This is one of those tricks where some reviews say "rubbish" and others say "well...if you stick with it its good" and seen as though there are none of the latter reviews posted yet, I thought I would post one. This trick, no matter how simple, is absolutely flawless. It takes a little while to get just right but once you have all the patter and showmanship down its really quite simple. The effect itself is a reputation maker without a doubt and will be one of the "show us the touches trick again" type. I would say this needs practice but there isnt actually anything to practice, as long as your patter is just right and you get your helpers to do exactly what you want them to do no-one will be any the wiser. This trick is often described as 'bold' because people think the method is obvious and that you have to be brave to do it but being unsure about the trick will make your audience aware that what you are about to do is a trick and that is not what you want, you want them to believe that this is to do with the mind and psychology and therefore there is no trickery to spot and by giving them this belief they wont TRY to spot anything, to do this the trick needs to be done with absolute comfort and confidence. In other words, the more confident you are about doing the trick the less likely it is to go wrong as it is with any other trick. Overall, brilliant.

I had the pleasure of seeing Banachek perform this in person at a skeptics convention. He had a crowd of doctors, lawyers, scientists, and magicians, uncomfortably trying to think of an explaination for what they had just seen. It's not every day you see a performer who can completely stump a CSICOP gathering; or, for that matter, a completely prop-less routine with that same ability.

I was highly sceptical when I first read the Method and put it away for a very long time. Then I came back to it - and after re-reading in the intro that Richard Osterlind has said that very few magicians would put any thought or time into it, I put some thought and time into it(!)
This is really good and clever material, but people control is absolutely essential. This is not material for the beginner, but for the experienced mentalist who absolutely makes the audience believe in what he is doing and follows his commands. If you are still working with just "tricks" forget this, it is not for you. If you are ready for the next level - try this and give it some considerable thought: then, and only then, this is killer material!

One of the best Pk tricks around.If you can manage your audience well then this is the trick or you.Highly recommended.

This is one of the best purchases I've ever made. I still do this trick in my parlor show. This has started a whole genre of PK Touches, but this is so practical that most PK touches routine begins with this. To my understanding this is the Mother of all PK touches. I might be wrong, but I think this is the case.

This is the beginning OF PK Touches, but far from current, which is why it is only a 3 star. For more of his work look at Banachek's Penguin Live. Morgan Strebler also just put out "Touched" which dovetails nicely

I bought this book a while ago. This routeen is somewhere in my top five to perform. There are many different ways to do this now , many with "gimmicks". Which I think is lame to use those gimmicks. If you like to do magic where YOU are the magic and not some remote control device then this is the version for you ! The book is well written. It is to the point and gets you going.

I will admit. This version is 100% you. YOU have to sell it to make it work. You should be at the level where you are very self assured in your presentation skill. And if you are not self assured, then doing this experiment this way will get you there !

I currently use it in the beginning of a hypnotist routeen segueing into a follow the cursed doll routeen. Great attention getter.

Booklet is well thought out and concise. This effect has made it into the 'classic effect' genre. Keep 'em comining, Mr. Banachek.

I like banachek and I like this routine, but it's just not for me. This requires a certain performance style to make it work. If you aren't the type of person with a mysterious performance style, this probably isn't for you Banachek's other work is great but this didn't do it for me.

This trick fooled the Amazing Randi????? Really?????

The book includes entire patter and presentation (including TV presentation of angles). I've tried and I've tried to make it convincing but still haven't had luck with people believing in it. I may have luck with it for the right group of people, but overall for my tastes it wasn't worth the price. For others they might like it, not me. All of Banachek's other products are worth the money though....