Odyssey by Chris Philpott

This video is a promotion for Chris Philpott's new product, *Odyssey*, a luxury travel magazine cleverly disguised as a prop for multiple mentalism effects. The creator enthusiastically highlights the magazine's unique design and the range of routines it contains, emphasizing its potential for both close-up and stage performances. He clearly believes *Odyssey* represents a significant advancement over his previous "100th Monkey" concept. The core idea behind *Odyssey* is to present a seemingly ordinary object – a high-quality travel magazine – as a vehicle for a variety of mentalism effects. The magazine itself is beautifully designed by Jules Philpott, a professional graphic designer, and printed on glossy paper with a laminated cover, mimicking the feel of a genuine publication like *Condé Nast Traveller*. This realism, according to the creator, is key to the effectiveness of the routines. The video details ten effects cleverly integrated into the magazine's content. These include: impairing a spectator's ability to read, a 'drunk' effect triggered by reading drink names, a realistic book test, predicting a word with Scrabble tiles, helping someone realize a dream vacation, enabling mind reading between spectators, describing a thought-of picture, a relaxation technique, and incorporating classic effects like Arthur Emerson's "Pegasus Page" and Chris Philpott's "Unhypnotized" from *Narcissus*. A secret vision tester is also included. Several testimonials from prominent magicians, including Banachek and Shawn Farquhar, praise *Odyssey*'s brilliance and practicality. Cole Blalock found it invaluable in his corporate work, and Ron Gudel highlighted the audience reactions and the effectiveness of the mixed drinks routine. The package includes a 2-hour training video, and the magazine is available for purchase through various magic retailers.