At the suggestion of someone on The Magic Café, I looked up and bought The Prodigal. I have been
interested in Progressive Anagrams (Panagrams) since I first saw Richard Osterlind's closer in Live
Without a Net. I only thought I understood "panagrams". The Prodigal has brought my understanding
of them to an entirely different level. Atlas Brooking's deconstruction of history, context,
sourcing, and performance tips are phenomenal. If panagrams are part of your repertoire, you really
cannot go wrong with this book. I've returned to the drawing board of my scripts and feel certain
that what emerges will be light years beyond what I had.
He begins by freely admitting that
successful panagram use requires some work, then explaining how and why the work put in is far
exceeded by the results. He next gives some outstanding instruction on how to make it (using the
panagram) "make sense" in the context of your performance piece. Audience management, and ensuring
you maintain control are thoroughly covered in at least 4 sections of his manuscript, as is a
brilliant lesson on how to ensure the "effect" is not so isolated within the context of your entire
show, that its method might be deduced.
Throughout the second section of the book, Atlas
provides real performance examples to drive his points home, using different "mentalist" approach
styles - Psychic or Psychological performers alike stand to learn a great deal from this wonderful
work. There are some wonderful gems throughout the book that are almost too numerous to mention....
With the word-count limit I've got here: Buy the Book! Is all I can say.
