"Dial-Abolical" DVD by Kochov
Suggested Retail USD$30.00
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In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Dial-Abolical", a DVD featuring Jasper Blakeley's alter-ego, Kochov, provides two very entertaining and slightly different book tests that pack an entertaining punch for all but the most die-hard purist.

First, a bit of background. Jasper Blakeley performs as Kochov, a mindreader and magician from the eastern European country of Monrokvia. I mention this because this character is so much fun to watch, so entertaining in a lewd, bumbling way, that he (Blakeley or Kochov -- take your pick) could make the fly-in-the-ice-cube something wonderful to see. With a character like that, with that much "fleshing out" of the language and mannerisms and all that goes with a character, weak effects become minor miracles; that's just how it goes.

Why do I say that? We'll get to that later.

Okay, so on "Dial-Abolical", Blakeley teaches two routines, two book tests: the titled effect and a "bonus effect" called "Blindfold Book Test". Both use the same method, just slightly altered here and there to pull off the revelations. The effects are completely different in appearance.

"Dial-Abolical" begins with the performer giving a locked box to a spectator before the show begins. At the appropriate time, the spectator brings the box up on stage. It is shown to be locked with a three-digit combination lock. The performer is blindfolded and the spectator asked to call out a single digit and where, in a three-digit number, they would like their digit to appear: as the first, second, or third digit. As the spectator does this, the perform begins writing, while blindfolded, on a whiteboard. This is repeated until the spectator has created a three-digit number. The performer then removes the blindfold and directs the spectator open the lock using their freely chosen three-digit number. The spectator tries, but the lock will not open. The performer explains that making a "1 out of 1000" prediction is too simple and has the spectator open the lock with the correct combination. The lock is removed and the box opened. The spectator finds a telephone directory inside. The spectator examines the directory then turns to the page matching her chosen number. She then reads off, out loud, the phone number at the top of the page. The performer picks up the whiteboard, turns it around, and on it is not written the three-digit number as thought, but the phone number found on the page the spectator selected.

In the second effect, six books are given to six spectators. Each is told, in order to remove any influence on them whatsoever, to turn to the page corresponding to their age. The performer is blindfolded and picks up a whiteboard. A spectator with a book calls out the title of their book and their age. The spectator then turns to the page corresponding to their age and begins reading the page silently and to focus on a given part of the page (a word, a paragraph, etc). The performer writes something on the whiteboard, has the spectator say their word aloud, and the performer turns the whiteboard around to show he correctly divined the word. This is repeated with the other spectators, with increasing difficulty, until the last spectator. This sixth spectator is given a playing card and told to put it in the book anywhere they want, and, without anything being written down, the performer states the word the spectator is thinking of on that page.

Whew. That's a lot of verbiage to tell you what's going on, but it's necessary to give you an idea of exactly what you're pulling off here.

As I said, the methods are essentially the same in the two effects. As such, the specifics of these routines are the same.

To start with, there are no gimmicked or gaffed books in play here; they are all completely ordinary. In fact, as Blakeley rightly states, all the materials used in these routines (with the exception of the books) was bought at Staples. What is in play here is an ancient method -- and I do mean ancient -- and a ton of psychological bits that will boggle the minds of all but the most experienced of our number. Don't panic, though; Blakeley's psychological subtleties are all, separately, minor things, but in a wonderful example of synergy, all of them taken together are much more powerful than the individual bits.

Now, I mentioned how well Kochov plays to an audience before. Here's why. These routines are bound to disappoint the purists in the mentalism field. There is too much weird stuff, non sequitur stuff, "obvious" stuff, that other book tests lack and, it could be argued, make for a weaker effect. Things like asking for a spectator's book and page number before the revelation, for example, or wearing a blindfold when one really doesn't seem to be required (as in writing some unknown something on a whiteboard)... these are considered by many to hamper the overall effect of what is really a simple thing: a book test.

I know a lot about that because that's the way I think. Things like that don't make sense and do seem, to me, to either clog up the effect or begin raising doubts in the audience as to exactly what I am doing (and, perhaps more importantly, why). However, I'm not so much a purist that I lose track of entertaining routines and that, at long last, is my point.

Kochov can pull these things off without question. Watch the performance video once and you'll see it all come together brilliantly. With continual commentary -- usually off-color but always funny -- those little "wacky" things you and I pay attention to never get noticed by the spectators. At all.

Will you get away with it? That's one you'll have to answer yourself. But if you're already questioning the flow of things as I described them, well, you're probably better off without this disc to begin with.

Then there's the whole method-thing. The method here is old, old, old. It is also probably transparent to you by now. It's also a hard thing for some of our number to pull off, particularly if you're a bit older than most. True enough, Blakeley's method can be used by pretty much anyone, but you're in for working out a lot of details before it will work for you. Yes, I'm being vague but to be more open invites exposure and we don't want that, do we?

But -- and here's why, after everything, I love these routines -- Blakeley's thinking about the method and his use of psychology in and around that method is brilliant thinking at times. One bit, a small piece of the "Blindfold Book Test", floored me in its simplicity. There's another piece inside of "Dial-Abolical" that likewise got me thinking. Then there's the final part of "Blindfold Book Test" that really got the gears turning. And...

Well, you get the idea by now: there's a lot of neat thinking here for those that might benefit from it.

Final analysis? If you're not put off by the routines' flows, then this is a disc with two great routines that are as entertaining as you can make them -- they'll do their part, setting the stage for some impossible divinations, but you'll need to really work on them to make them your own, probably moreso than usual. If you don't like the way things go in these routines, but you're looking for some neat ideas, "Dial-Abolical" is chocked full of them and you might find them beneficial. If you're looking for a direct, straight-forward, book test without any perceived weaknesses and really don't want to explore any ideas in performance psychology right now, then you'll want to give this one a pass and opt for a more "standard" form of test.

I don't think I can sum it up any easier than that.

"Dial-Abolical" DVD by Kochov
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Material: 7
The material here consists of two routined book tests built around Blakeley's ideas using an old method. Both are very good routines and his working of the core methodology is something to see. Purists will feel a bit let-down by certain pieces of these routines, but overall these are commercial, entertaining pieces.

Practicality: 9
These are, obviously, stage and platform routines so there's a lot of leeway in terms of practicality for that venue. The method will cause problems for certain folks, particularly the older of our number, and some extra work will be required getting things set-up. That is, essentially, the only drawback to this work.

Quality of Production: 10
The production values are extremely high here. Great video and audio, even during the live performance sections, make this a really nice magical experience all the way around.

Quality of Instruction: 10
Blakeley does an awesome job describing the workings of this routines, covering every single performance point as he goes. My hat's off to him for putting so much detail together in so simple a manner.

Presentation: 10
With as fair a selection process as you can get and an openness that is wonderfully straightforward, these are two very powerful book-tests. In the right hands, that can be an understatement.


Shane

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