Simple and Direct (SAD) - Looch Alakazam

$60.00

Simple And Direct (SAD) Mentalism
by Looch

From the mind of one of Mentalism's rising stars comes an important book of practical, simple and direct mentalism.

Why should you be interested in this book? Because it features powerful, entertaining close-up mentalism that has been sharpened to a razor's edge by constant use in the real world. Looch only performs direct, uncluttered effects that are guaranteed to astound an audience. Overcoming one of the problems with a lot of mentalism material, Looch has devised clever ways of retaining the element of surprise in his work, which elevates the material, even standard plots, to new levels of astonishment.

If you've ever wished that you had available effects that were more visual, presentations that were more engaging and methods that were more practical, then this book will delight you.

Design duplications, photographic-memory stunts, predictions, impossible co-incidences, ESP tests and psychic control are all given the Looch treatment and prove fertile ground for his beguiling presentations.

He even has a routine that will let you fake Superman's most well-known powers!

In all, there are over a dozen complete 'Simple and Direct' routines, plus three bonus effects, along with Looch's thinking on his approach to working with billets, books, playing cards and other props in a mentalism context.

The clarity of these performance pieces allows the mentalist to concentrate on the essence of each effect, communicating to the spectators a believable yet utterly incredible premise that they will be talking about long after the performance is over. If you want strong, contemporary material that will leave a lasting impression on your audiences, then this is it.

Pages 109

Routines Include:

Lost in the Shadow

Effect

The performer holds a coin laid across his fingers, he explains that by using certain words and phrases he can literally convince the spectator that he can affect their sense of touch. The coin is held under the spectators hand and he is asked if he can feel the coin? Yes comes the response, the performers hand does not move from this point on, yet when the spectator is asked again if he can feel the coin. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot! Impromptu mentalism inspired by traditional deceptive methodology�Simple And Direct!

A watch presentation

Effect

The performer is seated with two spectators, preferably a married couple or 2 people in a long term relationship. Both the spectators are instructed to take off their watches and to "synchronise" them by setting both to the exact, identical time.

One watch is then held by its owner securely in their hand. The other watch is changed to a random time by its owner. The time set is called aloud and when the first spectator who has been holding onto to their watch looks at the face, it shows the exact time their partner has set on their watch! Best of all, this effect is completely impromptu and can be performed any time there is a couple with their own watches.

Banachek has asked for permission to include this gem into a forthcoming release of his!

Wake up Dr. Rhine

Effect

A personal favourite of mine! This ESP Card effect will astound your audiences every time. An incredible 3 phase routine where the performer influences the spectators to do what he wants and each and every time it works!

Phase 1

Through the use of Psychical gesture and conscious influence the performer is able to psychologically direct the spectator into selecting the only matched up symbol in 2 rows of ESP cards.

Phase 2

Moving into the area of unconscious influence the performer makes a written prediction of what he would like the spectator to do. The spectator switches places of a number of ESP cards and upon turning them face up. The written prediction matches 100%

Phase 3

For the Finale the spectator is influenced to switch certain Face down ESP cards to create a 100% perfect ESP match up

This is really one of the strongest, if not, THE STRONGEST ESP card routine you can do!

"Wake up Dr. Rhine is Pure class�VERY STRONG thinking!!!"
- Lee Darrow

The Glitch

Create Deja'vu

Effect

A theatrical piece of Bizarre Magick. Only for the truly gifted! A spectator is seated with the performer who strangely introduces himself, he asks the spectator for payment�a coin will do, it is physically bent in the performers hand, and is passed back to the spectator who pockets it. A passer-by enquires the time, The spectator is then demanded to mentally think of a loved one and to concentrate on that person, to focus on their very soul.

A weathered old deck of Tarot cards is brought forth, wrapped in a tatty ribbon, the spectator is told to take one and write their loved ones name upon it. The card is hidden from view inside an old leather holder, the deck is squared and placed aside.

The performer visible twitches and contorts�A Passer by enquires the time, the same time is given, the watch has gone back in time. The performer strangely introduces himself, he asks for payment, the spectator looks confused. The coin is passed back to the performer but something's wrong, the coin is no longer bent. The performer continues�

He asks the spectator to mentally think of a loved one and to concentrate upon their very soul. The spectator interrupts the performer stating that he has already done this, but alas, it is of no use, the selected tarot card with the name scrawled upon has vanished. It has found itself back into the tarot deck. The name has disappeared along with any traces of the last few minutes, well the name hasn't disappeared fully, it instead resides safely in the mind of the performer waiting for it to be revealed!

How is that done?!

Effect

How many times have we as performers heard something along those lines? "how do you do that?" "Can I learn that kinda stuff?"

How is that done?! is something you can to do when posed with that irritating question!

The performer gives nothing away and comes out looking even better, what more can you ask for?

Double D

Effect

A Brilliant new Drawing Duplication that can be done anywhere at anytime! The effect has been written up as if it was being performed in a pub or bar but can be easily changed to suit any environment.

Double D features a fantastic BOLD principle that will leave you giggling inside. You will LOVE this, I certainly Do!!!

Superman (Midas Required)

Effect

Ever wanted the powers of the Man of Steel? Me too, that's why I developed this routine, imagine�

5 spectators stand in a line, one of them hides a coin in their hands. By getting the spectators to convince themselves they have Superman's ability of X-Ray Vision, the performer is able to determine which spectator is hiding the coin. That spectator is told not to show the coin instead he is to continue hiding it from view. The performer explains that by using a special ability utilised by some of superman's greatest villains he is able to mentally break down the spectator into giving him the information he needs, in this case the denomination & date of the hidden coin.

The spectator is asked a series of questions and can be seen and heard to be breaking down mentally! The information is too much to keep and the performers mind steals it and reveals it aloud for the spectator to confirm.

For a finale the spectator is asked which other super power would he like to own� Superstrengh comes the answer and the performer instructs the spectator to imagine he can crush the coin in his hand by squeezing it and believing in it. After a few moments the spectator opens his hand and reveals the coin has been crushed by his new found superpower! The coin is kept as a souvenir!

Red Sky @ Night

Pseudo NLP & Body language reading with playing cards

Effect

The performer hands a spectator a deck of playing cards and instructs them to remove any 3 red cards and any 3 black cards. Once done the performer explains that by reading the spectators body language and visual cues he is able to determine certain pieces of information from them, contrary to popular belief, the effects that he carries out have nothing whatsoever to do with the supernatural or being psychic, its something anyone can do, if they study long enough!

No Forces or Peeks!

Nod to Pocket watch

Effect

A shocking prediction based effect, hidden under the guise of a informal discussion on "Free Will"

The performer and spectator are engrossed in a conversation discussing the concepts of free will, the spectator is asked to name anything she desires, a name, a country, a loved one, anything� the performer enquires whether the word just named was a result of free will or is it possible that it could have been predetermined at the very start of time.

As the conversation begins to take shape the performer offers to demonstrate his own theory of free will, a prediction is made and laid face down on the table. ANY playing card is taken out of a deck by the spectator and laid face down next to the prediction, upon turning them both face up they match 100% was the selected card a result of free will or again predetermined by something else?

The spectator believes they have witnessed a good trick, but is forced to question their belief as a small Pill Tin that has been in full view from the start is opened and the contents tipped into the spectators' hand. The content is a written prediction that matches the word named aloud by the spectator at the very start of the routine!!!

This routine can be adapted to suit any performing style, if playing cards are not your thing then you can use something else, for example, spectator can set his watch to a unseen time and the performer can 100% predict the correct time.

Intuitive Aii

The Performer, utilises his skills of "Photographic Memory & Rapid Calculation" to create an Unbelievably Realistic Effect using a regular deck of playing cards.

Phase 1

Imagine being able to take a mental snapshot of a spread deck of cards and immediately being able to name the number of face up cards in that spread� the cards have been mixed face up & face down thoroughly by the spectator and yet you can do this in less than a second!

Phase2

The same process is repeated but this time instead of spreading the cards, they are merely riffled through at break neck pace with the spectator & performer both trying to keep count of the face up cards they see, the number is stated and upon the spectator counting them, the performer is proved to be correct again!

Phase3

For an unbelievable finale, the performer states that whilst he and the spectator were trying to count the number of face up cards during the riffle, he not only committed the identity of the face up cards to memory but by a process of elimination the performer can name the still face down cards in the deck IN ORDER as he has been memorising the order of the deck throughout the entire routine!

He does and names each card in the exact order at such a rate that the spectator struggles to keep up with him as he turns the cards face up!

No marked cards, No confederates, can be done with any deck of cards!