I have bought some of Mr. Redfords stuff before and been underwhelmed.
This lecture didnt change that.
It's good but to me Mr.Redford just don't have the stage charisma this stuff needs.
There are clever thinkings here no doubt and sure you will get something out of it but when you watch lectures by Rowland,Mcleod,Spellman and just recently Mr.Osterlind you can see the differents between good and great

The weakest, most uninspiring, least informative, lecture I have ever purchased and viewed from Penguin. And I have them all. Not everyone can be an Ian Rowland, Max Maven, etc. . Bob Cassidy gets one star less than Redford ?! Really?!!! Extremely misleading with the full-star review, and the material contained. Download a pro's lecture instead. Black eye for penguin on this one.

Some high points, deck switch, card peek, theory.

Low points, minor sound issues, pointless jabbering.

There were a couple of points I felt weren't going anywhere and could've been filled with another effect or two or something more useful. If I cut out these fluff parts the lecture would reduce in size by about 40 minutes.

The non-fluff parts were all highly informative and thought provoking.

Wow!  I have purchased several lectures from Penguin and by far this is the best one.  As the advertisement stated Patrick is one of the deep thinkers in Magic -that is an understatement . There is so much information that it will take several viewings and allot of note taking to capture it.  My first introduction to Patricks work was his Provocateur DVD.  I lean towards  mentalisim and I was previously a card move monkey this lecture filled both loves.   And shows how a good background in card slights can improve mental type routines.

What can I say about the material - there were several that we're worth the price of the lecture. MY three favorites were the Amnesia card routine were after shown a card a momentary state of Amnesia is induced and they cannot remember their card.  This is a multi phase routine.  There was a routine with an  ordinary combination lock that is outstanding.    And finally a mental effect that can be performed over the phone.  These three individually  were worth the price of the lecture.  That is not to Mina,I've the other effects.  Each effect shown was a winner.  I almost forgot for you card workers you will love his card box  gimmick , thoughts on deck switch blocking and some of the refind card moves.

Even if you do not use the effects - the discussion on psychology and methodology is worth 
Your time.

Again - Wow!  Thank you Patrick for a great lecture.
 

Patrick is a strong, unique voice that you will benefit from hearing. His analysis of what makes for effective dual reality methods is hugely important for anyone doing this kind of work -- he has an approach that, applied well, makes these methods bulletproof when guests talk to each other after a performance. There are many interesting ideas here and avenues for exploration. This is well worth $30 any day.

The "can be improved" area of this material has one consistent theme -- there are several occasions when, and I'm open to being wrong about this, Patrick outsmarts himself. These are moments, and I'll try to highlight some below, when he is too confident in his verbal framing of a situation. In one case it is a method that I think needs a few other layers of deception to be bulletproof, in another it is an effect that isn't clear in some circumstances because he is doing so much verbal dancing to reframe something as a choice that wasn't, and at another point a routine has poor dramatic build -- he creates a justification for why a certain procedure is actually harder than the earlier phase; but it rings empty.

This is not, for a second, to say that the work here isn't worth your attention -- it's being aware of both what is working and what isn't.

Let's take a look at some of the items that stand out, both the high points and ways in which this material can be further developed.

Marker prediction: Eugene Burger has written about the power of "magic on the way" -- strong, unexpected, short magical moments that break up the process of a longer piece (i.e. rather than just removing a match to light a candle, having the matchbox open itself -- a beautiful moment that injects a wonderful texture into a longer piece and creates an atmosphere of magic). As part of his opening sequence, Patrick will influence decisions made by guests and he will be writing his target down on posterboard. Rather than just removing a marker and going at it, Patrick reveals that he has predicted which color marker the guests will choose for him to use. It is a beautiful moment with a highly pracical method. Were there a sequence in my act that this would make sense as part of -- it would be on stage tomorrow.

Clock prediction: This is an interesting method that is worth thinking about. I tend to care very little whether an effect fools me or not -- when it comes to making a decision about developing it for my work -- because I understand that I analyze magic with a different set of tools and assumptions than my audience is using. Here, though, my seeing the method during the performance was a personal red flag -- because I don't feel it was "magician thinking" that led to the solution. I think there is a certain percentage of analytical guests for whom this method is transparent. Patrick talks about how this is massaged during the performance and how the memory of what happened when gets re-shuffled to protect the method. I'm sure he is right that this is true for many guests -- but I don't think that percentage is 100

It is also worth mentioning that the sight gag he uses at the beginning of this sequence is something I would have thought was the funniest thing ever -- when I was 11.

Here, it feels like a performer who is trying too hard to be funny; and he comes across as immature in a negative way. For the right group, I can see this playing -- but I think it is going to work against the performer far more often than it will help him. You'll want to think carefully about who you are, who your audience is, and how you want them to perceive you before using this...

Erasing guests' memories (not Patrick's titles for any of these -- incidentally -- I'm too lazy to find those): This is a smart, smart, smart sequence that contains a lot of important lessons -- the power of a committing to a clear dramatic premise, how to make dual reality work so that the post-show conversations fit perfectly, and just some great individual techniques and solutions. A highlight.

Over the phone lie detecting: More damn fine thinking. A highlight.

Piece with a card and drawn symbols: A very solid opening phase with great thinking. The second phase (incorporating the infinity symbol), despite Patrick's smart verbal dancing, did not register as a clear effect.

30 Card Poker Deal: as someone who uses the ten card poker deal professionally; the first phase here is extremely interesting in that it allows for the guest to legitimately choose every single card in the hand. I will be exploring making this a phase of my current routine. Patrick's second phase lowers the impossibility of the procedure, with a hollow verbal excuse. The third phase is remarkable and some very good thinking that can be applied to other plots.

Definitely a buy if this genre of material is of any interest to you.

It was very exhausting to watch the video. The presentation was boaring. I had to take a break after 30 minutes.
So much talking for nothing. The tricks are OK. But magic is more than tricks.

This lecture is fantastic. These are the highlights for me:

- 2 drawn clocks. Patrick hides his time selection which is revealed to match spectators freely chosen time. This is a powerful and simple effect.

- Patrick induces amnesia. This is easily my favorite effect. It is powerful, clever, and downright diabolical. It will also get your creativity flowing as you should see applications for ACR and other similar routines as well. Basic card tricks can become powerful suggestion.

I loved the other effects as well. Patrick breaks down a 3 object location effect over the phone, 30 card poker deal, and tossed out deck.

This lecture is a homerun for me. I can't imagine you not finding 3 ideas to immediately begin using from day 1.

This video will save you a trip to L.A.! This is like if you were there. The lecturecontains some great material to be used by mentalists and mental magicians. There is an excellent trick to do over the phone, which is probably the best and cleanest I've seen! There is also a prediction with a drawn clock. This one is as close to real mentalism that it could be. A lot of things to do with cards is also covered but overall, the best part of this lecture is the learning of great psychological techniques to enhance your mentalist's skills. A must for any serious mentalist and a great tool for magicians as well. The only bad side of the video is that the sound is going down before the end of the video and it becomes very hard to hear what is said. But fortunately, this happens at the end of the lecture so it only affects the questions segment after the lecture...

All the tricks are very well thought out and unique. If your a beginner or pro there will be something for you in this lecture. Patrick really has a unique twist on classic effects and the presentation is always interesting. I can't recommend this lecture highly enough.

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I particularly loved his discussion of dual reality and its applications in "Amnesia." Truly incredible performances and professional quality mentalism. I actually can't recommend this enough for anyone with some basic magic knowledge (cards, equivoque, etc.) Not for beginners, but some great concepts here that (with practice) will not only fry magicians, but will definitely and completely astonish lay people. Bottom line, if you get this, PRACTICE and you will go far.