I have been very impressed with the commercial reviews on Kenton Knepper's revised set of Wonder Words (now on CD). I understand that the first run of this CD series had defects, but that the current (second) run is faultless.

Please send me any candid and non-commercial reviews dealing with the "real world" value of Kenton Knepper's Wonder Words --ideally, it would be great to hear some of the ways in which you have put the content to use in your own show and how it has inspired your own persona and presentations.

Also, I would be curious to know the following: if an entertainer has a show formatted along the lines of Ostelind or Lesley, can the Wonder Words approach and techniques be integrated into the show to make the mentalist/magician's show more unique and personalized?

I look forward to your thoughtful, informative replies.

All I can say is YOU WILL NOT REGRET WONDER WORDS! There are many applications you can use, and not just for performance. You can use the techniques (linguistics) in everyday situations. I'd like to say basically it's a course on linguistics (with a hint of NLP) designed specifically for magicians, but it is oh so much more!

You also get many great effects!

Thanks for the positive feedback David,

I look forward to receiving the Wonder Words series.

From your comment above, about NLP, I suppose you have also listened to (and integrated) Kenton's S.A.R methods...have you?

All the best,

Max

Yes, I am a student of Kenton Knepper (If you ever are in Phoenix, you have to see his show and/or lecture), and have contributed several routines for his works. I have a used S.A.R. as well. I won't go too much into S.A.R. since it is on another thread, but there are some applications that you can integrate and use in an everyday situation, as well as other effects. Here's a quick example:

John Mahood released an effect called K.E.N.T. (please, I know the controversy, that's not my point). I don't like certain aspects of it, so using what I learned, I came up with a method that requires no cards. It's one of my pet routines. I can walk up to someone, ask that they think of a card, and reveal what it is. All with no props. Feel free to email or PM me with any questions.

There's alot of useful stuff in Wonder Words

Its something that in the ads promises a lot.and for many I'm sure it delivers.personally its something that one needs to keep refering to over time for its benefits to come to fruition.a bit pricey though..
good luck.
hmk

Thanks for your comments HMK.

I have received the Wonder Words series and listened to the first CD in Volume one. I was very pleased with Kenton's non-specific indexing (generalization) approach as a way of directing the spectator's thoughts away from the correct path to the secret.

I am not yet sure if I feel the means justifies the ends --to use language to "confuse" the spectators and have them thus believe the outcome is as you said it would be for the reasons you (the performer) gave.

I realize that this is just the first "listen" that I have given the CD, so many many more listens to this same CD and the rest of the CDs in the series will be needed before passing judgement.

Still, I do not regret the purchase and look forward to gleaning and applying whatever information feels right for me.

Well, I for one hope...no KNOW you will find applications suitable for your use. If you feel you are not getting your money's worth though, let me know.

David,

I do appreciate Kenton's insights and many of his approaches, and following much study, I am sure that I will apply much of these learnings.