"Maximum Involvement Part 1: Public Selection" ebook
by Tony Eye
Suggested Retail USD$20.00
Available from Tony Iacoviello
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

"Maximum Involvement Part 1: Public Selection", an ebook by Tony Eye a.k.a. Tony Iacoviello, is a wonderful exploration of a simple principle in mentalism that is usually left under-explored and little utilized.

Perhaps the most important part of "Public Selection", as phrased by Eye himself, is that the principle and routines really allow you to make personal contact with as many audience members as you want. That's always the best we can hope for and, with "Public Selection", Eye shows you exactly how to do it. And I do mean "exactly".

The ebook begins with Eye covering the reason behind his delving into this principle -- the amount of spectator involvement it carries -- and then begins explaining just how the "Popular Selection" works. I'll cut to the chase here and say it has been described before but only in the broadest of terms; Eye goes deeper into this psychological force of sorts and gets to the meat of the matter quickly.

Whoa. Did I say "psychological force"? Yep, I sure did. But this isn't the NLP anchoring, weird dialog producing stuff you normal think about when you read that phrase. This principle is more in lines of playing the odds and always winning because of psychology than it is waving four fingers in front of a spectator while you ask them to pick a number between one and ten.

Okay, so Eye goes into the psychology of things a bit, gets you all nice and comfortable with the principle and then hooks you by the mouth with three different routines using the basic principle. This was the neat part to me: three different routines, with only the slightest of difference between them, producing three different effects, all built around Eye's simple structure (we'll get to that in a minute).

In the first routine, "Bloody Simple Movie Prediction", an audience member is given a package while the audience -- every last one of them if you want -- call out titles of movies. These are narrowed down to two and then one of those is picked as the final selection. Upon opening the package, a DVD is found and, yes, it matches the selected movie. Being a movie buff, this one I loved.

"Picture Perfect" follows. In this one an easel is shown on stage and, resting on top of it, is a wrapped object of some sort. The back of the easel faces the audience. The audience names artists, any artists they can come up with, and a spectator is asked to select one and to think of a painting by that artist. The package is unwrapped to reveal a poster board on which is written the name of the artists. Turning the easel around reveals a print of the painting she is thinking of.

"Mind Trip" begins with an audience member handed an envelope. The audience then calls out locations of a "fantasy vacation". Out of these, two are selected and then the choice narrowed down to one. The selection is named aloud and the envelope opened. Inside is a post card from the selected location addressed to the audience member holding the envelope.

Those are three examples of what Eye's thinking can bring about. As I said, he's structured everything so well, so tightly, that forming your own effects around his use of the principle and his thinking is much simpler than, by all rights, it ought to be.

Ah, but there has to be a rub and here it is:

This is not for beginners. Not even close. While the principle is simple to understand and simple to implement (thanks to Eye's work with it), this is not something someone still walking through Corinda or dealing with Anneman can pull off well. It takes a certain skill, a certain amount of experience, to make the most of this one.

All in all, "Popular Selection" is one of those things that is extremely slick and, in the right hands, will be a powerful piece of work. With a little more thought, putting some of yourself into the ideas Eye has given us here so cheaply, this can be a one-of-a-kind reputation-maker.

A big thumbs up for this one.

"Maximum Involvement Part 1: Popular Selection" by Tony Eye
In a Blink: 10 Out of 10

Material: 10
An excellent manuscript devoted to a principle of mentalism that is seldom explored to an great level, Eye presents the basics of the principle then gives three great routines for using it. Throw in some neat thinking for adjusting it to your own effect and this ebook is a winner. Think of it this way: a few Post-It notes or business cards, a pen, a group of about twenty people, and you're on your way to blowing folks away.

Quality: 10
Eye's writing is as you would expect it to be: very clear, very concise, and yet very thorough. He goes the extra mile in terms of contents which is always a good thing. Eye did a great job here.

Illustrations: n/a
Illustrations aren't really needed here considering the topic under discussion.

Presentation: 10
Eye wanted something that used the maximum number of audience members as possible. With him, it's all about the interaction. His routines are filled to the brim with that in an entertaining display of mentalism. My hat's off to him here.

Shane