Lewis Le Val – Witch Doctor (original pdf)

In this 83 page ebook, Le Val shares with us a collection of routines with an esoteric, mystical approach, along with some extremely thought provoking and inspirational essays, subtleties and presentational angles.

Witch Doctor is different. Le Val lays his soul bare which can be felt through his writing, touching on subjects yet to be discussed in the field of mentalism.

What’s in the book:

LAW OF EMOTION: An entirely propless method to know which particular aspect of life a spectator is merely thinking of. While the method does involve a concept you may be familiar with, the subtleties involved in this routine are what take this classic principle to the next level. It is a perfect way of introducing the possibility of mind reading, as well as being the ideal introduction to any sort of oracular reading you may perform.

PRAYER OF THE SEEKER: Inspired by the practices of ancient civilisations, your spectator is guided through a ritual which will determine whether they will become masters of their own destiny, or victims of fate. Based on the ‘Free Will’ plot with a clever approach to method, subtlety and presentation, this engaging routine is sure to become a favourite amongst those who wish to bring something that goes beyond entertainment to their audiences. No prediction or skill of the performer is perceived, as the spectator is seemingly able to tap into a greater, intuitive part of themselves. You already own everything you need to begin performing this routine right away. In the explanation, Le Val uses his own, handmade props, but also explains how you can achieve exactly the same effect using business cards or coins. This routine also includes video instruction on a key point of the method.

TALK TO ME: Has there ever been a more useful justification script for using a peek wallet than this? Dust off your old wallets as now, putting a spectator’s written thought back into your own wallet makes perfect sense!

THE STORYTELLER: A fantastic concept that you can insert into any mentalism routine to appear as though you know the intimate memories of your spectators. This looks like pure mind reading and can enhance the routines you currently perform. With nothing to memorise, Le Val shares the core method, which is purely verbal, along with some beautiful subtleties and a handful of clever techniques he acquired through working as a full time storyteller for over three years.

THE ANCESTOR: This is a fairly heavy routine and borders on ‘taboo’. Whilst simple in method and execution, using only business cards and a pen, it can be deeply emotional and must not be taken lightly. A magical moment occurs after a spectator is able to communicate with a departed loved one through their thoughts and memories. The performer then appears to whisper the answer to life’s greatest mystery into the ear of the spectator, to which they have a visible emotional reaction to. The message and metaphor behind this routine is extraordinarily beautiful, uplifting, inspiring and often, healing. This is not mediumship and never appears or claims to be, however, it is not often a mentalism routine literally comes with a warning.

Within these pages you will also find,

ISLAND OF THE WINDS: Le Val shares his current way of thinking about performing mentalism, and how a subtle shift in our thinking can give our performances and intentions a lot more meaning and a greater level of importance.

OCEAN WISDOM: An alternative approach to mind reading from the typical, baseline mentalist mindset. How could we begin to genuinely read minds and where do our ‘received thoughts’ actually come from when performing? Once embraced, this paradigm could open up a wide range of possibilities in what we are capable of. Included is a wonderful line that you can use in your performances that explains what thoughts are, and perfectly clarifies the difference between thought reading and mind reading.

THE GREAT FLOOD: A technique that you can use to establish an altered state in your spectators, in which mind reading could seemingly happen. As well as literally feeling the moment you are able to tune in to their mind, your spectator will also become fully immersed in the performance, rather than being an observer. This is the ‘wave of the wand’ for mentalists, the actual moment the mind reading takes place. We often tell spectators to ‘send us their thoughts’, well this will show them how to do it.

Le Val also talks about how a life changing encounter with a Shaman in the Amazon Rainforest changed his perspective on mentalism, and at the end of the book shares the terrifying but awe inspiring true story of how he had to ‘accept his own death’, in order to experience something beyond human understanding, during the end of his time studying and learning in the jungle.

This material is for the serious performer. If you are looking for shiny new methods to play with, you will not find them here. What you will find is a book of workable material, jam packed with a huge amount of clever subtleties, presentational points, handlings, verbal deceptions, inner truths, inspiring thoughts and much more.

Everything in this publication is easy to do and utilise, and relies mostly on the presence and persona of the performer.