Boondock Mental

Not to be confused with "mentalism" Nathan's tricks are "mental" meaning that they are CRAZY! Spoon bending and a deck stab. You get 8 solid effects for one low price - not to mention the Kranzilla is your teacher! Devil's Peek is worth the entire DVD. Get yours before they're gone

I absolutely love most of these effects in the dvd. Though a bit cumbersome to perform, the matchstick tricks are still ingenious. Nate has always been one of my favorites.

Plain awesomeness by one of the best magicians around the world! Get this DVD and no one is going to forget your performance to them!

This is a good tool to get you started with a good handful of mentalism tricks. Kranzo is a masterful teacher and gives you a thorough look into the tricks. Some may not suit your style, but for the price you are getting more than your money's worth by buying these. Highly recommend, would definitely buy again.

9 effects, 9 amazing routines. "Devil's Peek" is a very creative and super sneaky peek, "Stiletto" satisfies even the most blade crazy magician's desires, and "Voodoo Bill" alone is worth $20 or more. Easy to learn, just one gimmick that's small, easy to handle, and super easy to conceal. Best of all, easy for even Beginners! Freaked out those who have caught me lots of times before.

This is the best collaboration of effects that I have gotten in a while. The only trick I didn't like was spent(because I have pure smoke). Although other reviewers have said they didn't like the Chi Break I have gotten some pretty big reactions from it. My favorites are Stilleto, Easy Canasta,Devils Peek, and Voodoo Bill. Thumbs up Ellusionist and Nathan Kranzo.

Boondock Mental Review

Devil's Peek - Very easy, very convincing. I will be using this in a show I'm lined up for in May. It's very simple, and every motion is completely natural. It's also expandable. The video has it done with business cards, but you could easily do it with index cards for stage work.

Chi Break - Not my style, but a good effect. I like the simple, straight forward nature of the effect. It's got good audience interaction and a lot of potential for different presentations. The method is simple and devious.

Easy Canasta - This one could be really played up as a miracle. I've done similar effects (Marc Spellmann's 20/20 Glimpse is similar, though totally different mechanics) and gotten great reactions from it. This is nice because it has that synergistic feel to it, and it's pretty much fool proof. You do have to be careful not to over convince in the beginning, though. The cards can all be shuffled all day, but no one wants to watch that.

Spent - I thought this one (with the corresponding transpo) was a bit weak. It may be that I know too much, but the methods seemed very transparent to me. I didn't find them very interesting or engaging. I don't have much to say about them, they just didn't do it for me at all.

Voodoo Bill - I saw the method to this one immediately, but I still like it. It's a simple method, which allows the performer to focus on the presentation, which I really like. I usually dislike it when effects have two endings, since I usually feel that the second ending is hampered by the first or vise versa. However, in this case, I think the second ending gives a good solid finale to the effect.

There is no Spoon - I'm not a metal bending expert. This may be old hat material, but it's the first one I've really watched and I really like it. All the motions are covered and the bends look good to me. He talks about variations that can be done for one person or for crowds. I'm considering this one for stage work as well, if I can come up with a way to present it that properly fits my character.

Stiletto - Another one that I can see myself doing. I've seen a bunch of card stabs. Some of them impromptu, some of them not. This involves a bit of a gimmick, but it's very simple to make and makes the effect fool proof. I'm also a fan of having multiple methods of doing the same effect, and using the different methods to cancel each other out at different times. I will probably be using this method for parlor type stages. Again, all I need to do is come up with a presentation that fits my character.

Bonus Credit Card Vanish - A devious method. I can't see myself doing this one as it just doesn't fit my style, but as an impromptu vanish and reproduction it is quite nice.

Overall, I like that Kranzo has obviously been doing these effects for a long time. Whenever applicable he talks about minor variations for smaller or larger audiences, how to adjust for environmental factors, etc. Everything is clear and concise, and he doesn't repeat stuff too often (a pet peeve of mine). He shows you how to do the effect, he goes over some variations and words of warning about what could go wrong while performing. For $30 this is a steal, as I'm guessing everyone that gets it will be able to find at least three effects that they could use. I know I'm looking at two or three that will probably be going into a stage show I'm doing next year.

So, overall I'd give it about an 8/10, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to find a variety of effects to add to their repertoire.

Nathan delivers eight wonderful pieces of magic in this DVD. It is very well delivered in its teachings and leaves you in great hands to amaze. To read my full review please follow this link which found in the forums.

http://forums.ellusionist.com/showthread.php?94730-Jarhead-Reviews-Boondock-Mental-by-Nathan-Kranzo

First off I would like to say if you are just starting magic and want something you can do right away GET THIS DVD!!! I don't think you can get much easier effects than this to start with. I also wanted to say with the voodoo bill you may want to get Rich Ferguson's "Serial Biller" DVD to add a little more impossibility to this trick. It is not a must, but its something to think about. He also has a few different handlings with money that you may like more than the one shown on this DVD. Again this is not a must the teaching for all the tricks are done well on this DVD you WILL understand how each effect works. It is just something to think about. You could also add Rich Ferguson's "Tagged DVD" with this effect and I think that would make this voodoo bill thing just blow peoples minds beyond belief!!! Rich Ferguson's "Tagged" and Serial Biller" DVD is here on Ellusionist if you are interested in my idea. ENJOY!!!

Boondock Mental is a DVD that different people are going to like for different reasons.

I liked four of the routines for different reasons. Devils? Peak has a wonderful method, Easy Canasta will be an amazing effect with the right patter, Voodoo Bill is a great visual effect and There is No Spoon routine is really well thought out metal bending routine.

I love the way Kranzo thinks. Kranzo has an amazing ability to take complicated effects and simplify the handling by using some brilliant thinking. I saw him lecture at Marc DeSouza?s a couple of months ago and just loved some of his material like Diction, Two Fly/Three Fly and his work with a Mene Tekel Deck. You see a lot of that type of thinking in this DVD. As a result of simplifying the handling of his effects, Kranzo has made these effects truly worker.

I think a lot of magicians are going to like the impossibility of the effects and the fact that the effects all are very visual magic that occurs in the spectator?s hands. Although I like to build my effects with strong patter, these effects are so strong and so visual you don?t have to say much at all. I can also see these effects going into a walk around or table hopping performer?s arsenal. They are simple, quick and strong.

Devils' Peek

I love the method here. It won?t fool a magician, but it will astonish your spectators. I can see myself using this method. However, I think that the provided presentation falls short in two areas. First, there is no justification for the cover move. I can?t be more specific without hinting at the method. I think this could be remedied by adding some patter or by using the effect for two spectators. Second, the effect as performed comes across as a ?stunt? where you can think of the word they wrote down on your business card. Kranzo suggests using a name of a person and then jokes at the end about calling the person to see if they felt anything. I think that presentation leaves the spectator wondering how did he do that. This method can be used for more powerful presentations than that. The effect will require you to make a trip to the office supply store to get envelopes to put the prediction into.

One of the subtleties that Kranzo leaves out is if you are revealing a name, don?t get it exactly correct right off. If it is Will, say it as ?William or Bill? no that?s not quite it? it is Will.? Kranzo does this in the performance but doesn?t touch on it in the explanation.

Chi Break

This was a cool trick. I love the method used in having the spectator select the ?correct? matches. However, one of the moves has no justification and there is little in terms of presentation provided for this effect. I can see other magicians liking it and using it because it is a strong effect that happens in the spectator?s hands. I?ve filed the selection method away to use in another effect, but I don?t see myself performing this effect. There is some minimal set-up involved to perform this effect.

Easy Canasta

So I watching the DVD liking the ideas but not finding anything that I would use and then BAM, Kranzo hits me with this. A couple of minutes into the explanation I had my ?this is so freaking devious? grin on. I had a hunch for part of the method, but the other part floored me. This is classic Kranzo. It is an amazing effect for the spectator but as a magician the thinking is just freaking brilliant. I like the idea of talking about mirroring somebody?s actions but would take it a lot further ? mirrors are powerful objects and could really provide a strong presentation for the effect. In my opinion, this is the best effect on the DVD. It requires some minimal set-up but the performance is almost foolproof.

Spent / Spent Transpo

Both are pretty cool tricks, but not something I would perform. I like the idea of producing smoke in your hands from unlit matches but I can?t see how it would fit into my presentation style. The thinking behind these two tricks is amazing and I can see how they will get great reactions in a walk around or table-hopping situation. There is some set up involved and you will need a gimmick which you should already have.

Voodoo Bill

I really liked this one. The magic is very strong and the thinking is classic Kranzo. I like how this effect has two phases and where the second phase is substantially stronger than the first. The magic happens in their hands with a borrowed signed bill. The routine is really, really well thought out with all of the secret moves happening as part of natural movements. Kranzo also give you a lot of subtleties on how to perform this routine. Some set up and sleight of hand required.

There is no Spoon

This is very well developed routine. Again, the thinking excellent as is the justification and timing of certain moves works naturally with the built in misdirection of the effect. If you want to learn spoon bending, then this routine is worth the price of the DVD. ...