Mentalism Review: “Stop the Press” by Martin Lewis

Here’s a bit of mentalism that employs a classic magic premise, the newspaper prediction. Martin Lewis’ “Stop the Press” allows you to predict the headline of a supermarket tabloid such as the “National Enquirer” or “Globe” after a random selection process and a choice by a spectator. This is an great effect that is easy to learn and perform.

You can watch the video review here.

You bring out your prediction and have it stored in an open location or held by a spectator. Since this mentalism effect relies on heavily influencing the outcome of a seemingly random process, you can use any unveil that you wish. A tabloid page is removed and torn to bits and a spectator deals them one-by-one and freely selects one. Headlines from other pieces are shown to different but at the end, your prediction is correct.

You could perform this in close-up or stand-up/stage situations. There are no angle issues, memorization or calculations and the effect is easy to learn and perform - you only have to learn a relatively simple sequence of tears. It packs small and potentially plays big. I like the interaction of this effect that has an audience member coming up on stage with you.

The kit comes with 12 pages for 12 performances and you provide your own tabloid that holds the gimmicked page you can reuse the tabloid but will destroy one gimmicked page for each performance. The gimmicked page looks right at home in a real tabloid and spectators won't be able to tell the difference. At less than twenty dollars, the cost of the gimmicked perishables is not a big issue. If you like the effect and have a place for it in your show, the reasonable price is well worth it. The trick comes with easy printed instructions.

Ready to add a mentalism-style prediction effect to your show? “Stop the Press” will impress.

You can watch the video review here.