MENTAL EPIC

[000]

Anyone care to comment on the merits/demerits of the following
Astor Mental Epic and Supreme Slate of Mind ?
Thanks

[David Prouty]

I have a Supreme Slate of Mind (which I don't use), and I saw Astor perform his Mental Epic at Fechter's last April. Astor's version is by far superior in every aspect (IMHO), and its price reflects that.

[Joe M. Turner]

Can the performer's predictions be written with a different colored marker than the responses on the Astor product? That is a key convincer in the routine I perform with Lefler's version.

I like Astor Mental quite a lot.

[000]

Anyone?

[Barefoot Boy]

Am I the only one who is not a fan of Mental Epic?

[John LeBlanc]

Some people say they don't like card tricks. It's more likely they don't like the way a card trick was performed and wished to shove a rusty fork into the eyeball of the performer before impaling the fork -- and eyeball -- into the hand of the performer. (Well, maybe that goes a little far.)

Ever see Richard Osterlind's Steno ESP?

John

[Barefoot Boy]

Yes, of course I'm familiar with Steno ESP. It's very good! The problem I have with Mental Epic is not one of the design of the effect (ie. predicting three thoughts in succession). My issue is with the prop in the first place. A large slate divided into segments doesn't work for me.. If one is to perform a three-phase prediction (Cerberic Routine), one is FAR better off using a common note pad, as per Osterlind's Steno routine, than a prop that appears to come from another planet...
..perhaps the Mental Epic Slate comes from the same planet as the Dove Pan?

[Spellbinder]

My problem with the Supreme Slate of Mind Mental Epic is that it usurps the title "Slate of Mind" which was coined by U.F. Grant for an entirely different effect. I have just completed a long e-Book on the subject; "Evolutionary Slate of Mind" which traces the original effect from Dr. Jaks in the 1940's through Grant's take, Aldini's Improvements, and variations by a lot of others. My own final solution for the effect does away with all the gimmicks, and makes possible an impromptu version using a note pad.

As for Mental Epics, while I agree with the notepad concept in principle, I still like the cleverness of the Astor Epic and wish I could afford one just to play with it.

[Jeff Haas]

If you don't like the prop but like the type of routine, David Regal has one you can make out of a cork memo board in his latest book.

[000]

Phineas, have ordered your e book, Evolutionary Slate of Mind, and look forward to reading it!

[David Alexander]

There are several ways of doing Mental Epic-type effects - a three-phase prediction - without the big magic-proppy-looking slate. I've done one for years that James Randi showed me. It was published by Bascom Jones. There are others. Search the literature.

[PMS]

I have to give a thumbs up for STENO ESP and with some clever thinking, you could show as having all the pages blank as a convincer.