50:50 Fantasia by Ian Rowland
Downloadable file. Approximately 30 pages.
For Experienced Mentalists Only!
50:50 Fantasia is a beautiful, ingenious and versatile principle for experienced mentalists.
Once you know the principle, you can use it anywhere and everywhere for the rest of your life.
Consider any simple 50:50 bet or proposition. For example, I take a piece of paper and write either ‘Red’ or ‘Blue’ on it (you don’t see what I write). I fold it up and give it to you to hold. I invite you to guess ‘Red’ or ‘Blue’, and I bet a large amount of my own money that you’ll be wrong. You don’t have to bet anything, only my money is on the table. You guess ‘Blue’. You yourself unfold the piece of paper that I gave you to hold, and on it you see that I wrote ‘Red’. My money is safe!
This is the essence of 50:50 Fantasia. You can create any simple 50:50 bet you want: is the picture on this postcard a beach or a forest? Is the coin under the spectator’s hand heads or tails? Is the item in this bag a red rose or a yellow one? Is the song that’s ready to play on my phone by Elton John or Madonna? Is this a photo of the sun or the moon? Is this crystal in the bag green emerald or red ruby?
The item involved in the bet can be anything: something written on a piece of paper, a picture, a song, an object… whatever you want to use. It is always under the spectator’s control from start to finish. You never touch it or try to get near it, because you never need to.
This item is not for a beginner or an inexperienced performer. You will need to be a reasonably experienced performer in order to get the most from 50:50 Fantasia.
There is no force. The spectator can guess whatever they want: red or blue, heads or tails, beach or forest… they will always lose!
There are no gimmicks, no fakes. Nothing to buy, lose or wear out.
There are no moves or sleights.
No pre-show, no dual reality, no stooges. No force or equivoque.
You set up the bet, they guess, they lose.
The booklet is in English but the routine will work in any other language. I have had customers try this in German. Dutch, Spanish, Norwegian and Hebrew so far! It works!
This is not a psychological technique. It is rock solid reliable, and it works every time!
You can use this on stage or close-up, for formal shows or for informal demonstrations over coffee.For stage, prepare a giant poster that’s folded up and kept under the control of the audience. Is it a poster about Star Trek or Star Wars? Have one person guess, or let the entire audience vote collectively! Either way, they lose, you win.
For close-up performances, place a coin under a friend’s hand and have him guess whether it’s heads or tails. He can guess whatever he wants… he’ll be wrong, you’ll be right, you get to keep your money!
Do it anywhere, use it everywhere. If you can think up a simple 50:50 bet, you can use this powerful and ingenious technique to win every single time.
Repeat: this item is not for a beginner or an inexperienced performer. You will need to be a reasonably experienced performer in order to get the most from 50:50 Fantasia.
Close-up workers please note: although you can perform 50:50 Fantasia close-up, you will only perform it once per engagement or venue. It is not a ‘table hopping’ item you can use over and over again at one event.
There are no props or gimmicks supplied with this item. All you get is a 30 page booklet. Why is the price so high? Because it’s worth it to a working performer or experienced mentalist. You are buying an ingenious way to win every 50:50 bet you can think of, wherever you go, for the rest of your life!
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What They Say
“50:50 Fantasia is the one of best pieces of mentalism you will ever learn. Genius-level thinking: in other words, typical Ian Rowland. It’s gone straight into my permanent repertoire and it will go straight into yours too. A MUST BUY!” – Mark Elsdon
“Ian’s principle is perfect: clean, elegant and simple. No suspicious props, gimmicks or moves which is exactly why I use it in one of my own routines. Like any highly versatile principle in mentalism, once you know this it will serve you well for the rest of your career. I cannot recommend it enough.” – Alex McAleer
“Ian shared this with me some time back, and I genuinely thought it was one of the cleverest pieces of thinking I’d ever come across. I cannot recommend this highly enough. I love the feeling that I simply cannot lose this very straightforward, utterly fair, 50:50 bet!” – Drew McAdam
“I’ve just downloaded and read 50:50 Fantasia. It is absolutely brilliant. This is an effect you can genuinely perform completely impromptu, do it anywhere, anytime. Thanks to Ian, it’s his meticulous attention to detail that makes it all possible.” – Derek Heron
“I was up late last night reading this. After the first read through I sat and stared at the floor for a good ten minutes playing it all out in my mind. Then I sat back and breathed a huge sigh. It was a sigh brought out of total respect. The kind of sigh you give when you see a world class footballer score a goal you could NEVER score, or a boxer punch someone in a way you know would have KILLED you! Or a singer hit a note that sends your whole being into MELTDOWN! It’s that moment of clarity, of genius, of something special that you didn’t even know you wanted to find. This effect is a MONSTER! This is thinking on a different level. This should be acknowledged as a legendary effect, that inspires and raises the bar of creation. Congratulations Mr Ian Rowland.” – Matt Daniel-Baker
“An incredible piece of work. I can’t praise this highly enough. Hat’s off to Ian for sharing this masterpiece! Go buy it now guys, I would bet my last dollar that you will simply adore this.” – Michael Murray”This is the propless miracle so many new offerings are trying to be. Rowland has created a pro worthy routine that, in the proper hands, will create a literal onstage miracle. My mind is already bubbling over with different ways this system can be used. It costs the equivalent of 27 American dollars, but I think it would be cheap at five times the price because this lovely idea is something I’m going to USE. It’s really that good. I’ve read it twice now and I cannot detect a single flaw in the script or effect design. As far as I am concerned… 50:50 Fantasia is the best mentalism release of the year.” – David Thiel (on Magic Cafe)
“It’s pretty much perfect, as far as I can tell. It is extremely well thought out and polished, while not being complex, which is pretty much signature Ian. And if you think a single 50/50 chance is boring, well… you’re in for quite a shock! There is humor and pulse-pounding suspense built in. One of the best things to come around in a LONG time.” – Seth (on Magic Cafe)
“Hi Ian, Just read your 50:50 Fantasia. This is **** brilliant, it reads great on paper, but plays ten times better in real life. I’ve fried two people with this today, they were clueless. This is what real mind reading should look like.” – M. Clarke
