Olympic Reviews

Olympic Reviews

Thursday 9 May 2013

Mes(s)merize - Stefan Olschewski Review

What is it? Mes(s)merize/Messmerize/Mes(s)merise/Messmerise

(From the intro to the ebook)
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This is much more than just a mental effect. Mes(s)merize by Stefan Olschewski is a brand-new application of an ingenious principle that enables you to make your act more vivid, personal and interactive. Your audience will experience an ULTRA CLEAN prediction of RANDOM thoughts that involves every single spectator and plays huge even on the largest stage:
A clear wine-glass is seen on a table center-stage, containing a black envelope with a prediction. Before or during the show, the spectators are asked to concentrate on a single thought, write it down on a card and seal it in an opaque envelope. They really can write down whatever they like, there is no force whatsoever.
At your command, they all throw their envelopes onto the stage creating a mess on the floor (hence the title of the effect “Mes(s)merize”). A random spectator selects any one of the envelopes (again: NO force!). Let’s assume the thought inside reads “ICECREAM”. SHE removes the prediction from the glass and opens it. SHE reads the prediction aloud: it matches the freely selected thought!
Now for the FINAL kicker: The lady is asked to open up the crumpled paper ball that was used to randomly select her as a volunteer. It reads: “Tonight, a beautiful lady called Annie will think of ICECREAM!”
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This is all completely true!  You can predict any word that is selected from a number of envelopes thrown on the stage.  It's pretty much that clean.


Audience members write words on cards, throw them on stage.  One person picks up as many as they like and opens all but one.  This one is subsequently opened by you to reveal an item.  You could have the item on stage with you somewhere or as a prediction, and it's the only prediction!  Let's see what else there is to say.

Why this instead of similar products?

The presentation here is partly what you pay for, the method is excellent and very workable.  This isn't just the same old thing rehashed.

There is a DVD out by Stefan called Mentalities where this features, I think this ebook adds more value than the DVD set.  Looking at this from the perspective of the book itself, it is all really well explained and thought through.  The DVD was nice to see it performed live, but it is all explained perfectly in the book, part of the fun is visualising it with you doing it.


Does it work?

Yes - once you get the right feel for it, it works every time.  Nothing to find, nothing to see, it's wonderful.  There are no limits to what you can predict.

How adaptable is it?

You don't have to throw the envelopes on stage, you could just collect them.  You can have ANYTHING written in the envelope/predicted.  The only thing you couldn't really change is that you need to have the card isolated at some point, though it remains completely in view at all times.

At one point I had wanted to try to get a number of people in the audience to think of the same thing, so the reveal meant a lot to a number of people.  Part of this routine's strengths is that you can open the rest of the envelopes on stage (and that they are all different), if any of these were to match, it might take something away from the reveal.  You could use the envelopes collected in a different routine, endless possibilities for wrapping in to other items.

How is it as a package?

You get a 26 page ebook that reads really well.  You have to make a couple of bits yourself, nothing too taxing.  The most difficult part is finding an appropriate wine glass. You could use the envelopes again if they weren't stuck sealed.


Will I use it?

Definitely!


If I lost everything, would I get it again?

It wouldn't be the first thing I would buy again, but after the essentials, this is definitely on the list - if you like the sound of the routine, you won't get any shocks, it's great!  One of the better ebooks I own.  I was a little let down by the DVD, but this stand alone piece is excellent!


You can purchase it at the below link:

http://www.lybrary.com/messmerize

If you have any suggestions for reviews, let me know at:

olympicreviews@gmail.com

I can't promise to get through everything but I will do my best!

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