Limelight – Mark Eldson
$43.44
http://www.bigblindmedia.com/limelight-5-phase-mentalism/

The Hype:

Designed to be performed for a group of people, this is a multi-phase card routine that causes absolute pandemonium. The audience reaction is priceless! In my experience there is nothing that can follow Limelight either in terms of mystery or laughter. 

A female spectator is quietly given a very simple instruction that enables her to perform incredible card magic.  

She repeatedly finds selected cards, names selected cards and eventually performs an ACAAN with a free choice of number where the performer never touches the deck at all. 

Any deck can be used and there is almost zero sleight-of hand for the performer to worry about and even less for the woman. If she can hold a deck, she's good to go.

And the best thing is that the woman doesn't have a clue how she is accomplishing any of the effects. If she is quizzed afterwards, the most she will be able to say is that she was doing 'something', but neither she nor the other spectators would have any clue how that was related to the effects she accomplished.

In my experience the woman absolutely relishes playing up her role as the star, and refuses all questions about what she was doing, because she loves being the center of attention! 
 

The booklet contains all the handling and scripting details, as well as the psychology , which strengthens the theatrical structure of the routine. It also discusses the selection of the correct person to use as the star and how to amplify their role to make their participation the absolute highlight of your performance.

My Take:

We have all seen routines where the spectator does the lion’s share of the work and some of these are quite good. However, when I read about an extended routine where the spectator accomplishes multiple phases on her own, I was just a bit skeptical and was anxious to read the manuscript. Forgive me, Mark, for having any doubts.

Limelight is designed as a closer and I fail to see how else it could be used. Most of us try to have a smooth flow between effects to make the performance seamless. After completing Limelight, you will lose your audience because everyone will be talking about what they just saw.

Instead of giving you the list of reasons to buy Mark’s routine, let me tell you why you should not buy it,

• You have a pathological need to show how great your chops are with a deck of cards. There are no chops here!
• You have no personality. This routine requires you to get up and close with your “volunteer” and make a new friend.
• You have no sense of humor. If you do this routine and don’t get a big response, you didn’t practice hard enough. (Or maybe, nobody likes you)
• Your show is about you. The spectator is just there to make you look better. Hey, the whole point of this is to make the spectator a star.

If these reasons do not apply to you, you need this in your arsenal. The only caveat I have is that it is a fairly long routine. As is, it would probably not play well on a stage setting or with a large group. I would say a group of maybe 10 to 15 would be just about right.

Mark goes through his strategies on finding just the right type of person to choose to assist you (invariably a woman if one is available). The routine builds and gradually gets a little more complex. You are actually training your assistant to follow your instructions as you move through the phases. She will perform multiple tricks for her friends having no idea how she is doing it. (This is a five phase routine and has three card revelations in phase one alone).  Although each effect is simple, Mark varies the procedure to make it impossible for your audience to back engineer how your assistant is doing it. Personally, when I first started reading I thought it might not play because a lot of it was obvious to me. Then I realized, it is not supposed to fool me. It is supposed to fool my audience and just think how many of them still fall for the versions of the Princess card trick on Facebook. This will not only fool them but your assistant as well.

Mark has obviously put a lot of thought into compiling this routine. A lot of magic is presented and each phase flows smoothly into the next. However if you decide on the purchase, keep this in mind. The routine (while easy to do) is long and it will take practice and memorization. If you are willing to put the time and effort into learning to do this properly, you will have a closer that will keep your audience talking for days and also make a star out of one of their friends.

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