I am honestly impressed. I thought I had an idea of the method and it turns out that not only was I
wrong, the real method is about 100 times easier than where my head went. Bravo.
11 of 11 magicians found this helpful.
Buzzwords by Dan Harlan and Milbourne Christopher is a winner on several levels. It uses a very
clever principle, some old and new thinking. When I saw the demo, I also tried to think of the
method. In this case, I was right. I have utilized a******** in magic for years, like Max Maven and
others. (the word is redacted so I won't give away too much in this review). Add to that principle,
which you will love, are several additional subtleties that make this a perplexing piece of
mentalism.
Another key point is that it is easy to make and perform, with minimal props. The
first routine is perfect for 2020 in that it can be performed over zoom or Skype shows. Dan's
routine (adapted from Christopher's routine in Tarbell) is fun for those live shows with a
participant.
Here's something I perhaps should not say. I don't buy a trick depending on whether
or not it fools me. My purchase depends on many other factors, the main one being the effect as
perceived by an audience. And I would not mind paying ten bucks to get Dan Harlan's thinking on a
trick, even on those I already own. I hope Dan doesn't read this review. It could put me in the
poorhouse.
9 of 9 magicians found this helpful.
I've purchased many great Penguin downloads in the past. This is NOT one of them. I'm pleased that
several people enjoyed it. More power to them and good luck. Personally, I found the effect to be
extremely boring. I will just file this purchase in my junk magic file. When I perform I do my best
to invoke excitement in my audience. I'm afraid this one will just put them to sleep.
I've
seen Dan do much better.
5 of 7 magicians found this helpful.
While the premise and the concept of the trick is really good, the reveal is pretty anti-climactic.
I have only once used it in my zoom repertoire. Again, this is 100% my opinion and this trick might
prove useful to you. However, what was useful was the way the list of words was made - that gimmick
helped me for a few other tricks.
3 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
An attractive price for an instant download of a superb mental effect. The words themselves are
clear and large enough for a fair-sized platform show. The effect seems SO fair and is quite
effective.
Marvin Kaye
Author, "The Handbook of Mental Magic"
3 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
Amazing concept. If performed well with some added subleties, you will fool n amaze anyone.
Perform it once and move on to next trick.
Wow.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
There are two methods playing together perfectly.
I think english is the best lenguage for this
and maby the only one that works. Because of this i give just 4 stars, but I love the methods and
they can be used in many different ways.
And yes, it works live too.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
I am giving this a 4 only because I wish half of this 47 minute tutorial could be wiped from my
memory, 23 minutes and 30 seconds added back to my life.
Take my advice, don't do what I
did. Fast forward. I don't know what happened during post production, but hire a new editor!
More time could have been spent on technique and variations, than on the painfully obvious. I do
mean painfully obvious. Like taking a strip of paper and writing the same words on it that on on
that on another strip of paper in full view. Is he doing this because there is a switch involved,
it it a gimmick. NO! Its the same f'n strip of paper with the same words on it! How long did that
take something like 15 minutes of my life? You can't make this stuff up.
I like the
effect. I can see using it in any number of ways, but honestly give your audience some credit, even
a 5 year old could have done without all that.
Skill level since the tutorial was
obviously made for a 3 year old - NONE. The ghost of Mr. Rogers haunts this tutorial. Can you say
'Buzzwords?' I thought you could!
BTW - for the overtly serious minded. This was written in
jest. You have to have a sense of humor to navigate the day sometimes.
2 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
Solid, quick prediction effect. There are 2 presentations given. I prefer the virtual method (which
works equally as well for in person performance - e.g. passed wifey test). Played very strong on a
conference call as well. As mentioned in the tutorial, the general principal will likely spark your
creativity and you're bound to come up with other ways to use this.
1 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
Watching the initial (virtual) demonstration, I was hard pressed to see any magic happening. The
method seems so obvious that I anticipated it before the reveal - and I am a novice. The live
presentation was much more satisfying, but I can't say I was very impressed.
Certainly worth
the low cost to see what Buzzwords is all about, but st impressive of the effects I have purchased
from Penguin.