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Manos LIVE ACT (Penguin LIVE)


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"Manos is quickly emerging as one of mentalism's best kept secrets. His thinking is fresh, his material is powerful and his routines are always refined, ensuring that each and every piece he creates is a true worker. I can't recommend him or his material highly enough!"- Michael Murray

"I feel fortunate to call Manos a close friend. Throughout our many interactions over the years I've come to appreciate that he is, first and foremost, a wonderful human being. Among many other commendable qualities, he is thoughtful, generous, and sincere. Those same attributes make him a formidable performer and creator. His lecture will no doubt reveal the immense level of thought that he puts into every routine. It will be a privilege to see him perform effects that he's held close to his chest for many years. And his passion for the art will be very apparent. His books V, V2, and UnVeil contain some of the best thinking that contemporary Mentalism has to offer and this lecture will continue that trend with hard-hitting, practical, and entertaining material that you'll want to study and add to your repertoire. If you've not yet been exposed to this man's mind then buckle up and take notes!"- Drew Backenstoss

"Manos is a multifaceted master of logic and presentation. His material is a pure napalm- he does all the hard work for you so that what you end up with is simple to perform while remaining enthralling to your audience. A unique entertainer and creator in every sense of the word."- Atlas Brookings

What will he teach?

This ACT combines the best ideas of both worlds, traditional mentalism and propless mentalism methods.

Brick Opener- The perfect Opener because it engages the whole audience in a fun game which they can play from their seats and guarantees to bring a participant up on stage without any awkward moments or hesitation. It also helps the performer build rapport with the audience and it has a killer ending that the audience will not see coming and will be sure to remember.

Postcard- 3 participants take part in this routine and embark on a mental journey with the help of the performer. This routine is a great example of how to reveal information that the participants are merely thinking of during a mind-reading demonstration.

Stegosaurus- The performer offers to give a demonstration of how mind reading works with the help of one participant. The audience is able to witness what is happening in the performer's head during the mind-reading process. This routine offers multiple revelations of thought of information and the audience will believe that the performer can genuinely read the participant's thoughts. This routine showcases a very believable mind reading false process.

ProMetheus- In my opinion the best "which hand" routine I have seen is Colin McLeod's "Perfect Prediction" which can be found in Colin McLeod's Penguin Lecture and his book Divine. This is my take on this routine that uses no gimmicks. It is a demonstration of mind reading and influence. The performer is able to locate a hidden object with no complicated procedures, read spectators in order to understand whether they are lying or not, reveal thought of words and deliver a killer prediction at the end. (with permission from Colin McLeod).

Unlock- The performer invites the whole audience to focus on a goal/ambition or desire they have and then uses an interesting presentation of the magnetic fingers effect to empower the audience to find the inner power they have in order to accomplish their goals. Then he invites an audience member on stage who he puts under a trance. The performer is able to reveal the participant's ambitions and then invites him to imagine unlocking an imaginary door in his mind where he keeps his ambitions/desires and the potential to fulfil them. After this process, the participant is given an ordinary house key which he is able to bend at a 90-degree angle using nothing but his bare hands, in order to make sure that this door will remain unlocked.

Bonus- With this LIVE ACT, you also get over 40 pages of detailed Lecture Notes with further explanations for the entire ACT!

Who is he?

Unlike other magicians who started doing magic when they were 6 or 7 years old, I actually started much later than that. I was already a teenager when the magic bug bit me, but since then, I have been doing my best to make up for the lost time. Close up magic attracted me first. I started practising sleight of hand with
cards, coins etc. spending hours each day studying Daryl's Encyclopedia of Card Sleights and Michael Ammar's Easy to Master series.                                   

I have to admit that in the beginning, I wasn't interested in mentalism. I believe this was because I am genuinely a very sceptical person, and at that age, I thought that pretending to be a psychic (that's what I thought of mentalism back then) didn’t suit my character. The first mentalism performance that grabbed my attention was by Lee Earle. Unlike what I had seen before, his routine had a more psychological and realistic aspect in its presentation. It was then that my interest in mentalism began. I studied as much as I could from various sources (Corinda, Bob Cassidy, Max Maven, Richard Osterlind to name but a few) but still exclusively performed close up magic and practised sleight of hand.

I only saw mentalism from a different perspective when Derren Brown hit the magic scene; he was unlike anyone I had seen before. Although the effects he performed were genuinely impressive, I was more amazed and fascinated by the way he presented them. Instead of just revealing a thought, this performer actually based the whole presentation around the mind reading "process". I have to admit that from all my inspirations and influences in magic, Derren has to be the biggest and most important. The main reason is that after seeing
Derren perform, I realized that it is possible for someone who is as sceptical as I am to perform mentalism.

I am not saying that I present all my effects the same way as Derren, nor that I believe that this is the way all mentalism should be performed. I am just saying that this is what suits me personally. It also allows me to better express myself through my presentations. Fast forward 18 years and here we are. I now perform mentalism only and not sleight of hand magic. This year I am happy to be sharing my material with the rest of the community through my new book UnVeil, through the lecture I gave at MINDS in Newcastle and in the Penguin Live ACT.

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I liked it. Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on February 3rd, 2019
I watched it twice before reviewing the explanations. Manos is very mild mannered, that is, not really dynamic as a personality/performer. As I watched the explanations, I kept thinking "I would not do it that way, I'd do it this way." Then I thought of other personal touches I would put into the routines. Then I realized, there is a lot of good material and tools in here. I especially liked the manner in which he forces heads or tails on a coin, the magnetic fingers induction, the "which hand" routine which could be done prop-less and is greatly enhanced by his additions, and the final routine with the bending key. A lot of possibilities in here if you are willing to use your own creativity and personality and I think this lecture is worth the money spent on it.
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
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Solid, workable ideas that leave plenty of room for your personality! Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on January 31st, 2019
I'm obviously a friend and fan of Manos (one of the quotes in the ad-copy is mine) but now that I've seen the full lecture I can confirm my earlier suspicions.

This is full of great concepts and workable ideas.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions... but I COMPLETELY disagree with the reviewer who said the methods are, "not particularly useful for a working mentalist." As a working mentalist I can personally attest to the fact that I've been using some of these ideas since Manos shared them with me nearly two years ago. I've tweaked them to fit my style, typical audiences and performing conditions of course but definitely are USEFUL.

That same reviewer also mentioned that, "the presentations are dry as dust." Let's cut Manos some slack here please - although he's quite proficient in English he works almost exclusively in Greek. It's difficult to be at ease when juggling the normal demands of performance with the added stress of a secondary language.

Let's talk about what a "working mentalist" can take away from this act:

BRICK OPENER is a wonderful combination of practical strategies to create an engaging "macro" effect involving the entire audience and then a surprise two-kick climax. The core principle in play can be applied to any number of routines where you need to control a 50/50 outcome. Manos has updated a simple idea so that it's fool-proof in anyone's hands.

POSTCARD builds on some existing tools and ideas to produce an effect where you reveal information that only exists in the minds of the participants. There is a small bit of risk associated with the overall framework used but, as they say, "go big or go home."

STEGOSAURUS adds an extra (and in my opinion MUCH NEEDED) third phase to Phill's routine. If you enjoyed the original you'll no doubt love this update. The routine is self contained and nearly automatically resets.

PROMETHEUS is an excellent rendition of the "Which Hand" plot that uses nothing more than your wits and ANYTHING that can be hidden in a closed hand. Manos' demonstrates one of MANY possible surprise kickers that can compliment this routine but this can EASILY be customized on the fly to suit your audiences and personality.

UNLOCK is, first and foremost, a PRESENTATION that feels quite genuine and although it isn't extremely "flashy" I think it would have a "slow-burn" effect on an audience. The more they think about it the more authentic it would seem.

Within the explanations there are also several "nuggets" for the working performer that touch on topics like handling participants on stage, best moments to acquire information, and combining method WITH presentation.

Manos (performing in ENGLISH) may come across a bit subdued but, for me, that didn't diminish the insights I obtained from the content.

Well done my friend!
5 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
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A mixed bag Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on January 31st, 2019
I'm slightly negatively biased in that I'm not that fond of seriously presented "I [my character] has powers" mentalism which this tended towards.

However, Manos was a thoroughly likeable and engaging presenter, and both his heads/tails move and logic puzzle are really great.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
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Not Good Mentalism Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on January 31st, 2019
I had high expectations for this lecture and performance, but I found the whole thing rather dull. The effects are more or less puzzles. The presentations are dry as dust. There are “surprises” but they feel contrived and unimpressive. Some of the methods are “interesting” and “clever” but not particularly useful for a working mentalist. Can’t recommend this one, sorry.
6 of 11 magicians found this helpful.
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Solid thinking Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on June 5th, 2019
Although Manos and I do not share the same approach in what we're doing, I decided to buy this and have a look, out of curiosity...

Well, I'm glad I did. I'm all about subtleties, and the ones Manos uses are well worth your consideration. For example, I loved the spectator-choosing phase. Very clever bit, among others here.

Good job Manos. Proud to see fellow countrymen deliver such material. Keep them coming...





1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
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Some outstanding routines Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on February 11th, 2019
I like Manos's thinking a lot and have used his V (Verbalist) and its update for a "which hand" routine. For those of you who don't have that , he demonstrates the best variant here--and it's really worth the price of the download. He also shows some subtleties on coin-flipping, use of i** p***, pre****, and enhancing Phill Smith's already excellent commercial effect Stegosaurus. It's a solid lecture, with the added bonus of PDF lecture notes.

That said, since Penguin has changed to the "Live Act" format, I've noticed that we're getting less material. Manos teaches five routines. All you have to do is take a look at one of the older downloads, and you'll see that a lot of them are so much longer and have more material. In addition, I do miss the "gab session" at the end of the show. Dan is a pleasant interviewer, and it's nice to hear from the performers up-close-and-personal.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
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Manos Live Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on January 31st, 2019
Excellent routines with clearly explained details and layout.
He shows us how to ‘tell the story’ in an easy and logical fashion.
Very enjoyable and great impact
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
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Manos live act Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on February 19th, 2019
I won't use everything but the effect with the spectator thinking of a goal they want to accomplish and bending a key is priceless! He also gives you the name of the company where you can get them. That is a great ending piece that I think will have an emotional impact on the spectator and rest of the audience. I hope no one else uses that because I want to keep it for myself!
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
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ozom Report this review
Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on January 30th, 2019
great, great mentalism and great man. thanks manos.
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
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Some great ideas Report this review
Verified buyer Pro Privacy ON (login to see reviewer names) on January 1st, 2023
I loved his Which Hand routine and all the subtleties his has in it. And the other routine that was a stand-out for me was his Postcard effect.
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