I purchased Orion elsewhere, but I felt so strongly about it that I'd like to leave a review on
Penguin.
Like many, I was first introduced to Phedon’s thinking via Proteus. It’s a solid
piece of mentalism, and I got many miles out of it. I then heard about Orion, and hearing it was
Phedon’s magnum opus, I started looking into it. I spent a few months deliberating over this
purchase. It’s a heavy investment. I read all 17 pages of the Magic Café thread, all 20 pages of
Michael Murray’s overview of Orion, any video review I could find, Madison Hagler’s Orion reviews on
his site, and I even interviewed several of the contributors in Orion itself! I wanted to be sure.
My interviews told me that 1., People think Phedon’s work is incredible, and 2., Phedon is
a deeply kind, humble person. Given that everyone I spoke with held these things to be true, I took
the plunge and read Orion. Prior to reading, I was wary of the praise that Orion ‘is set to become a
modern classic.’ That’s some high praise, so I was afraid of being disappointed. But despite heading
into Orion with these high expectations, Phedon exceeded all of them. I now agree with the sentiment
that Orion will become a modern classic. There’s a reason why it won the Book of the Year in 2021:
all its readers have recognised that the tools contained within enable us to create very powerful
experiences for our audiences. These are the types of experiences that—excellently performed, of
course—stay with people forever.
In this review, I don’t aim to provide a comprehensive
overview of its contents. If you’d like something comprehensive, I recommend reading Michael
Murray’s 20-page overview on the Café thread or visiting Madison Hagler’s reviews on his site. Here,
my only aim is to serve as a voice that the extreme praise Orion has received is warranted. I’m here
to tell you, as someone who has tested this material in both casual and professional environments,
this investment is more than worthwhile. In the often hype-ridden and praise-saturated world of our
craft, it can be hard to know whether price tags are justified. So, I hope my review will provide
peace of mind to those on the fence. Even when dissected by the critical-by-default perspective of
my own, I don’t think I could give enough praise to Phedon’s work here. In fact, it seems to be a
consensus amongst the owners of this work that Phedon has under-priced his masterpiece.
My
ratings of magic products tend to average towards the 3-4 star range. I only give 5-star ratings to
those I find perfect or very close. And of those 5-star ratings, very few products get me off my
chair to write a review. Orion is unquestionably worth every star. Few, if any works I’ve read
contain as many useable pieces as this. As I make my way through books, I usually find myself
rejecting most pieces for stylistic, methodological, or strength-of-climax reasons, usually coming
out of a book with 1-3 effects (at most) I’d actually find myself using. For me, Orion was an
outlier. The best way I can describe it is by sharing something I told my friend. ‘In every
performance from now on, I’ll use at least one thing from Orion, whether it be a ploy, ruse, or
subtlety, a means of better connecting with my audience, one of the many performance-ready pieces,
or one of the structures of the effects.’
Every one of the 20+ performance-ready pieces is
rich with subtleties, useable theory, well-designed structure, and powerful climaxes. It’s so rich,
in fact, that the series demands several rereads to get the most out of it.
Thank you for
your time, and I hope I’ve been of some help to your decision process.
5 of 8 magicians found this helpful.
Most of the routines ARE very good, and I do perform them, but even all together, they are worth
$150 or $200 at most. Given that Phedon even says that the contents of the books are mainly just
things he’ll do at dinner, this book set is extremely overpriced.
4 of 6 magicians found this helpful.
Orion is an absolute tour-de-force. I haven't read any mentalism quite as stimulating in a long
time. Phedon has obviously spent countless hours in deep contemplation to arrive at clear, concise,
well-explained, mentalism that delivers!
I went into these two books a bit apprehensive.
While I had really enjoyed previous Phedon products, this book series is a sea-change. So much
bigger and therefore more expensive.
That being said, I think these books are worth every
single penny. These will (and may already have) go down as essential in every serious mentalist's
library; like Psychological Subtleties or Corinda, ur-texts you just have to own if you want to make
a serious go of mentalism.
I say that not because of the calibre of the tricks, which are
great mind you, but because of the calibre of the thinking & methods. Concepts like Phasmatic Names,
Restricted Imagery, Lettercount Forces, Orpheus, Prism, and more will become part & parcel for
mentalism conversations from now on. Some of these aren't wholecloth new inventions (although many
are!), but every single one of these will be talked about in reference to Phedon's work on the
subject.
I mean this book is just absolutely jam packed with concepts, theory, and
practical instruction that each alone could sell a 30 dollar download or limited run book!
Which does bring me to one caveat with this product. If you don't already own Sibyl & Phasma,
earlier individual products from Phedon, you will feel a bit left out & confused earlier on. He
makes many references to those products throughout the work, and while some concepts are
re-explained here, even still you'll be left thinking "Boy I hope I'm not missing out by not having
those!" That being said, I do highly recommend both products; it's just something you should be
aware of - if you don't own them you will feel like you should (and you probably should).
Additionally, unless you have another preferred method, you'll also want to know the Acideus
Novus Billet Peek already. It's seemingly Phedon's preferred method, referenced throughout, and is
also a fantastic worthwhile purchase but, to be clear, isn't taught in this work.
It is
very hard not to talk about Orion or Phedon's work without multiple paragraphs. And I could go on &
on about the individual ideas in this book. There are multiple multiple times I guarantee you will
reach a chapter & then immediately put the book down in shock. Flabbergasted at the potential &
power of what you just read! It's really that freakin' good.
These books are for serious
mentalists, who are bold & confident. The material is not overly challenging & is taught very well;
but it isn't self-working & you will need a strong confident character/persona - who can act - to
work it. You don't need to be Marlon Brando but at the same time if taking risks or commanding an
audience exclusively through words isn't in your wheelhouse be aware this might not be for you.
If jaw-dropping people's mentalism is your cup of tea, then look no further! This is it. A
treasure trove of material people will be talking about for decades to come.
I hope this
review is helpful & I give this book my highest highest praise! Even though I am still digesting
such a big work a year+ after purchase, I eagerly await more from Phedon!
2 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
This is a piece you will slowly digest. It is full of gold you will not find elsewhere. Most is
propless.
2 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
I’m one of the lucky ones to have bought the gold edition and this is the best purchase hands down
I’ve ever made in magic and mentalism. The routines are all powerful, and some are absolute killers.
I have read both volumes over 3 times and I still feel I have only scratched the surface. This is a
project to be carefully studied and only Phasma is worth the price of this set. The quality of
production is top notch, Orion is the most beautiful set on my shelf. Who said you should not judge
a book by its cover?
Phedon’s attention to detail is second to none and he took care of
everything, explaining every single subtlety so the reader not only learns it, but also understands
the psychology behind it. The ‘ploys’ and ‘ruses’ taught here are really devious. This goes beyond
anything I have read and Phedon’s advice in the introduction is to be taken seriously; if you rush
through it you’ll be missing most of the subtleties. There are so many that I am still finding many.
I haven’t performed everything but having tried desmic imagery and the onironaut at house
parties I can certify that they are both reputation makers. This stuff is of a higher level and
caliber than anything else. The best part? Everything is surprisingly easy! I cannot believe what
the guy achieves with one piece of paper. This is out of this world.
The only negative is
what makes this set beautiful: the size and weight of the books! I wish I could take them with me on
public transportation.
Thank you Phedon for this fabulous project. First Proteus, then
Sibyl, and now this. Wow. What’s coming next????
Respect, Sir.
2 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
I am familiar with Phedon's work and I have ordered Orion the moment it was made available in the
USA; and boy am I glad I did. Sibyl was a game changer for me, and Orion goes way beyond that. The
ideas are simply phenomenal. Phasma, the phi force, the order force, etc blew my mind, and the whole
project is chock full of subtleties that are worth their weight in gold. I have read the set three
times over and I am still finding hidden gems that I managed to miss somehow. Luca Volpe said it
perfectly in his review, “the man deserves an award for what he did”, and “This is to me the Book of
the year”. And I couldn’t agree more.
Don’t buy this if you are looking for tricks. On the
cafe Phedon has posted an impressive list of reasons why you SHOULDN’T buy Orion! The man is
incredible. I reached out to him and he answered my message in the hour. I have no words.
600 pages of a quest that changed my views on many things. What an incredible piece of work.
Neal Scryer and Jerome Finley were right:
what a masterpiece.
2 of 5 magicians found this helpful.
every time i would buy books and products I would, no matter what always feel the
performer/instructor was leaving out things. I never felt I was getting a direct look into their
minds. Well it easy to see why with the internet and all the time they put into these secrets I
don't blame anyone. What I have to say about ORION is Phedon doesn't hold back and gives his
thinking in a way that is easy to understand and these are rare secrets that you can do impromptu.
When you pay you get what you pay for and this book is worth every penny. I always felt overwhelmed
by the peter turner style prop-less mentalism but I wanted to do whatever I could to improve my hit
rate. This book is giving tools that give you the highest hit rate I've seen with this kind of
material and the most beautiful justifications for when/if you don't hit. (if they follow your
instructions this wont even be an issue) the first 2 chapters are worth going over and over and over
again. I cant say enough good things about this pair of beautifully made books and I wont be reading
anything else for a while. This and Harpacrown 2 by Mark Chandaue are my favorite books on
mentalism. For anyone interested in graduating into advanced mentalism I couldn't recommend this
enough. I shouldn't have to mention this is more advanced but you can tell that much by the price
tag. Love this pair of books!!
1 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
every time i would buy books and products I would, no matter what always feel the
performer/instructor was leaving out things. I never felt I was getting a direct look into their
minds. Well it easy to see why with the internet and all the time they put into these secrets I
don't blame anyone. What I have to say about ORION is Phedon doesn't hold back and gives his
thinking in a way that is easy to understand and these are rare secrets that you can do impromptu.
When you pay you get what you pay for and this book is worth every penny. I always felt overwhelmed
by the peter turner style prop-less mentalism but I wanted to do whatever I could to improve my hit
rate. This book is giving tools that give you the highest hit rate I've seen with this kind of
material and the most beautiful justifications for when/if you don't hit. (if they follow your
instructions this wont even be an issue) the first 2 chapters are worth going over and over and over
again. I cant say enough good things about this pair of beautifully made books and I wont be reading
anything else for a while. This and Harpacrown 2 by Mark Chandaue are my favorite books on
mentalism. For anyone interested in graduating into advanced mentalism I couldn't recommend this
enough. I shouldn't have to mention this is more advanced but you can tell that much by the price
tag. Love this pair of books!!
1 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
I’ve been practicing mentalism for about ten years and I have a quite good collection of books on
the subject on my bookshelf and ORION is definitely one of my favorites. If you've enjoyed the
author's previous works, especially Phasma, then you'll absolutely love this 2 volume set!
1 of 3 magicians found this helpful.
Today, when you order "ORION (Two Volume Set) by Phedon Bilek - Book", you'll instantly be emailed a Penguin Magic gift certificate. You can spend it on anything you like at Penguin, just like cash. Just complete your order as normal, and within seconds you'll get an email with your gift certificate.
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