The Berglas Effects de Richard KAUFMAN

[Dorian CAUDAL]

Bonjour à tous,

J'ouvre cette discussion afin que nous puissions échanger nos points de vue et ressentis sur ce dernier livre de Kaufman, The Berglas Effects, qui je dois l'avouer, me paraît plus qu'excellent après lecture de la préface et des 50 premières pages...

Je vais prendre mon temps pour m'imprégner de chaque mot, de chaque phrase et chaque dessin: la lecture sera longue mais en vaudra la peine! (L'explication de l'effet Berglas est à la fin, mais je préfère tout lire avant, car le livre ne traite pas "que" de ce fameux ACAAN...).

Les DVD sont aussi de vrais petits trésors!

Merci à Kaufman et Berglas de nous faire partager cette magie de Berglas gardée secrètement pendant de nombreuses années.

[Romain GIRANTON]

Vu le prix( certes justifié, enfin tu nous le diras^^) et le peu de distributeurs actuellement( sur France), je doute que beaucoup puissent participer à ce post.

Néanmoins on attend avec plaisir un CR détaillé( pas trop rassure toi^^)

bonne lecture

[Dorian CAUDAL]

Pour les hésitants, voici un compte-rendu en anglais assez détaillé d'un membre du célèbre forum anglo-saxon (Justin Longshore):

Well, I just finished the book last week and continue to revisit select chapters to help the material to soak in. This is my first critique here on the Café so, please, be gentle. I'll critique each chapter to the best of my abilities.

1 A STARTING POINT

This chapter has great incite on the Mind and philosophy of Berglas's magic. His thought's on magic are quiet brilliant and deep. Within this first chapter you will realize that this book is so much more than learning card magic. It is taking decades of advice and wisdom from one of the greatest performers today. Some of the teaching in this section seem so basic, yet they are things most professional performers tend to overlook or forget. David really brings back the art to magic right from the begining.

2 THINK A CARD

This section goes in to great detail on several ways to allow a spectator to think of a card and the performer being able to reveal it in a variety of ways. The spectator truly has a free choice on which card they select. There is a no sleight approach to this entire book, and this chapter is no exception. The Berglas card fan is taught, and the DVD material come in handy being able to read the nit grit details, and then see the full fan in action on the dvds. My favorite think a card method is when the spectator takes the deck, shuffles it, goes across the room, is asked to look through the deck and just think of a card , square the pack up and bring it back to you. You can take the deck back and through several awesome fashions reveal their card! What they see is what they get. THE DECK CAN EVEN BE BORROWED!! As a matter of fact, this entire section can be done with a borrowed deck on the spot. Some of the methods and revalations of the cards might seem goofy or obvious, but after trying the material on real audiences you change your mind. I DID!

3 ANY CARD AT ANY NUMBER

This section is so jazzy. After watching the DVD performance of the basic version of the Berglas ACAAN, I thought WOW. No one would even begin to fall for this (My fiance said this as well). I WAS SO WRONG! I've performed this method now about 6 times and it works wonders. I even fooled my fiance with it. This section requires extreme practice and confidence. Also, PRESENTATION PRESENTATION PRESENTATION!! NO details are left out of the explanations.

4 SMALL TOOLS AND PARTY TRICKS

This section is David's take on several moves magicians use daily. I have always been so so on the classic f***e. After just reading David's method I can f***e like a madman. The face up version is awesome too! A couple of the routines in this section are great to perform as well. I escpecially enjoy "let your fingers to the walking". Its a great selected matches predicted card effect. It seems overly fair, and could fool a few magicians as well. A few of the effects in this section are effects that most people won't use. That doesn't really matter in my opinion though. After all, the name of the book is THE BERGLAS EFFECTS. Not the JUSTIN LONGSHORE EFFECTS.

5 MAGICIANS CHOICE

The title explains it all. David has some great ways of performing the choice in this chapter. The dvd material also covers a couple of performance clips of this chapter. Some of David's versions are fantastic and extremely deceptive. One however seems straight out of a childrens card magic book. It didn't even seem to work in the least on the DVD. If you are a fan of the magicians choice you'll find some pieces and tips you'll love.

6 MIND MAPPING FOR MAGICIANS

This section is really here to show the Berglas process. It provides a great way to allow you to organize and create everything the performer needs, from methods and presentations, to audience and promotion. This was new material for me, and I put it to use immediatly. I can see my own personal magic growing in every area due to this section alone.

7 THE SET-UP DECK

First off, let me say that this is the first set-up deck I have learned. Within one weekend, I had memorized the deck from top to bottom, and the location of each card from top to bottom. The story that Berglas provided in the book to aid in memorization was way to long and complicated in my opinion. I changed the story to one that suited me (as the book suggests) and kept them in order of the stack taught in this chapter. There are several little subtleties taught in this chapter on handling the deck, and the deck is set up in a way that allows for some little off-beat effects to make one look like they are a card cheating pro. Memorization feat effects are included, as well as some nice type routines. I love the subtleties taught in this chapter.

8 THE BERGLAS EFFECT

What can I say? This chapter has it all. After reading this chapter, I have realized that the Berglas Effect lives up to all that it's legend tells. The past week I have been performing the Berglas Effect and ACAAN like crazy. Something that I have noticed is that to the lay person, when done correctly, one can make ACAAN appear to be the Berglas Effect. They genuinely believe that the magician never went to the deck. And when performing the Berglas Effect, you never have to. In the right hands, this effect is killer. In the wrong hands, it is tragic. Also from my own experience with this effect (keep in mind it only spans the past 13 days) I have noticed that this effect is not for every audience. I feel this is for an intelligent, skeptical crowd. They seem to grasp the impossibility of this effect. Some audience and I would go as far to say the majority of todays world are just as happy with the invisible deck. But, in an ever growing world of skeptics, this effect seperates the magicians from the mental masters.

9 THE ACT: THE BERGLAS EFFECTS

This entire section is devoted to essentially documenting an act by Mr. Berglas with all the workings and behind the scenes included. A great way to really feel the scope of this book, and several of the possibilities that the knowledge gained from the pages to create a full show. It's also great to see just how great David is at thinking on his feet and being in the moment.

The material in this book will take years to master, and none of us will ever be Berglas. However, This book has something for everyone wanting to make their magic to the next level. If youre a mentalist, this card work is the best you'll find.

[William SCOTT]

et alors friboudi, tes impressions ?

[Dorian CAUDAL]

et alors friboudi, tes impressions ?

Je suis en pleine lecture Et comme je lis assez lentement, que je fais des pauses, etc., ça risque de prendre du temps! Il y aura d'autres CR de VMistes avant le mien je pense.

[Xavier BAREAU]

neanmoins,si tu pouvais faire une petite comparaison subtile avec le "meant to be" de j.BORN,ça serait pas mal

[Dorian CAUDAL]

D'autres l'ont-ils lu ce fameux livre? Je suis toujours en cours de (re)lecture, et c'est passionnant. Si vous êtes intéressés par le mentalisme, les cartes, et si vous voulez appréhender une nouvelle vision de la magie, je conseille vivement ce livre. J'ai testé simplement l'effet décrit dans la première partie "Think of a card", et les premières réactions étaient excellentes Evidemment ce n'est pas un livre pour "débutants" dans le sens où les effets proposés ne peuvent pas s'apprendre en 30 minutes! Ce qui est sûr, c'est qu'après la lecture du bouquin, des mois et des années d'entraînement, j'aurai à mon arsenal des techniques et astuces puissantes afin d'aboutir à des vrais miracles aux yeux des spectateurs. De plus les DVD sont vraiment bien faits et très instructifs.

Vos avis à vous?

[Tony NGUYEN]

Friboudi, tu me mets l'eau à la bouche, là. Je pense que je vais me laisser tenter, même si je suis débutant, on verra bien... Par contre ce sera mon premier livre de magie en langue de Shakespeare et comme je ne suis pyzs familier des termes techniques en anglais, j'appréhende un peu. Qu'en penses tu ?

[Dorian CAUDAL]

Friboudi, tu me mets l'eau à la bouche, là. Je pense que je vais me laisser tenter, même si je suis débutant, on verra bien... Par contre ce sera mon premier livre de magie en langue de Shakespeare et comme je ne suis pyzs familier des termes techniques en anglais, j'appréhende un peu. Qu'en penses tu ?

Tu peux te laisser tenter. Il te faudra du temps pour tout assimiler, mais ça en vaut la peine... Si tu parles un peu anglais ça devrait aller, mais sache que malgré les quelques subtilités de vocabulaire, Kaufman se répète pas mal, il prend le temps de bien expliquer, tout est très didactique (80 pages par exemple pour le "Berglas effect"). Donc le livre si digère assez bien (je ne l'ai pas digéré encore...) après multiples lectures, pauses, entraînement, et relecture je pense.

Fonce!

[Sébastien DEFRANCE]

Ou acheter ce livre ?