I couldn't disagree more with the previous post. I have learned a lot from this DVD. I'm a huge fan
of Mr. Maven, I have read a lot of his work and know his Videomind series. Although I think that
Videomind is just a tad better, this DVD is full of baffling, interesting and contrasting effects. I
really enjoy Max's way of performing and his explanations are superb. A little warning: The effect
you see in the trailer, the one with the brick and the feather is NOT explained on the DVD. And it's
not over two dozen routines. This number includes the so called "tour de force", which is more or
less one effect in slight variations. This Tour de Force - along with the mentioned Verbal Control
pamphlet - is the perfect guide to master Equivoque. Max is very well-read and also tells you a lot
of things about this technique.
The effects are all really good and keep the limited world of
mentalism interesting and I think I'm gonna perform all of them at some point. So that's a two
thumbs up from me! Greetings from Germany, I'm a huge fan!
8 of 8 magicians found this helpful.
I often don't recommend stuff that I really love the most and the stuff I want to use, because I
want to use it for myself and keep it more secret.
However, I've seen too many magicians,
even a professional magician once,
do the magician's choice SO BADLY
that it left me
wondering how many
innocent minds were deprived of what
could've been a mystery.
If you ever plan on using Magician's Choice/Equivoque,
please do your poor audience a favor
and watch this DVD VERY CLOSELY.
Max performs various effects
using this methods many
times,
and you need to listen carefully
to every little phrase Max says to appreciate it.
Most of his phrases depend on the spectator's
choice, and Max say one phrase or another
phrase
accordingly...very fast, without missing a beat,
so that it appears that was the next
clause in his
sentence from the start. BRILLIANT.
Apparently, that pro magician I
saw do the MC
so badly had performed it the same way
since he first discovered the
secret..
when his uncle taught it to him at age 7.
It's like most things in magic;
it's not just knowing the secret,
it's knowing the secret AND executing it flawlessly
(after much practice and study).
Do I like Max Maven? No, I never liked him.
He's
not a likeable guy (and he doesn't try to be).
But this is genius.
When I used to work
behind the bar at TGIF,
I recall doing several things over the course of about a year...
ID
or Brainwave D, floating bill/napkin, sponge bunnies, card under drink, ambitious card, Now You See
It (from Royal Road), 2 Card Monte, Mind Power Deck or Radar Deck, $100 bill switch...
But
sometimes I would just do something without any of my props. Told spec to lay out several small
items..cell phone, watch, shot glass, pen, ring, etc. About 7 or 8 items. I wrote one of them on
my napkin, scrunched it up and set it near spec. Then equivoque'd them. It KILLED.
If you
perform this well, YOU CANNOT TOP IT.
(but beware...it is very easy to suck at this. It
doesn't require physical dexterity..you can do this until you're 90 years old and with 2 hands tied
behind your back; but your mind must be ready).
Remember! It's not just knowing the
secret.
Many people know the secret to the Balducci Levitation,
and they think that's all
there is to do it.
But there are several subtleties,
and it takes tons of practice to
make it look beautiful.
5 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
This DVD goes into exceptional depth on magician’s choice and multiple outcomes. Some have said that
there are too many similar routines and that that weakened the DVD. I disagree. Magician’s choice
and multiple outcomes are the life’s blood of mentalism and this DVD is the master course. Many
times people have a difficult time extrapolating the information they have learned into new areas
allowing them to create their own routines. This DVD shatters that by demonstrating precisely how a
given principle can be used in so many “different” ways. I have already used these principles at
home. I put the name of the restaurant that each member of the family wants to have dinner at on
different pieces of paper and then, through a “random selection process” we go where I want. ;) Had
I learned a single routine, I would have had a harder time seeing the potential for other options.
4 of 4 magicians found this helpful.
This is pretty much all you ever wanted to know about equivoque, verbal outs, and multiple outs,
outs by action or physical things. Max is such a scholarly, erudite figure that it's easy to see
that once upon a time, he was the premiere mentalist in the world. I thought that I knew a lot about
equivoque and was pretty good at it. Ha. Without the benefit of Max's guidance, I was just a mere
piker. This is an essential DVD for every mentalist, no exceptions. The level of thinking here,
vis-a-vis subtleties and nuances, is well beyond anything that you've thought of, unless you are
somebody like Max Maven, David Berglas, Docc Hilford, Stephen Long, or Mark Elsdon...
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
When I buy a DVD or a book, I sometimes get one or two tricks to integrate into my shows. This DVD
opened a new world for me.
3 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
I own over 90 magic DVD's and I have to say Multiplicity is probably the best one. Max really
changed my thought process and how I interact with the spectators with this video. Even if you are
not a Mentalist, this DVD is a must in your arsenal.
I like it particularly because it has
many routines and variations of each routine. There is quite some variety and after watching it, you
will become a pro. Highly Recommended!! 5/5
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
I first met Max in the 70's when he was Phil Goldstein and working at Hank Lee's Magic Factory in
Boston. He did the greatest close-up work and seemed to know everything in the world about magic,
yet he was only 4 years older than me - it seemed like light years! I was right because this DVD
shows his brilliance, as previous material has already. I won't say a lot as many reviewers have
already given him kudos with this knowledge and presentation of equivocal effects. Max points you in
the perfect direction with this material that enables you the power you need to label your own
miracles in everyday situations that can make you look like you are a God or from another planet, or
close... I think the DVD is worth ten times the price and if you do any mentalism you have to have
this... period :)
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
The Equivoque is a powerful tool, but more often than not it's done very, very poorly. Max goes
in-depth on how to make even a choice of two objects quite engaging for your spectator. He gives
many, many examples so you can see how to apply it. I think the key to the Magician's Choice is to
think very quickly when your spectator responds so it doesn't seem contrived. Max is also a very
funny, witty, and such a cad!
I think every magician should own this DVD!
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
If you're getting into mentalism, you have to have this DVD. Max takes equivoque to a whole new
level. Max is an odd character, but he definitely knows how to make an off-the-cuff situation flow
like a pre-determined method.
I heard a saying when I started getting interested in magic
that said, "If you know a hundred ways to force a card, and only one way to reveal it, you have
essentially one effect. However, if you know one way to force a card, and a hundred ways to reveal
it, then you know essentially a hundred effects." I believe that theory to apply directly to the
information in this DVD set. Max gives you new and amazing ways to apply the equivoque that come
across as natural, planned, and stunning.
There's no sense in passing this up, as you're
going to have to learn this information one way or another if you expect to be good at what you do.
You can learn it through personal trial and error over the course of years, or you can learn it in a
few hours. I chose the shorter route, and I'm very happy I did.
2 of 2 magicians found this helpful.
This guy is a genius...I have absolutely ZERO magic or mentalism training and I was able to execute
several of the routines and look like a rock star in only a few minutes.
Max makes it so
easy that a cave man can do it. As I performed for friends, I really thought someone would call me
on what I was doing, but I did several variations of the same trick to a group of people and they
were all amazed.
Head scratching amazed....Now I want his object placement information.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.