Http://www.neghostproject.com/SpiritQuest.htm#Friday

So I was hired to do a seance for a group of ghost hunters, mediums, and their fans.The audience was probably a bit under 50 persons. The event coordinator wanted a victorian era red light senace. The theme was steampunk /Victorian and he wanted the dinner show to fit the event. I was very concerned about how this group would accept / react to a theatrical seance. I figured if the seance was entertaining, I would be OK. So entertaining was my goal.

I ended up doing a 1 hour show based on Lilli@ns di@ry. Those familiar, know that the di@ry takes place in 1932. I figured that was OK as long as I used lots of victorian era equipment and worked the red light in.


If you are not familiar with "The Di@ry", you are missing out. It is a fantastic ghost story and keeps the audience an the edge of their seats (Available from outlaw effects and gemini artifacts.)

http://www.outlaw-effects.com/store/the-......ary.html

https://www.geminiartifacts.com/artifact......t/52-ldl

(There are standard and deluxe versions. Both are great. I used the deluxe for this show.). The ghost story is what sells this. It has everything, love, loss, mystery, and is scary as hell! Easy to make a one hour show out of the story alone. I worked spirit slates in also for a couple of revelations. That helped keep the story progressing in the right direction. They LOVED the story and everyone was glued to what was going to happen next.

E Raymond Carlyle has a great red light bit called one man seance. I used that as the finale.

http://www.carlyletouch.com/One_Man_Seance.html

All I can say is that Carlyle's bit KILLED! I changed his premise a bit so it would play for stage, but the basic elements were all Carlyle. Here is a brief description. The medium sits at a small table in front of a black drape. There are red flood lights behind the drape projecting red light on the back stage wall. On the mediums table is a spirit trumpet, a tambourine, and a candle. During this effect, the tambourine flies off the table, a face appears out of thin air and then disappears, the trumpet floats and delivers messages, and finally, the candle floats off the table. All the time the medium is completely visible, both hands and both feet. The audience was only 8 feet away from the table.

Carlyle taught me this effect and I have used it for in home seance, but never on a stage. (This was actually a small church like venue, and I was a step up, Not really a stage.)

I decided it would be very victorian if I was mesmerized for this part and a second medium spoke to our spirit. Richard Lavengood stepped in for this and did a fantastic job. He called William to reunite him with Lilli@n. We had the candle float off the table and Richard plucked it from thin air and blew it out to end the seance. They audience went nuts!


I really want to thank Rick Roth, Vic Nadata, and Carlyle for creating these unbelievable effects. Not sure who to thank for the spirit slates, but I love those too! It took several weeks for me to put this show together. I can only imagine how many months (years) these creators invested into these fantastic effects. Then I get to perform the miracles and take the credit. Just want to let you (creators) know that we (performers) REALLY appreciate everything you do. Thank you.

Thanks so much for sharing your act and ideas and use of the L!£'s D!@r¥. I now have much better idea of how I may be able create a performance pie e for my deluxe version of this, which I have lingered at creating.
Truly an inspiration and thanks again for your creative and ingenius production!

Sadly it seems as if the One Man Seance is no longer available according to Carlyle's website

I second that frowny face.

Steven, thank you for sharing this. It sounds like it was a triumph of an evening.

I just got a great deal on some pdfs. Check out his specials page.

One man seance is a technique for creating the illusion. Everything needed can be made. It's a bit of a project to be sure, but I made mine.

Carlyle is coming to to The East Coast Spirit Sessions in January. I believe that he is considering a lecture on the one man séance.

As long as his health holds out he will be doing a Lecture and a workshop, don't miss this opportunity to talk to one of the greats of mentalism and the Seance arts, the man is worth the price of admission himself

Unfortunately Brynmore it wouldn't matter for us if it was still available as this routine is only taught in person in the USA.
Now unless you've won Lotto recently...

I forgot that I had couple of great products and the site reminded me, but also found some great deals on some pdfs and some props/routines.
Thanks again for sharing.

GeoffreyD,

Lotto, I wish! I am trying to convince him that skype instruction is the way of the future!

Bryn

Ed skyped with me for about an hour alone teaching the mental key effect - he is a master and very generous with his time. I envy you all who will meet him at the convention.

Well now, if the lecture was film and transcribed you would have a DVD in the works along with a book.... Something that I am sure a few of us would buy.......



Ray

Great, we should compile a list of those interested/committed to buy in order to justify doing such a thing. maybe even a pre-order. Now, the original instruction was $500+ so who's in?

I don't see anything wrong with paying that much for a one on one session. That is a very reasonable price considering you go to his home and learn. But this would be a lecture and not a one on one so the price should be lower. Besides, you can make up the money this Halloween or just do a gig. Heck, I have paid $300 and over $500 for things before, so I see no problem here. I plan on being there anyway if nothing comes up. And if he gives a lecture that would be icing on the cake......

It wouldn't be hard to make the DVD and also transcribe it. It's a no brainer. That way Carlyle could also sell it on his web site. So yes, I would be interested.


I have made videos in the past using a software called pinnacle and they came out great. So, I really don't see what the big deal is about making a video.





Best
Ray

There is nothing wrong with paying that. Several people have. As for making a video, it's not a big deal. I think you took the post the wrong way.
I was being serious. and curious if there is real interest or just talk. and curious at what price point the interest becomes talk. other threads in the past have had people chime in with interest so the creators could see if a project would be viable. So who's in?

s

Congratulations Stephen! I would have LOVED to see your performance.

I would be interested in the Carlyle training.

The training was well worth the 5 bills. The illusion is strong. Carlyle has performed it dozens (maybe hundreds) of times, so he has all the kinks worked out. As I recall, the training was for his entire one man show. Several effects that leads up to the finale described above were part of the training. No props were included. Everything you need could be purchased or made. It looks like this may be offered at Spirit Sessions as a Sunday workshop and priced Way way below $500. Stay tuned. I will ask Carlyle about the video idea.

Thanks for the kind word. I was forewarned that Spiritualists might have a problem with my show. Couldn't be further from the truth. It was a lot of fun and they had a great time. Before performing The Diary, I spent 10 minutes telling the ghost story. I sat at a wingback chair, stage left. I was lit by a floor mounted red flood light. I did this in hopes it would make the story creepier, like holding a flashlight under your chin while telling ghost stories. It did that and also projected my shadow on the back stage wall. Later people told me it looked terrific. I was blinded and couldn't see the audience. I hammed it up and took my time. Focused on bullets and changed my vocal volume often. Sometimes I was talking, then shouting and following with a whisper. (I cant remember who told me to do that, but what a great tip.Try it!) When I stood up after the story, I could see that I had them. Lots of folks leaning forward, anxious to see what was going to happen next. That moment was a real thrill for me.

LOVE it! Thanks for the inspiration.

Its official, Carlyle will be be doing a lecture on Mentalism and Seances at East Coast Spirit Sessions! And on January 16th the One Man Seance workshop! As Carlyle describes it:

The Work Shop will be available on my version of the Spirit Cabinet Act which is an outgrowth of input from The Great Virgil & Julie, Perry Abbott & Fogel. ir does away with the 'cabinet'! The second half will be on the so called "Red Light" seance I taught at my East Coast home.

Any questions can be directed to me at carlyle@cox.net or on Skype at edward.r.fowler1

Cheers,
Ray