01 October 2011

Nova Scotia: The Amazing Raven

From the Chronicale Herald:
Archie Fisher, known as Scotland’s troubadour, teams up with James Keelaghan, Juno Award-winning Canadian folk singer, for a show on Oct. 7 while the Amazing Raven, a mind magician, will be onstage Oct. 8.

Read more.

9 comments:

  1. The amazing raven was the most pathetic performance I’ve ever been too. I do not recommend this performance at all. About 20 minutes before the show started we were driving around the Harbourfront Theater in Summerside, PE.I. looking for a parking place. Next thing we know there is a car driving recklessly around the parking lot with the passenger door ajar. We thought maybe the driver might have been intoxicated. We parked in front of the theater as we watch the reckless car pull up. A guy jumps out of the car and runs into the theater and then later comes back to the car. He runs around to the back of the car and pulls out a large suitcase and opens it. It appears to be empty and then he shoves a bag into the suitcase. I thought the whole thing was rather odd until amazing raven (sorry but this guy does not deserve caps for his name or the name amazing) big finally of the show had volunteers to go up to the stage. Who would it be but the guys from the car. He proceeded to “pretend” he was hypnotizing the volunteer “Chis” to jungle knives. Now if I recalled the bag that went into the suitcase was just about the size to hold three knives. Now I will admit that “Chris” was pretty good knife jugular but not very good at showing up on time to try to fool the audience who pay their hard earn money to see such a poor show. I will not go into details about how many of his acts went wrong or was just plain stupid I wasting enough time last night at this show.

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  2. Mentalism: the art of appearing to have supernatural or extrasensory mind-based powers. These include mind reading, psychokinesis, telekinesis, pedagogary, fortune telling, remote vision, and more.

    Through the ages, mentalist effects have been used to convince the unwary that a mentalist is an individual of special - perhaps even malevolent - powers. You're much more likely to frighten simple natives by apparently peering deep within their soul than by pulling a nickel out of their ear. Such is the difference between a pedantic magician, a peddler of smoke and mirrors, and a master of the dark arts such as a sorcerer, wizard, witch or warlock or what-have-you. If you want to start a religion, then you could do worse than bone up on a few mentalism effects.

    From that definition - largely liberated from Presto the Mallusionist (means mental illusionist) - you would expect "¦ well "¦ a performer who is cunning enough to fool the audience into believing he has psychic powers.

    I don't know what happened at the Amazing Raven's Saint John show last week. Maybe all the good luck of the day was used up on the Canadian Olympic men's hockey team's thrilling gold medal victory. Maybe Raven had a bad case of nerves. Maybe he's still working on his audience rapport.

    But this was a show that followed Murphy's Law: nearly everything that could have gone wrong, did.

    From the moment the bespectacled man in a dark suit came striding onstage, surrounded by an eerie blue aura and billowing wafts of shimmery fog, you could tell this was going to be a different kind of performance "¦ perhaps because his microphone wasn't working.

    From there Raven launched into a complicated series of number tricks, showing off his math wizardry when he put together what was essentially his own Sudoku board in under a minute. The audience, perhaps already saturated from the hockey game, struggled to keep up, but this did not stop the Amazing Raven from forging boldly ahead.

    There was a glimmer of hope when, tossing an imaginary card deck back and forth with audience member Sue, Raven was able to successfully make the pack of cards materialize, with the only card in the deck that was reversed being the one Sue had earlier visualized.

    "Holy s---," said Sue.

    Holy s---, indeed.

    Unfortunately, it all went slip-sliding downhill from there. The hanky-panky envelope trick had to be started over. Dunderheaded audience members were unable to keep up with their duties as assistants, be it reading a phone book or working a calculator. The show dragged, the pauses were awkward, the tricks were, well, less than spectacular.

    Raven's predictions were uncanny, his formulas perfect, but he was unable to foresee the human factor - mainly, an audience who may have been expecting someone to pull a nickel out of their collective ears, rather than make halfhearted attempts to hypnotize them onstage.

    I hate writing bad reviews and I don't think you should skip the next Amazing Raven performance. I could tell his show, in other venues at other times, must've been flawless, and he's got a knack for numbers and sleight-of-hands. Predictions made and printed in the Telegraph-Journal's classifieds days earlier turned out to be true. Some card tricks worked out. There is potential for amazement and delight.

    But the set-up and delivery was simply out of synch with the audience, and too many acts went wrong. Like Raven, I was sweating by the end of the performance, waiting for it to end so I could flee into the night. It was an off night, and that sucks. If Raven could have only predicted he'd bomb out loud, well, perhaps he could've faked a stomach flu and cancelled the gig altogether. Better luck next time.

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  3. THE AMAZING RAVEN! AN INCREDIBLE SHOW! NOT HPYNOSIS but MINDENTERTAINMENT!

    As a participant on the show a few times, ive come to learn that there is no such thing as hypnosis, the real power is suggestion. There will never be another REVEEN, he was the best, although there are still many performers trying to capitalize on HYPNOSIS shows, but it has all been done before. The AMAZING RAVEN show is different, its not promoted as hypnosis but a MIND MAGIC SHOW or MENTALIST SHOW by definition. This performers abilty with numbers, memory, and suggestion is really quite incredible, not to mention the production is world class. RAVEN has been known to give away money on his shows, jewellery, and all sorts of gifts to his participants. He is honest, humble, caring, and a talent that should be embraced by the MARITIMES, as im sure he has worked hard to perfect his talent, along with a god given talent that no one can deny. AT any of the shows that i have seen his predictions made long before the performance on local radio stations have been staggering and astonishing. He always mentions that talents brought forth on the stage are in fact the audiences and not the result of a hypnotic trance. I know because i was on his stage and i performed some amazing things that even my wife couldnt believe and i coold not even be HYPNOTIZED at REVEEN. At every show he comes out into the theatre lobbys and gives stuff away and chats with his audience. It is the nature of people to critizise things that they do not understand. The AMAZING RAVEN SHOW is incredible, unique, and new to ATLANTIC CANADA. This guy is the real deal for sure, and on his way to some big things! I would recommend this show to any one who is openminded and tired of the same old things. ITS time to think outside the box and witness a real talent! YOu will believe and be shocked at the power of the human mind that exists in us all!


    A TRUE FAN
    HALIFAX NOVA SCOTIA!

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  4. THE AMAZING RAVEN! MINDENTERTAINERSETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT!

    REVEEN is in my opinion one of the greatest entertainers i have ever seen.

    There will never be another!

    As a kid i grew up attending his shows with my father and was facinated with how he presented his show. He was able to transfer his knowledge of hypnosis to the big theatre stage, with costumes, music and kept the show suitable for all family audiences. He kept us entertained, facinated, and made us laugh. His shows were always consistant and you knew what to expect A PROFESSIONAL CLEAN SHOW where you the audience became the stars of the show. The cadence in his voice was remarkable and his persona on stage was convincing. Ill never forget what i have learned from his presentations and his work, he has paved the way for entertainers like myself with a standard thats hard to match , especially in the presentation of hypnosis shows and big theatre shows. Now there are many hypnosis shows and many entertainers trying to capitalize on these types of performances, but most of it has all been done before. BUT REVEEN was also a student of magic, conjuring and illusion and very good at it. He had a great love for theatre and the arts and understood that the stage is unforgiving and im sure his rehersals were fierce!

    In the early part of my career as the AMAZING RAVEN! hypnosis was a regular part of my show, but then i gained a premise that the real power is suggestion. Talents brought forth on stage by the audience are in fact their own. As long as there is no infringement upon the watchdog of their superconscious then the members on stage will do just about anything as long as they are relaxed and the entertainer has gained repore. My show is NOT A HYPNOSIS SHOW but mindentertainment or widely known as the definition MENTALIST. MY abilty relys heavily on memory, complex math, nuero-linquistic programmimg, body language, and probabilitys. I want to point out that no one can predict the future, but we can predict things that have already happened to people by getting the right information. My show welcomes people on stage to show the power of the human mind that exists in us all. It has taken me years to learn and i was blessed with a great memory and the abilty to experience premonitions about people and how they respond in certain situations. My show is really a combination of magic, illusion and suggestion. I also understand that the people who come to these shows are whats really important and i always try to present with professionalism and involve the audience as much as i can. MY career as a MENTALIST is quite new to the maritimes of CANADA, but many more entertainers are starting to learn about it as we move towards the future.

    Please see my website at www.amazingraven.com for show details, pictures, videos and testimonials from many clients who have booked my show.
    COMING TO A MIND NEAR YOU!

    many thanks

    especially to my crew and assistants, theatres and corporate events everywhere that make the real magic
    happen.

    THE AMAZING RAVEN

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  5. AMAZING RAVEN! A VERY ENTERTAINING SHOW!

    I saw this show in PICTOU NS CANADA. He
    performed at a sold out show in the murray
    room of the DECOSTE CENTRE. I was really
    entertained from start to finish.It was a great
    change from the usual hypnosis shows ive attended
    before and quite unique. ive never seen a
    mindentertainment show before so i did not know what to expect. This was not a hypnosis show but
    amazing things and magic that were quite incredible especially when the audience got involved. The amazing raven had people on stage
    performing that were not hypnotized but doing some
    incredible things.He gave predictions long before
    the show and they turned out to be true. The stage
    was awesome with awesome lighting, costumes, music
    and great effects. Some of his stunts were very
    wierd and his abilty with math was off the charts.
    I look forward to when his show comes this way again, it was well worth the 27.00 fee i paid to
    see the show.

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  6. AMAZING RAVEN at NATAL DAYS HALIFAX N.S
    A FANTASTIC SHOW! LOTS OF LAUGHS!

    I saw this show last year on the halifax
    waterfront. It was quite a surprize when he came
    out to perform brain magic after a black sabbath
    tribute band. But he pulled it off and won the
    respect of the audience. NOBODY even knew he was
    even going to be there. IT was extremely funny
    when he invited the lead singer of the black
    sabbath band on stage to take part in his deadly
    spike routine, people couldnt believe it. We all
    roared with laughter, it was really entertaining.
    HE even acknowledged all of the great entertainment that were performing before him on stage. His show is quite unique, but he is becoming more popular all the time. IF you want
    to be entertianed and laugh, check out the show
    who knows it could be you on stage doing some amazing things you never thought was possible.
    GREAT SHOW FOR SURE!

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  7. AMAZING RAVEN! FREAK SHOW! SUPERNATURAL POWERS
    WILL scare you to death!

    I attended this show because i had nothing
    better to do that night. I couldnt believe
    what i saw. A show unlike anything else!
    A supernatural being,wizard with math, freaky
    predictions nad knew things about people he
    had never met. I laughed , i was nervous about
    some of the dangerous routines in his show, and
    i was thorughly entertained from start to finish.
    What the hell is MENTALISM? yuoll find out when
    you attend his next show. The ticket was cheap
    and i got my moneys worth. Who is this guy? is
    he from here? I dont think so. A freak of nature,
    maybe posssessed, supernatural being, i dont
    know, but look out he could be coming your way
    soon. check it out and be prepared to be blown
    away!

    I highly recommend this show! SCAREY! SCAREY!
    SCAREY!

    A FAN
    HALIFAX NS

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  8. This is too funny!
    If you check out amazing raven's website you will notice a positive review by Paige Aarhus (if he didn't have it removed due to this post) She is the same person that wrote the second review on this thread. Go to the following link to see her name above the review on the telegraph Journal:

    http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/972569
    Please do not believe the positive reviews on this thread. Save you money and save your time. I did received my money back from his show but I'll never get back the time I wasted. Life is too short.

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  9. This goofy show has to be the biggest con gimmick in the maritimes !
    $1. Admission would be a rip off !

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