-zine with lot of info, articles, downloads and so on. And every word inside contains high quality.
Thanks Steve!

All the best magic,

Pablo Tejero