Extremely Mental Tool Kit

THE BLURB:
In your hands in an arsenal of secret devices custom
designed to accomplish some astonishing things. It's a whole
mind reading show to go! Direct from the pages of his best
selling Mentalism book "MESSING WITH MINDS", Canada's James
Biss has created this Extremely Mental Took Kit to arm you
with a selection of professional props designed to create
powerful psychic effects. These hard to find tools are right
out of James' repertoire and will enable you to:
Predict newspaper headlines and photos - weeks ahead of
time!
Draw pictures which match a specatator's — with no
impression devices!
Forecast weather conditions —freely chosen by your
audiences!
Know the obscure destination — that audience members have
dreamt up!
Select winning lottery numbers — drawn the official way!
Discern a word in a spectator's mind — without a gimmicked
book!
Divine a serial number from a borrowed bill — with help from
a head of state!
Anticipate a room number on a hotel keycard — using a new
black ink secret writer!
... and much more!
Also included inside is a complete manuscript with eight
detailed routines for creating dynamic and entertaining
performances for today's sophisticated audiences. You'll
find four revised and updated presentations from "MESSING
WITH MINDS", all written in Hiss's wonderful writing style:

N.A.B.B.I.T.
DEJA VIEWED
WEATHERMAN
THE BIG NEWSPAPER PREDICTION

You'll also find FOUR previously unpublished effects by
James Biss that will blow you and your audiences' away -
including:

649
MENTAL AIR MAIL
TELEPATHY WITH THE QUEEN
DO NOT DISTURB

WITH ALL THE SECRET DEVICES YOU NEED TO
PROFESSIONALLY --- MESS WITH MINDS!

MY COMMENTS:
You don't need to own Messing With Minds (any edition) in
order to purchase this. The instructions for all of these
effects, plus the props, are included.

Here's a list of the props you get:

One Marker which has been gimmicked like a Super Sharpie
(for Do Not Disturb)

One Paperback Dictionary (for N.A.B.B.I.T. and Deja Viewed)

One Canadian Dollar Coin (for N.A.B.B.I.T. and Deja Viewed)

Two transparent gimmicked plastic bags (for Weatherman and
649)

Three Poly gimmicked Packs (for Big Newspaper Prediction)

Four small currency baggies (for Telepathy with the Queen)

Seven opaque plastic shipping pouches (for Mental Air Mail)

The only comment I have on the props is that the marker may
not fit you. It depends on the size and shape of your hand.
You can adjust it, but that may not help some individuals
with odd-sized hands. (Sorry, I'm being deliberately vague
due to this being on a public site.)

The new effects include a lottery number prediction, an
effect involving destinations, a serial number divination,
and a room key number prediction. Like most of Biss' other
works, these are variations of other routines (such as
Barrie Richardson's dollar divination routine) or routines
that use established principles. They are certainable
workable and quite enjoyable to perform. Incidentally,
the ad refers to these effects as previously unpublished
and that's not quite right. This material was posted on
James Biss' website, but has not appeared in any of his
books.

The kit also includes a 40 page manuscript with complete
descriptions of the effects, four of which come right from
Messing With Minds. There is a legend for the props which
is very nicely used for each effect so you know exactly
which prop is used for which effect. There is also a text
box included for each effect that contains James' exclusive
thinking on the use of the prop for the effect.
Unfortunately, Biss has retained that annoying structure of
having the presentations printed in the first half of the
booklet and the explanations in the last half. I'm
completely baffled as to why he'd keep this format when
creating a product specifically for performers.

If you're a fan of James Biss' work, then you're probably
going to want this. If you're not, I feel that the product
is a bit pricey, especially if you can easily obtain most
of the props yourself, though I suspect the hand made marker
gimmick may be a big part of the reason for the price.
Despite that, the effects are solid and well thought out.
If they appeal to you and you feel that you'll use them,
then it's worth it.

WARNING: The Tool Kit is handmade and not in mass
production. You may have to wait awhile in order to get
one. If it's temporarily out of stock when you order, I'll
let you know and you can decide whether you want to wait or
not.