Ted Lesley's
CABARET MINDREADING AND MAGIC DVDs
$31 each
Suggested Retail Price $35

THE BLURB:
For the first time ever on video, here's your chance to see Germany's legendary master of magic and mentalism, Ted Lesley, mesmerize a studio audience with his "paramiracles." Then, go behind the scenes and learn the real secrets as Ted, along with well-known magic consultant Charles Reynolds, explains everything you need to know in minute detail.
This is the material that has made Ted Lesley a legend in two arenas of the conjuring arts, and now it can be yours!

Volume One - Cabaret Mindreading
Contains:

Ace Duet - A deck is freely shuffled a number of times by a spectator yet the Aces are found - all without the performer even touching the deck!
The Spectator as Mindreader - A baffling effect that finds the spectator locating the card the performer merely thought of.
The Working Performer's Card Stab - A card is signed on its back and shuffled into the pack. The cards are scattered face up as the performer thrusts a dagger through one-which is found to be the one previously selected and signed.
Tossed-Out Deck - Wonderful touches on David Hoy's mentalism classic. Five spectators merely peek at a card yet the performer flawlessly names them all.
Black Magic III - A great Bank Night effect as a spectator successfully finds a drawing placed into an envelope and mixed with three others. Unfortunately, she manages to miss out on the currency contained in the others!
Booktest - The performer divines a word freely selected from an ordinary paperback book. Even more amazingly, the performer then correctly identifies a word the spectator draws out of thin air.
Pro-monition - A spectator is asked to think of a card, which is found to be the only one missing from the deck. The performer then has a spectator remove the selected card from his pocket.
Center Tear - Great work on one of mentalism's most powerful tools. Mastery of this technique will give you the ability to read minds any time, any place.
Teleportation - A page is selected from a book by one spectator while an empty envelope is given to another. On the performer's command, a piece of the selected page vanishes and is found in the envelope. When compared, the piece fits exactly!
Decisions! Decisions! - A powerful version of the classic "Stop!" trick. The performer selects a card and places it into an envelope. Cards are then dealt fairly from another deck until a spectator calls 'stop.' Though it's a completely fair choice, the designated card is found to match the one in the envelope.
Super Force - Through the performer's apparent mental powers, one spectator locates another spectator's chosen card under impossible conditions.
Bending Wine Glass - Forget spoons! The performer causes a wine glass to visibly bend at the stem though he is nowhere near it. What's more, he also causes two other glasses to bend-while spectators are holding them!

Volume Two - Cabaret Magic
Contains:

Six Card Repeat - An ultra-easy version of this magical classic with a surprise ending guaranteed to fool even those in the know!
Borrowed Bill in Borrowed Cigarette - One half of a borrowed bill is discovered in a truly impossible place - inside a cigarette that was also borrowed!
Comedy Rope Trick - The Professor's Nightmare turned on its head! A length of rope is clearly cut into three equal pieces yet the pieces are shown to be three different lengths. They become equal yet again and one piece is thrown into the audience. The other two are tied together and then instantly restored into a single length - which may be examined!
Comedy Mindreading - Three playing cards are selected and, after several vain but amusing attempts to find them, the performer finally locates each in increasingly amazing and impossible ways.
The Fastest Card Trick in the World - Don't blink as a signed playing card and a borrowed credit card make an impossible journey.
Coin Through Sleeves - A most-magical version of the classic Winged Silver as a coin mysteriously travels from one hand, up the performer's sleeve, across his shoulders and into a glass held in the other hand. As a finale, the performer explains the process-using milk!
Bill in Lightbulb - A borrowed bill is torn in half. One half is vanished and travels into the most unlikely of places-the center of an ordinary light bulb that was burning brightly just moments before!
Bill in Lemon - If you think you know this one, you haven't seen the Lesley version. Again, one half of a borrowed bill vanishes from an envelope held by a spectator and is found inside a lemon that was in plain sight throughout.

MY COMMENTS:
Since this review is from a mentalist's viewpoint, I'll not review the Cabaret Magic DVD on this site, though I will offer it, since many will want the set. I'll focus only on the Cabaret Mindreading DVD. Of the twelve effects presented, six are card effects. All of these effects have Ted's trademark hands-off policy of card tricks, which means he touches the cards only briefly. The participant handles the cards the majority of the time. Here's a breakdown of all the effects:

ACE DUET: This is an impressive card trick. This is not mentalism, though. You can say that it's mind control, but that is stretching it. I'm puzzled as to its inclusion on this DVD rather than the other one.
THE SPECTATOR AS MINDREADER: An effective piece that requires a special deck of cards.
THE WORKING PERFORMER'S CARD STAB: Ted's masterpiece is presented here. If you do card stabs, and you don't know this one, you need to. Period. However, you'll need the same special deck of prepared cards used in The Spectator as Mindreader to accomplish this (and you can guess which deck that is!).
TOSSED-OUT DECK: Ted has some nice touches, but there are many other versions of this classic that I think would suit one better.
BLACK MAGIC III: This is fun. It's the classic bank night routine, but with a nice kicker. The participant wins the prize but doesn't get the other prizes which are significantly better! Ingenious!
BOOKTEST AND CENTER TEAR: Ted's handling of both these classic effects.
PRO-MONITION: This is Ted's famous version of Premonition.
TELEPORTATION: This version of the vanish of a selected page plays more like magic, then mentalism. But it is powerful. And there is no instruction on how to construct the envelopes. You need to purchase his envelopes, or construct an earlier version that was described in his book Paramiracles.
DECISIONS! DECISIONS!: Another card trick using Ted's trademark hands-off philosophy.
BENDING WINE GLASSES: One of Ted's most impressive stunts. Though an explanation is given, you will not be able to perform this easily unless you purchase materials from Ted.

CABARET
MAGIC

CABARET
MINDREADING