Price$48.75
Media TypeTrick
CategoryMentalism
Date AddedSep 03, 2008
Director's Cut
Simon Shaw
Alakazam Magic
(Based on 2 reviews)
So what is Director's Cut? It's a set of 26 movie poster cards that have been perfectly printed in full colour and laminated so they should last you a lifetime of performances! You also received a DVD which features Routines, Tips and Ideas to use with the cards.
Now you will be able to perform some seriously strong mentalism with an interesting and popular premise.
Director's Cut is Mentalism in its purest form. It's a whole act in your pocket. If you love the idea of using films as part of a routine then the Director's Cut is definitely for you. It can be used strolling, close-up or even parlour. Once you try it you will never leave home without it.
No gaffs, no markings, super clean, resets instantly and best of all everything is examinable!
Director's Cut can be used with a range of effects such as Mind reading body language, drawing duplications, remote viewing, predictions and muscle reading, in fact the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Simple to perform and strong reactions. What more could you ask from a performance? There is plenty of room for fun, drama and good old fashioned presentation.
"I used Simon's Director's Cut at a trade show last week for 3 consecutive days. Not only did it constantly amaze, but it provided one of the most entertaining routines I have ever used. It is a winner and should be in the arsenal of every serious mentalist!"
- Richard Osterlind - May, 2008
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Pros: Movie Posters is brilliant. Nice change from using playing cards and ESP decks.
Cons: Not convincing. Audience is very suspicious about how it's done and their initial guess isn't far from the truth. Not nearly enough movie posters in the stack and a few are rather eclectic (the Elephant Man for example).
Overall: Not an opener or a closer, but a great effect to be used in the middle of your routine (once you've established your skills as a mentalist). A stack comprised of Movie Posters is a wonderful idea and a nice change from a deck of playing cards.
I had suspicions about how this effect worked before I bought it, but it had great reviews and I really loved the idea of using movie posters in a mentalism routine. Without giving anything away, my suspicions were right on the money -- so be careful in how you perform it. The audience is sharp. They will have a good inkling as to how this is done if you make it a solo or a repeated effect. If, on the other hand, you include it as just one more effect in series of effects then the results will be a lot more impressive.
It's been said you can repeat this effect, but I never do. I just move on. The few times I tried performing variations with Director's Cut my audience quickly suspected a stacked deck of some kind and tried to thwart me. If you like that sort of challenge from your audience then more power to you, I prefer to just show Director's Cut once and then move on -- as I have numerous movie themed mentalism effects in my repertoire and with that being said Director's Cut is a great effect when managed correctly.
BTW: Director's Cut inspired me to create my own variation that has grown to well more than 200 pictures on cards (Movies, Actors, Sports, History). My decks use a different principle altogether, but the inspiration is clearly derived from Simon Shaw's initial work in Director's Cut, so my compliments and hat are off to him!
Cons: Not convincing. Audience is very suspicious about how it's done and their initial guess isn't far from the truth. Not nearly enough movie posters in the stack and a few are rather eclectic (the Elephant Man for example).
Overall: Not an opener or a closer, but a great effect to be used in the middle of your routine (once you've established your skills as a mentalist). A stack comprised of Movie Posters is a wonderful idea and a nice change from a deck of playing cards.
I had suspicions about how this effect worked before I bought it, but it had great reviews and I really loved the idea of using movie posters in a mentalism routine. Without giving anything away, my suspicions were right on the money -- so be careful in how you perform it. The audience is sharp. They will have a good inkling as to how this is done if you make it a solo or a repeated effect. If, on the other hand, you include it as just one more effect in series of effects then the results will be a lot more impressive.
It's been said you can repeat this effect, but I never do. I just move on. The few times I tried performing variations with Director's Cut my audience quickly suspected a stacked deck of some kind and tried to thwart me. If you like that sort of challenge from your audience then more power to you, I prefer to just show Director's Cut once and then move on -- as I have numerous movie themed mentalism effects in my repertoire and with that being said Director's Cut is a great effect when managed correctly.
BTW: Director's Cut inspired me to create my own variation that has grown to well more than 200 pictures on cards (Movies, Actors, Sports, History). My decks use a different principle altogether, but the inspiration is clearly derived from Simon Shaw's initial work in Director's Cut, so my compliments and hat are off to him!
(Top ▲)
I love this effect! Using the most innocent props ever (cards with movie posters on them) you can run with a mentalism routine that will appeal to everyone. The list of moves here are very familiar (out of 26 films, I had seen 24 of them already) so the chances are incredibly good the spectator will have seen the movie. Even if they haven't, it doesn't take away from what you can do. Instead of describing the movie, you can just describe the movie poster and name the stars (listed below the poster on the card, along with the year of the film's release).
Simon includes several ways to do the routine, and the beauty is that each revelation is done in a different way so you can actually repeat this effect up to 5 times with the same crowd using various methods and keep amazing everyone. At one point, neither the spectator nor the magician has a clue which card was chosen because it was all done literally under the table, and yet the magician can name it perfectly. One revelation involves drawing something on a piece of paper that makes no sense to anyone, yet when the movie is revealed it become obvious.
Because the movies are so familiar, it makes learning the secret to the routine very simple. I had it down in about 20 minutes and started using it in my routine the next day.
The props here are first-rate. The cards are about the size of bridge sized playing card, and they are laminated so they look like they'll hold up for years. Given the nature of the routine, the cards are never bent or put under any stress, which makes me think these will last a lifetime. My only complaint is that they don't come with some sort of small holder or case, which would make carrying them around a lot easier. They are, after all, a little thicker than half a deck of cards and it's not practical to keep them lose in your pocket. Otherwise, this is literally the perfect pocket mentalism trick that will both resonate with the audience and astound them at the same time.
Simon includes several ways to do the routine, and the beauty is that each revelation is done in a different way so you can actually repeat this effect up to 5 times with the same crowd using various methods and keep amazing everyone. At one point, neither the spectator nor the magician has a clue which card was chosen because it was all done literally under the table, and yet the magician can name it perfectly. One revelation involves drawing something on a piece of paper that makes no sense to anyone, yet when the movie is revealed it become obvious.
Because the movies are so familiar, it makes learning the secret to the routine very simple. I had it down in about 20 minutes and started using it in my routine the next day.
The props here are first-rate. The cards are about the size of bridge sized playing card, and they are laminated so they look like they'll hold up for years. Given the nature of the routine, the cards are never bent or put under any stress, which makes me think these will last a lifetime. My only complaint is that they don't come with some sort of small holder or case, which would make carrying them around a lot easier. They are, after all, a little thicker than half a deck of cards and it's not practical to keep them lose in your pocket. Otherwise, this is literally the perfect pocket mentalism trick that will both resonate with the audience and astound them at the same time.