Spidey Bedros Akkelian is Theory11’s go to mentalist at the moment. He does not go into the methods or effects that he has made popular on this site but instead shares almost completely new material that is just as clever and just as practical.
Polaroid 1: A blank faced card is introduced. A card is then selected and signed on the face and back. With a little bit of magic the blank card becomes the signed card. This fooled me, it had a great hook and after finding out the method I was still impressed. This is a really fun piece of magic that feels like mentalism in some ways.
Polaroid 2: A blank deck slowly prints itself, a card is named and is shown that it has not printed yet. The blank card then becomes the thought of card. I think that I almost prefer this effect to the other Polaroid effect. In the end none of the cards are damaged but it does not kill the magic. It should be noted that in this handling the backs are already printed but not the faces.
Squancho: I’m not crazy for this type of plot but it is magical. A card is selected and a little man is drawn on the back, the man fails to find the card a couple times and finally becomes a part of the selected card. Spidey then inadvertently smashes the little man with blood and gore then with some magic he resuscitates the drawing and gives the card away. This is a very magical piece for sure but I have never been a huge fan of magicians talking to their props, Spidey performs it well though, it is entertaining, it just isn’t for me.
Card To Wallet: No gimmicked wallets needed for this, this is a very clever mash up between the effect of the Biddle Trick and a card to wallet. A card is selected, it is narrowed down to just a few cards, it then cleanly vanishes from the packet and appears in the magician’s wallet. There are a few things that this tricks adds to the classic Biddle Trick that are clever subtleties, and the way that Spidey has used a common gimmick is crazy clever. My issue here is that I believe that the classic Biddle trick is a bit more practical and is just as deceptive. So this is a clever trick but I will not be using it.
Connection: Spidey really advocates the use of blank cards, you could also use blank index cards or business cards as well. Basically an object is written on a card lost in the packet. The magician then divines what the object is and the spectator is found by the spectator in the deck. This is very cool, it is like a card at any number in some ways as well as some straight mentalism. I love how this really is a large routine with just a tiny bit of work. Great job Spidey!
Dupe-Pic-Dupe: A handful of objects are asked for from 2 different spectators. These objects are written on a handful of pieces of paper. An object is selected by each person and the magician is able to divine the thought of objects. I love this, all you need is 6 pieces of paper and you have a multi phased mentalism routine. This could really grow or shrink to whatever venue you perform at as well. It combines a couple of classics to create a piece of magic that is greater than the sum of is parts.
Terrified: Spidey has recreated a solid piece of classic mentalism. I saw this most recently published in a booklet by Mark Eldson and as far as I understand it was first published by Edmond Rowland in the Pentagram in the 1950’s. Spidey has added a few things to it though and really jams on the idea. Basically a magazine page is ripped into pieces and a spectator selects a piece, the magician predicted what was going to be on that picture. Spidey really jams on the idea though and adds to what you initially might think was possible with the principle. It seems like this principle may be gaining popularity.
Psychometry: A few images are drawn and placed in a set of envelopes, the magician is able to divine which envelope goes to which spectator and then with the last envelope is able to duplicate the drawing. This is a fun stand up piece of mentalism. This could easily fill a theater of a thousand or impress an audience of 10. If you are looking for big impressive strong pieces of mentalism, than this is what you have been looking for. Spidey has taken a classic piece of mentalism and has made it his own with a nice climax at the end.
Spidey finishes the lecture off with one of the best conversations on creativity that I have seen on a lecture. He has a way of breaking down creative styles that is very profound. Every creator should be familiar with his thoughts concerning creativity.
This was a solid lecture all around, one of the best I have seen in a while. Spidey shares a whole bunch of very strong practical material that could easily be inserted into many magicians repertoires.
Polaroid 1: A blank faced card is introduced. A card is then selected and signed on the face and back. With a little bit of magic the blank card becomes the signed card. This fooled me, it had a great hook and after finding out the method I was still impressed. This is a really fun piece of magic that feels like mentalism in some ways.
Polaroid 2: A blank deck slowly prints itself, a card is named and is shown that it has not printed yet. The blank card then becomes the thought of card. I think that I almost prefer this effect to the other Polaroid effect. In the end none of the cards are damaged but it does not kill the magic. It should be noted that in this handling the backs are already printed but not the faces.
Squancho: I’m not crazy for this type of plot but it is magical. A card is selected and a little man is drawn on the back, the man fails to find the card a couple times and finally becomes a part of the selected card. Spidey then inadvertently smashes the little man with blood and gore then with some magic he resuscitates the drawing and gives the card away. This is a very magical piece for sure but I have never been a huge fan of magicians talking to their props, Spidey performs it well though, it is entertaining, it just isn’t for me.
Card To Wallet: No gimmicked wallets needed for this, this is a very clever mash up between the effect of the Biddle Trick and a card to wallet. A card is selected, it is narrowed down to just a few cards, it then cleanly vanishes from the packet and appears in the magician’s wallet. There are a few things that this tricks adds to the classic Biddle Trick that are clever subtleties, and the way that Spidey has used a common gimmick is crazy clever. My issue here is that I believe that the classic Biddle trick is a bit more practical and is just as deceptive. So this is a clever trick but I will not be using it.
Connection: Spidey really advocates the use of blank cards, you could also use blank index cards or business cards as well. Basically an object is written on a card lost in the packet. The magician then divines what the object is and the spectator is found by the spectator in the deck. This is very cool, it is like a card at any number in some ways as well as some straight mentalism. I love how this really is a large routine with just a tiny bit of work. Great job Spidey!
Dupe-Pic-Dupe: A handful of objects are asked for from 2 different spectators. These objects are written on a handful of pieces of paper. An object is selected by each person and the magician is able to divine the thought of objects. I love this, all you need is 6 pieces of paper and you have a multi phased mentalism routine. This could really grow or shrink to whatever venue you perform at as well. It combines a couple of classics to create a piece of magic that is greater than the sum of is parts.
Terrified: Spidey has recreated a solid piece of classic mentalism. I saw this most recently published in a booklet by Mark Eldson and as far as I understand it was first published by Edmond Rowland in the Pentagram in the 1950’s. Spidey has added a few things to it though and really jams on the idea. Basically a magazine page is ripped into pieces and a spectator selects a piece, the magician predicted what was going to be on that picture. Spidey really jams on the idea though and adds to what you initially might think was possible with the principle. It seems like this principle may be gaining popularity.
Psychometry: A few images are drawn and placed in a set of envelopes, the magician is able to divine which envelope goes to which spectator and then with the last envelope is able to duplicate the drawing. This is a fun stand up piece of mentalism. This could easily fill a theater of a thousand or impress an audience of 10. If you are looking for big impressive strong pieces of mentalism, than this is what you have been looking for. Spidey has taken a classic piece of mentalism and has made it his own with a nice climax at the end.
Spidey finishes the lecture off with one of the best conversations on creativity that I have seen on a lecture. He has a way of breaking down creative styles that is very profound. Every creator should be familiar with his thoughts concerning creativity.
This was a solid lecture all around, one of the best I have seen in a while. Spidey shares a whole bunch of very strong practical material that could easily be inserted into many magicians repertoires.
