Phill's lecture was practical and inspiring. I very much appreciated the emphasis he placed on the structural principles of his tricks as well as the elegant and subtle layers of deception that allow him to turn little tricks into powerful moments of mentalism. His Quinta force was work the price of this lecture alone.

I have been a fan of Phill's work for some time and Mitox is amongst my favourite books on the art. It was great to watch Phill perform and go into detail on routines that I have already been doing for quite some time with fresh ideas and subtleties that I have taken away from this and can apply to my own work.

I have spent the past two days re-watching and rewriting my impromptu act which is now 60% Smiff.

He begins with a close-up set that uses nothing but a stack of business cards, a pen and a a standard pack of cards to create a low tech, hard hitting close up routine that lasts 10-15 minutes. This, for me, was my favourite part of the lecture. Hand on heart, I either already do or will use all of the material within that section. I am seriously considering replacing my peek wallet in favour of 'the biz', it is that good!

Next, Phill moves on to his stage routine which for me was of less interest simply because I perform close-up. However, 'The thumbscrews book test' and 'Quinta' were stand out for me. The book test is very clever and seems completely fair and more to the point has a premise that completely justifies the use of a book.

Quinta, is a genius method of forcing that is congruent, invisible and guaranteed to hit.

Finally, Phill shows us a little something that will win you enough drinks to at least pay for the lecture if you are willing to just go and give it a go.

The only negative for me was that you could clearly see that Phill was a combination of nervy and self doubting which meant with an audience of about 10 magicians some of his material fell flat in that environment. I hasten to add that some of this is material that I perform myself so I know first hand that it kills.

If you can see past that though you will get 3 hours of solid material that delivers as well as nuances and subtleties that you can instantly apply to your own work.

Alot of useful material and ideas, his Quinta force is very good and I'll definitely use it in the future!

Phill Smith provided some excellent mentalism effects. His work on "Quinta," which is a powerful utility method to force literally anything is worth the price of the lecture.

I thought Phil did a great job! I personally have used his Quinta force numerous times in my stage shows at colleges around the U.S. and it adds a killer element to any effect, it is literally worth the price of the lecture and his book on this effect is loaded with great ideas using this force. The subtleties he uses in his effects are sometimes overlooked but are extremely powerful and important to a real world performer. Highly recommended!

Phill is a really good mentalist, some ideas are so clever and his lecture can help you to build your own effects (if you are a good listener).
I really liked "The Biz". I love this simple principle that can be reworked in other ideas. And the book test too is a subtle method I loved.
Good Lecture! Thank you Phill and penguin!

I (and I sincerely mean that) am very impressed and always have been with Phill's writings.

On this lecture the miracles he has thought up remain in the bag. Well, with the exception of Quinta.

But if you already have Phill's WONDERFUL Quinta than you will not get much from this lecture except perhaps for how not to dress in a far too small jacket and not to act like he does on stage; poor lack lustre scripting and lots of dead time when Phill is drawing (and he's an excellent drawer) but it feels like an eternity for the audience. Even the volunteers seemed to be bored.

The ramblings that he goes on during the teaching often dilute from the educational value.
Phill is a genius but you may want to pass this lecture up and but his book Quinta.

I think he may have had an off day

"While there is a good method (Qunita) discussed in this lecture, I think if you have a budget for PenguinLive lectures (which are fantastic btw), you'd be better off spending it on Colin McLeod, Ken Dyne, Looch or someone else.

I think the biggest issue is that Phill smith is someone who has written several mentalism ebooks, but most relevantly one on mentalism theory.

Despite being an authority on mentalism performance and presentation theory, in this lecture Phill Smith does not perform well.

Maybe he was sick, but even from his first routine, he was performing weakly.

He was substantially better when he performed his stage piece (after he literally gave himself a pep talk), and it was a really commendable recovery. At his best he is likeable.

His own forcing method Quinta is great, but it's the only thing that can be considered both new and good on this lecture. But it is also far better explained in his ebook.

Quinta is the only reason this lecture gets 3 stars instead of 2. Otherwise it is the standard fare of mentalism performed underwhelmingly.

Again, I wouldn't be surprised if he was ill on the day."

Sweet jeebus I'm one half hour into this and I just realized that I've been unconsciously tying a noose for myself under the table. I don't do drugs so I don't even know what I might jokingly suggest I must have taken that would explain why it seems to me that he talks in incomplete sentences in what seems only to confuse the viewer. Seriously the very first effect he explains he needs to consult his iPad notes, which he never made...leaving him to ramble on, in what I thought was an obvious explanation to everyone. I'm sorry but I can't even relax because I'm waiting for the inevitable moment where his suit jacket buttons fly off and kill someone...why is it soooo tight. He seems to me to be a very nice man but I cannot help but be bored by his presentational manor. I'm going back to watch more...just needed to vent, got my fingers crossed that it gets better

This is the first time i hear about phill smith. I did not like the lecture. the performance was slow, and material were average. not recommended.