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Paul Stockman: Connected A new double DVD of modern mentalism Release: Winter 2009 description:For over a decade, Paul Stockman has been extremely busy performing his unique and fascinating style of psychological entertainment all around the world. Paul is in constant demand and is a consummate professional entertainer. This is Paul’s DVD debut and showcases some of the finest modern mentalism, seamlessly blending deviously clever methods and engagingly entertaining plots Shot in front of a live audience, the DVD opens with a fifty-minute stand-up show that features some of Paul’s favorite routines and ends with a revelation that is destined to go straight into the act of many performers On this DVD, Paul shares with you his wealth of experience and knowledge that can only be gained over hundreds of performances. Not just a collection of effects, it is a professionally structured show that is taught in full detail from beginning to end and includes tips and advice on scripting the show, structuring routines and keeping it entertaining as well as captivating.”Connected” is a clear example of how Paul Stockman has become one of the UK’s leading psychological entertainers and on this DVD, Paul shares with you his wealth of experience and knowledge that can only be gained over hundreds of performances as each section of the show is broken down and explained with the assistance of Peter Nardi. “Connected” is not just a collection of effects, it is a professionally structured show that is taught in full detail from beginning to end and includes tips and advice on scripting a show, structuring routines and keeping it entertaining as well as captivating. These DVDs are packed full of commercial routines and you can see a detailed list of these:Contents: Pick a Chair A direct and baffling chair routine that audiences love and establishes your abilities straight away. Paul discusses the fundamental elements that make a chair routine such a popular feature for many mentalists, as well as the importance of keeping the effect clear and understandable for the audience. Hands-Off Bank Night This popular effect gets a dose of the Stockman treatment when Paul puts the entire effect into the hands of a spectator. The spectator hides the money in one of six envelopes and then makes all the decisions while you stand back, guilt free, as each envelope is eliminated and destroyed…will they avoid the moneyThe Pendant Curse A beautifully scripted routine revolving around a tale of four women, a murder and a sinister curse that captivates the audience with its intriguing mystery. Back to Becker Larry Becker’s fabulous “Casino Royale” is a true classic of modern mentalism and is part of many leading performer’s repertoires. With Larry’s kind permission, Paul explains his variation of this brilliant routine that focuses on chance, influence and luck involving money, blackjack and some imaginary dice. The Sweet Jar A large jar of sweets that has been on display throughout. Paul invites three audience members to join him on stage to try to guess the number of sweets. Each one of them has a totally free choice and at the climax, not only does one of the spectators manage to guess exactly right and finds a prediction buried inside the sweets but unbelievably, Paul has also managed to predict in advance, which of the spectators that would beMy Luckiest Day The concept explained in this show-stopping finale is a beautiful way to end any mentalism performance. The Confabulation plot has always been a firm favorite within mentalism and Paul’s tray revelation can be applied to almost any plot or performance. Throughout the entire show, right in the middle of the stage is a small table that holds a tray that has a large candlestick and candle standing upon it. At the start of the show the candle is lit and remains in full view and untouched throughout. During the course of the show, Paul has various free choices made by different members of the audience and has them keep a mental note of each one. At the finale of the show, the candle is extinguished and removed from the tray and Paul turns over the tray to show a written prediction securely taped to the underside of the tray on all sides. Impossibly the prediction matches every single one of the free choices made throughout the show! No fancy boxes or backstage assistants are required – this is the ultimate one-man Confabulation for stand-up and stage. The final image of the prediction taped to the underside of a tray i a truly stunning. ——————————————————————some reviews:This is full of excellent working material. Watching the performance I kind of guessed how the sweet jar routine might work but as for the rest of it there was so much mis-direction in the routines themselves that the fairly simple methods were completely obscured. Obviously a lot of thought has gone into the structure of each routine, the scripting and directing the participants. Most of the props can be easily made at home apart from something you need for the ‘Casino Royale’ type effect which ideally you would get by buying the original Becker effect (which could set you back a tidy sum), unless you can source the necessary prop on its own somewhere?—review2:I received it just in time for my Birthday and it couldn’t have been a better present! Apart from one effect, I didn’t see anything new in method but that really doesn’t matter, that wasn’t the reason I purchased the set. I wanted to see how a full-time regular worker structured his performance and routines and this is where I learned a hell of a lot! Worth the price to me was the bonus interview at the end of the DVD and Paul’s thoughts on scripting and show structure were absolutely on the nail. Regarding effects, I did know the methodology for quite a lot of them but, as I said, it is Paul’s structure and performance skills that were a valuable lesson to me and the fact that, like myself, Paul believes in simplicity of method which allows you to concentrate on the presentation. I have to admit though that I was grinning like a an idiot as to how My Luckiest Day was accomplished. Sheer genius! This is definitely a principle I will use. It is sooo clean! This is a DVD set that I will watch over and over again so that I get to see all the subtleties at work. I don’t particularly want to do a carbon copy of this act. It would be wrong to do so but I have to say that I would use every single one of these effects at some time of other if it fits in within my own show (and a couple do). There is not a weak one amongst them for a regular stage worker. I do feel that I have to point out that all these routines are primarily meant for stage work. OK…so here’s a breakdown of each of the effects:- PICK A CHAIR – A really nice and fast-paced chair routine using four spectators, four chairs, four envelopes and four pieces of coloured card. I sort of guessed the methodology for this one but surprisingly enough, couldn’t catch Paul doing the dirty. Again, as in all the routines, it is Paul’s misdirection, routining and show structure which is the valuable lesson. HANDS OFF BANK NIGHT – This is one of those things that I was working on prior to getting this DVD set but was never really happy with the elimination process at the end. Watching Paul at work here has changed all that and this is going back into my act at the very next gig this weekend! The basic effect of this is probably known by most reading this but for completion – a bill is borrowed from a spectator and placed into one of five envelopes. Envelopes are mixed and eliminated and yet the final envelope contains the spectators borrowed, signed bill. THE PENDANT CURSE – As the blurb says, this is a beautifully scripted tale of four women, a murder and a sinister curse. Nothing new in methodology and yes, the routine is similar in style to a well known marketed item. However, again, it is Pauls’s subtleties, language and storytelling which lifts this routine up to a different level. BACK TO BECKER – This is an extension of Larry Becker’s Casino Royale and, for me, this was the weakest routine on the set. It may just be personal preference as I don’t like the methodology in it’s most basic form, and that was what was used here. However, it is “horses for courses” and some may really like this. THE SWEET JAR – This is a beautiful piece of theatre and something that I can see myself using in the future. I was aware of the methodology as I had read this somewhere before but Paul adds another dimension at the end of this routine which takes it into another level. Great storytelling, great staging, great subtleties and a routine which is not only strong but really tugs on the heart string as well. MY LUCKIEST DAY – As I said earlier in this review, when I saw the secret to this, I was grinning like an idiot. This is basically a confabulation routine where a date and a time mentioned by random spectators throughout the show are found taped to the bottom of a tray which has been in full view throughout the show and has had a lit candle on it burning throughout. The methodology on this is pure genius and is so squeaky clean. I will definitely be re-working this one for my act. For the sake of completeness:- PSYCLOCK- This one isn’t explained on the DVD but after speaking to Paul, it is earmarked as a possible future release from Alakazam. Strong and powerful, let’s hope that Peter Nardi takes this up. He will certainly have at least one potential customer on his hands  So, to sum up, this is a wonderful set of DVD’s and one that I am really pleased that Paul has released. If close-up or walkaround is your forte, then this set may not be for you. However, I struggle to find a reason why any stage or platform worker will not find anything to learn from this set. Mark———————————————————————-Disc one Running Time Approximately 1hr 40minDisc two Running Time Approximately 1hr 5min official site: http://www.paulstockman.com/shop: http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=9945enjoy