I'll admit to being a fan of Alexander Marsh since his Hybrid Mentalism back a decade or so. There's
a clear line between his work then and now.
There not going to be brand new
never-before-seen methods or effects.
It's all new takes on the classics, usually utilizing
a method you already knew from someplace else.
Here's what I liked:
His new
presentational use of one of mentalism's classic psychological forces.
His easy, casual methods
for drawing dupes-- some of which go back as far as that first book of his.
What I loved:
Several of his "make the ESP cards match" routines... including an ingenious one for two
spectators. I also loved his solution to the ESP card match for the 1-on-1 routine. I haven't seen
it before and I hope I'm not damning it with faint praise by calling it clever.
I also
really love his idea for a closing stage routine. I don't want to say much about it other than it's
given a spine to a something that you've always dreamed of doing but never fixed the theatrical
problem at it's heart-- Alex did. And it's really really really good-- but I would argue that it's
only for stage or nice sized parlour shows.
Lots of good advice and practical ideas that
you are definitely going to use.
Anyone shouldn't get it? It's (mostly) close-up material
with a couple of very notable exceptions. So if you're a stage performer. I suppose if you didn't
like his previous lecture you might not like this one. There's definitely a style... If you like
saying "Bam!" at the end of your routines, this might not be for you.
I didn't get his
previous lecture because I thought, having bought most of his books, I knew what was going to be
offered-- but really think I can see the effect of all the performing he's been doing over the past
few years in his work. So it's definitely on my list--
I'm a fan.