First off,
I have to say that I am not against the elemental form of mentalism that Bill
promotes. It is a lot of principles and impromptu, prop-less stuff which is great! I found a few
great ideas in here. problem is his presentation was sooo bad. I can't imagine this guy speaking to
a crowd of hundreds, much less performing magic. His speech was mumbled and all over the place, his
teaching all over the place and he paced all over the stage spending more time in the dark than
under the stage lights. I have to imagine that he asked that the stage be darkened because it has
never looked like that before.
I could not believe how many effects went wrong and how long
he forced us to watch him try to get things to work. I sat for several minutes while he tried to
spin coins on a table that was un-even by about 6 inches. He then insulted us by trying to do
another effect where he spins another item on the same table before he decides they should maybe try
another table.
This made it seem much like a lesson in how not to do magic. I can't imagine
how he works in any other venue when he doesn't check out the setting before he tries an effect.
Another portion of the show is lost to Bill giving out gifts. Really. Could he have not
done this after the camera stopped rolling?
To Dan Harlen's credit, he keeps things moving
by actually explaining many of the effects to the audience when Bill's quick mumblings aren't able
to do so.
I would give many of Bills ideas more stars, at least the ones that didn't
require me to get something that is difficult or even impossible to find, if he had actually
explained them well.
Another issue was the ethics of what he was doing. He comes off as a
charlatan and not in a good way. When asked if he really believes in the "energy" and "angels" that
he talks of he says "Why Not." I feel that a large portion of the magic community, perhaps even more
so in mentalism, is fighting against psychic fairs and other woo. This man is welcoming it. For that
alone I have to mark him down several notches in my book. I don't even know how to react to that. He
does have a history as a Faith Healer. I have to roll my eyes at that.
Over all this man
just felt dirty and the lecture was very poor. I can't imagine how this man holds the attention of a
real audience.