Mindcast

THE BLURB:
The stuff of legends, this effect has been quietly
circulating through some of the greatest minds in magic.
Called miraculous by some, when you master MindCast, your
audience will truly believe no one's thoughts are safe!

Effect: A spectator is shown 6 cards imprinted with 36
mythic and mysterious symbols. The spectator mentally
singles out one of the images - this is a completely free
selection, with nothing written down. The spectator’s choice
is ultimately known to only one other person in the entire
world – you!

How would you unveil your spectator’s inner vision?

What's in the eBook?

The full-color eBook, already in its 2d Edition, includes 38
pages of handlings, subtleties, and presentational ideas by
Scott Grossberg. All aspects of MindCast are covered - from
handling the cards to unique and powerful revelations.
Everything is clearly taught with photographs of some of the
finer handling techniques.

Who are the other contributers?

Additional handlings by Robin Robertson, Charlie Chang,
Rannie Raymundo and Mike Sturgeon are also included.

What else do I get?

The eBook includes a special bonus section on the meanings
and explanations of the MindCast symbols together with
suggestions for using the symbols in cold reading
situations. Additionally, templates are included with the
eBook for printing your own set of MindCast cards! The
templates allow you to print the MindCast cards using both
Laserjet (for black and white versions) and inkjet (for
color versions) printers.

What about the cards?

If you choose to order the cards from us, you will find that
each set of cards has been beautifully put together by
Scott. The full-color cards are double-sided with the
MindCast symbols printed on both sides of each card. They
are also laminated to last a long time. The cards have black
backgrounds with the symbols in white (except for a select
few printed in red).

MY COMMENTS:
Experienced mentalists may recognize the principle here as
it is quite an old one and has been used in such effects as
Ickle Pickle's Destination Unknown, Danny Archer's
Telemental, and Alain Nu's Animalogic, just to name some
recently released effects. (Oh, and my own Starminder
effect qualifies, too)

There are two issues with this principle that need to be
addressed. First, there must a reason to have a bunch of
cards with printed lists on them. Second, there must be a
reason for turning the cards over and examining them again
(which is necessary for the effect to work). I'm happy to
state that, finally (so far as I know), someone has come out
with an elegant solution to the problem. The cards contain
symbols. It is far more practical to show a stack of
symbols then direct someone to think of a symbol from a
particular group, especially if the participants aren't
familiar with all the symbols in that group. This solves
the first issue very nicely. And, although there really
isn't a justification for turning them over, Scott doesn't
have the participant go through the cards a second time, as
most routines do. Instead, he uses contact mind reading or
has the participant use a pendulum to direct him to the card
which will secretly reveal the chosen symbol to the
performer. With this, turning the cards over is now trivial
and not part of a procedure. This is a very important
aspect of the routine. Of course, you don't have to use
contact mind reading or pendulums. If you follow Scott's
structure, there are other means to get to that information
without repeating the previous procedure. Also, this
approach can work very nicely with other effects (such as
the aforementioned ones) that use this principle, not
just Mindcast.

An additional feature, which adds to the superb idea of this
utility prop, is that these are ESP, astrological and rune
symbols. So once the symbol is determined by the performer,
it can be followed by a reading, either to determine the
chosen symbol or after the symbol has been revealed.
Obviously, you don't have to do a reading, but the cards are
versatile enough that you can use it as a reading or as a
straight mentalism routine.

You get a 38-page downloadable e-book that contains the
complete instructions for the cards. Included are the
templates to make three different types of sets of cards:
one black-and-white, one black-and-white with one red symbol
on each card, and full color. There are several variations
and handlings of the cards to start your thinking on this
versatile pocket prop. I was quite disappointed by Mike
Sturgeon's "1-2 Punch Method." As stated above, what's nice
about Scott's routine is that the procedure of going through
the cards to find the symbol is NOT repeated a second time.
It's difficult to come up with a logical explanation for
doing that, other than that it's essential to making the
effect work. Mike's method uses that very illogical
sequence (and provides no reasonable justification for doing
it) and spends time needlessly teaching a mnemonic, which is
quite unnecessary if you perform this differently. Though I
recommend you don't use Mike's handling, I do like his
technique for nonchalantly flipping the cards over.

Let me also mention that the templates for the cards are
very easy to use. Simply run the same page twice onto
cardstock, front and back, and cut. If you're unable to do
this, or want professionally done cards, Scott offers a set
of the color cards which you can order with the e-book or
separately. Since I'm carrying these cards with me
constantly, and using them, I'd say that it's obvious I
highly recommend this.

Incidentally, here's my handling (owners of Mindcast should
know what's going on): I lay the cards out on the table in
two rows and walk away (or turn my head if we're sitting at
a table). The participant picks up one card, remembers a
symbol, and then shuffles that card into the rest of them.
I know spread the cards back on the table (yep, I turn them
over) and simply ask the spec to help out in the interest of
time and to point out the card his symbol is on. I don't
make a big deal of it. And if they insist on not telling
me, well, there's alternatives. But that's not happened.