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Review: Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.) by Thom Parkin

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Review: Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.) by Thom Parkin
« on: June 03, 2022, 09:08:22 PM »
 

EndersGame

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 Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.)

Send a photo prediction to your spectator's phone in advance, and always get it right!



Overview

Imagine this scenario.  You send your spectator an email with a photo you took the previous day at the beach.  He checks to see that it arrives in his inbox, but for the moment doesn't open it.  Then you get him to select a word.  Any word.  A legitimately free choice.  He then opens his email to find your photo, where you had written that very word in the beach sand.  Yesterday.

Or this: You send your spectator an email prediction.  He rolls six dice, using any combination of arithmetic, to produce a completely random number.  And opens his email to find that you've predicted that exact number.

Maybe you want to take it to another level. Imagine you could send an email in advance of the Superbowl, and predict the winner.  In fact, the exact score. With  Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.), you can do all that and more.  And it's good as it sounds.  Because an email is like a sealed envelope.  We all know that once an email is sent, you can't get it back, and you can't change it.  And yet your prediction is right.  Every time.

If you want to get an idea of how powerful an email prediction can be, take a look at these two routines from the shows Fool Us and America's Got Talent.  In the Fool Us episode, Brazilian magician Guilherme Silveira travels forward in time, and then back to the present, to predict a freely selected animal, the cumulative total of freely selected dice, and a freely selected colour and US state.  In the America's Got Talent episode, the judges freely select details like a date, a name, and a word, all of which appear in a photo that was taken and sent in advance of their choice.

I'll emphasize the word freely selected, because that's what makes this so baffling.  And yet this is exactly the kind of thing you can do with Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.).  So let's tell you more about it.  NB: Right now you can take advantage of a special offer to sign up for a free 10 day trial.



The history

Some magicians may already be familiar with Inject, which is highly regarded as an amazing app that can be used for a large variety of remarkable effects using a phone.  Inject is a separate product from a totally different creator, but P.E.P. does integrate with some Inject effects, and combine them with an email prediction.

But what if you're like me: you don't have Inject, and you don't even know how it works?  Then this write-up is especially for you, because P.E.P. is also a stand-alone product that allows you to do email predictions, and that's what I wanted to do.  Now if you have Inject, you'll already be familiar with some of the concepts that Inject lets you do, so you'll immediately understand how P.E.P. lets you make an email prediction as well as the Inject effects you are using.  In fact, that's how P.E.P. originated.  The creator, Thom Parkin, wanted to find a way to use some Inject effects, but make them even more powerful by being able to predict them in advance via an email.    So P.E.P. started as an add-on for Inject.

But Thom didn't stop there.  He continued to develop what he'd created, and turned it into a stand-alone product that enables you to do email predictions completely independent of Inject.   And that's the aspect of this product that particularly interested me, because that's what I wanted to do.  So let's completely forget about Inject for a moment, and assume you're a reader who isn't familiar with Inject, and you want to be able to do amazing email predictions.   That's exactly what P.E.P. lets you do.

As the ad copy says: "Reveal ANYTHING (image or text) in an email message with a timestamp proving it arrived before the selection was made."  The beauty of having something with a timestamp proves that the email was sent in advance (and it really is!), before anything that happened and yet is correctly predicted.  And that's the real strength of P.E.P.



The effect

Here's how that will look, if you break down the steps involved in using Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.) to successfully make an email prediction:

You make a prediction by email.  Your spectator witnesses you composing the email message, which you can tailor to the situation, but you keep the content secret for now.
Your spectator confirms receipt of the email.  They don't yet open the email, but can confirm on their device that they have received the prediction message.
The spectator makes a truly FREE choice.  No force is involved whatsoever, and it is a genuinely free choice.
Your spectator opens the prediction email, which is 100% correct.  The email reveals (with photos or text) exactly what the free choice was, and timestamps prove it was sent before the choice was made.

That's pretty much how it looks to your spectator. And amazing as it seems, the choice made by your spectator is truly a free one.  It need not even be something chosen by your spectator (e.g. a random playing card) but can also be the results of a sports event, what the weather will be like, or genuinely anything you wish.   And the headers of the email can be checked thoroughly after the fact: the prediction really was sent in advance of the event that was predicted.

I should mention from the outset that no app is used to accomplish any of this.  All of this is simply accomplished with a phone, mobile device, or even a desktop computer with an internet connection.  If you have access to the internet and a web browser, then you can do this.



How it works

The best way to explain what P.E.P. can do is show you how it works.  I have also run this by the creator, Thom Parkin, to make sure he is okay with the level of information I'm sharing, and he's given this his blessing.  Unlike a lot of other tricks in the magic industry, what you're buying with P.E.P. isn't so much the secret about how it works.  From the advertising copy on the product page, that should be pretty obvious: after you send the prediction email, there's a way in which you or a confederate can input the information that will show up in the prediction email when it is read after the fact.  So it's really the technology that is doing all the work for you, and this requires skills and resources that none of us will otherwise have access to without P.E.P., and it's access to this technology that you're paying for when you become a subscriber.

Step 1: Making the email prediction

Once you join up and become a subscriber of P.E.P., you get two special personalized links.  The first personalized link brings you to a starting screen on whatever device you are using to make the prediction.  The Inject Effects only apply to Inject users, and what I'll be using are the "Dynamic Effects".   From this screen all I need to choose is "Email Fallback".  Basically this lets me choose the image that my spectator will see if they open their email too early. There are around 10 different options you can pick from, such as a blue spinner, a "failed download" message, a Queen of Hearts, and several others.

Next we go to a "compose email" screen, which is deliberately designed to look like a basic email editor, and lets you enter the email address of your spectator. You can even enter multiple email addresses, as long as they're separated by a comma. Some working professionals use this to enter the email address of 100 audience members or more, to get them all to receive the prediction email.  With P.E.P. that's no problem, and the creator does offer a few special provisions for stage performers, including a system to easily enter many email addresses.   You can also customize the subject line, and the initial text of your prediction.  If you prefer, these last two values can also be pre-populated by the standard text of your choice, to help expedite the process and save you time.

Pressing "Send" will ship off your prediction email to your spectator, and at this point you can have them check that they've received it - as long as they do not open it, otherwise the trick won't work.  If they do open it too early, you do have a fail-safe measure in place - they'll see the "Email Fallback" image you selected instead. A blind copy of this prediction email is also sent to you automatically as the performer, which has the advantage that you can reference the exact reveal and date of the performance when you are doing follow-up marketing.

Step 2: Sending the secret information

Now for the hocus pocus.  After sending the prediction email you'll click a button to go to a special "Browser Thump Helper" page.  Alternatively you (or an accomplice) can use your second personalized link to go directly to this page, even if it is on a different device than the one used for making the prediction.  On this page you will enter the "free choice" after your spectator has made his choice, or the results of whatever event you have predicted.  You can have a confederate do this if the spectator is going to make his choice under your nose, and you are busy with the spectator.  There are ways for Inject users to enter this information by special patterns of swipes, but another alternative is to sneak away to another room and enter it yourself.  I predicted the results of a sports event, and so I had more than an hour to do this after sending the prediction email.

From this page you choose one of more than two dozen "Helpers" that you'll use for revealing the prediction in the email you have already sent.   Most of these "Helpers" take advantage of dynamic images created by Photofunia, which is a separate service that Thom partners with to make this work.  Each of these reveals has its own look, and depending on what you choose, you'll have a different number of fields to fill in for your revelation.  For example, the "Airline" Helper lets you make a revelation of a word (up to 10 characters) on the side of an aeroplane, in the colour and font of your choice.

Other options include a having the revelation of a word or short message appear on a yacht or hot air balloon; on two arrow signs; on a sign on a beach or street; on a number plate, birthday cake, book, bracelet, cross-stitch, type writer, or tree carving; or as writing in sand, snow, or water.  Further creative options that give some wonderful presentational possibilities include revealing the information as part of a diploma, cinema ticket, newspaper, or gravestone.  And that's just a sample of the many options available to you!

Step 3: Revealing the prediction

Let's say we're going to reveal a playing card, and opted for the "Hot Air Balloon" as the dynamic effect to use.  Let's enter "8 of Clubs" and press "Thump it" to send it to P.E.P.  Now we're all set, and that's all we need to do!  In the example below, I predicted the result of the recent 2022 Giro d'Italia cycling race, which was won by Jai Hindley.  I opted for the "CrossStich" Helper, entered the relevant information about Jai Hindley being the winner, and selected the other options for that Helper, such as the colour of the text, and the colour and pattern of the frame above and below the text.

After pressing "Thump It", P.E.P. will give us a preview of what the created image looks like.  In my case, using a photo of a cross stitch gives presentational possibilities, because I could even say that I was so confident of my prediction in advance, that I had my wife make a cross stitch with the winner's name the previous evening, and I took a photo to prove it.

Now everything is ready for the prediction email to be opened up and read by the spectator, because P.E.P. together with Photofunia will do all the hard work for us.   When the spectator opens up the email, they'll see the initial text that we composed, along with the image that P.E.P. has incorporated, with the revelation built into whatever image we have decided to use.  This prediction image is permanent, and will not be changed, so if your spectator forwards the email to someone else, the prediction image will be preserved intact just as we created it.

If you want to see screenshots of all the steps involved in making this particular prediction, see the official User's Guide for Making A Prediction With P.E.P., and to see examples of some of the Other Reveals.



 The technical side

The beauty about P.E.P. is that you don't need to install any app or software, because everything works with the help of the two custom links provided to you.  So all you need is a device with an internet connection, and you're set to go.

The guy behind this is Thom Parkin.  By day he is a professional software developer, so when it comes to the technology side of things, he really knows his stuff.  But he's also an amateur magician, so he loves tinkering with technology to find ways to integrate it with magic.  That means that when it comes to customizing things or resolving issues, he's the right man for the job, because he has all the expertise needed.

This is very much a passion project for Thom.  While folks new to this effect might raise their eyebrows initially at the price, the reality is that this is primarily a labour of love for Thom, and not a money making endeavour.  There are a lot of expenses involved in running P.E.P., and when I asked Thom directly about this, he shared that he's not even breaking even most of the time.  Whatever income P.E.P. generates right now doesn't even cover his running costs.  I mention that, because I think it's important not to balk at the price too quickly.

There's a lot of overhead in running the email systems involved, and the various technical aspects of the service.  There's a lot of "behind-the-scenes" work that is required which users don't get to see, and yet is essential.  For example, because the system uses email, Thom has to make sure that he has things in place to prevent hackers exploiting his network.  And because he relies on Photofunia for many of the images, he also pays them a recurring fee for API access to Photofunia's back end.  He has a positive working and business relationship with the folks at Photofunia, which gives some assurance about the longevity of P.E.P., but naturally this also adds to the cost.



 Additional features

I've given an overview of what P.E.P. can do and how it works, but there are more things worth highlighting, even though some of these have been mentioned already:

●  Private Facebook group. Once you become a subscriber, you get access to a special Facebook group that has been set-up for subscribers of P.E.P.  I found it helpful to browse through previous posts in the group, because it gave me ideas for presentation, and also helped me get a handle on how to get the most out of P.E.P.

●  Multiple recipients. Sending the prediction email to multiple audience members is done easily by entering their email addresses, separated by a comma. So if you're performing to a group, you can have all of them get the prediction email.  This is also a fail-safe in case one person does open the email too early, to prevent that from ruining the effect.  And it's no problem to have your spectators look over your shoulder when you're typing their email addresses, to help ensure that you're getting them right - everything looks entirely innocent.  Some working pros even get this email sent to their entire audience, which in some instances includes more than 200 people!

●  Email footer. Because you can fully customize the text of the prediction email, this is an ideal way to include any promotional information about yourself to your spectator immediately underneath the revelation image.  I can see this being a feature that pro magicians can especially benefit from, because you can include details such as links to your website or social media, or even images like a company logo or a promotional coupon.  Because your spectator can forward the email to friends and family, all of this will get automatically included as well.

●  Premium features. The normal version of P.E.P. is fully functional, and will work just fine for most users.  However, because the creator is a tech expert, it does mean that he can do some additional customizing for an additional fee, to cover his time and costs incurred by whatever he is setting up for you.   Premium features include several additional dynamic effects, e.g. an eye chart, refrigerator note, small notepad, free open text, and a few others.  Some even enable you to incorporate your own images within other images, which is very powerful.  Another premium feature available is the capability to simplify the process of entering multiple email addresses for an entire audience in a live performance or virtual show, by using a customized QR code or a separate web form.  You can even have the revelation appear on your own webpage.    Thom will also work with clients to build revelations based on their own images.

●  Inject integration. I'm not a user of Inject, so I really can't say much about this.  But I do know that users of Inject have spoken very highly about P.E.P., because it enables them to incorporate an email prediction along with things they are already doing, and works well with Inject.  Thom has a positive and friendly relationship with the creator of Inject, so everything is above board.  The list of Inject effects currently supported by P.E.P. is lengthy, and includes things like Houdini Cards, Joker Cards, Numbers, Toy Price Tag, Hotel Key, Roulette, Big Ben, Colored Dice, Love Poem, Playing Cards, ESP Cards, Magic Square, and numerous others.  As I understand it, with these effects you can input what is revealed by swiping on your device with Inject, so you don't need a confederate.



Impressions

●  Very powerful. The ability to apparently go forward in time in order to make a 100% accurate prediction can be mind-blowing.  Especially when combined with an interesting presentation, this method can be the backbone of a very strong routine.  You only have to look at the success of the concept of an email prediction in performance videos from Fool Us and America's Got Talent to get an idea of the potential here.  And the final result is very convincing. Even a thorough look at all the email headers will prove that the timestamp is genuine, and the email really was sent ahead of the event that was predicted.  I've used P.E.P. to successfully predict the results of sports events such as a cycling race, and even a government election.  If something can happen, you can predict it, so the possibilities are endless.

●  Very flexible. I was amazed by the range of options available with P.E.P.  This is by no means a one trick pony, even though the concept of an email prediction isn't something you'd use multiple times with the same audience. But when it comes to ways in which you can customize things, you have a large amount of options.  This starts with customizing the subject line and text of your prediction email.  But it especially applies to the large range of different kinds of images you can choose from for your revelation. And if you really want more, Thom Parkin is more than ready to help work with you to create whatever effect you are looking for.

●  Very commercial.  This is a very professional product, and I can see that it would especially be a powerful tool in the hands of a performing professional.  David Copperfield has even incorporated an email prediction with a photo in his show, and with P.E.P. you're able to do exactly that.  I'm an amateur, so for me this is mostly fun to play around with, although I've had a lot of enjoyment tinkering with P.E.P. to impress my family and friends.  But for the performing professional, P.E.P. can really be a powerful tool that could be incorporated as part of your repertoire, and even combined with an existing effect to make it even stronger. The ability to have the prediction sent to your entire audience at a convention or in a show really strengthens things.  The ability to include a footer with custom ads or links is also very useful when used in a commercial context.

●  Technology dependent.  The method behind P.E.P. is of course entirely dependent on technology.  That's part of the beauty of it, because there are no sleights to learn or secret moves to accomplish, other than finding the best way to enter the text for your revelation.  This has the advantage that you can put all your energy into the performance and presentation.  But it can also come with its own baggage.  When experimenting with P.E.P., I did notice that in some instances the image can load slowly, since Photofunia images are quite high resolution.  Thom is currently working on a way of reducing the file sizes, because if your spectator notices the image load visually and slowly, it might tip the method.  Mind you, this is less of an issue with dynamic effects that are built into a photo, and where the user has been told in advance to expect a photo as the prediction.   But I have read that people involved in email marketing or those with a close familiarity with live images and live text in emails could easily figure out the method.  In my limited experience with P.E.P. so far I haven't personally had this happen with a spectator yet. I also think that the chances of your spectator reverse engineering the method can also depend on the patter you use and how you present this.

●  Well supported. I did also have a couple of times where the technology failed me - or perhaps I failed it because of what I was doing!  Whatever the cause, Thom was immediately at hand to help me resolve matters, and to take steps to prevent this happening again.  Thom Parkin has a real passion for technology and a passion for magic, and this project is first of all about a way he can combine these two loves.  He's not in this to make money first of all, but to create something that he's put his heart into, so he loves to see other magicians achieve success with the help of what he's done, and give them constant support along the way.  So it's no surprise that Thom is super helpful with everything.  I asked him a lot of questions about P.E.P., and he was always willing to go the extra mile in explaining things and answering questions.  It quickly became obvious to me that Thom is extremely dedicated to this project, and is constantly looking for new ways to add new effects and improve things.  This also means that P.E.P. is not a static product, but is a passion project that has the benefit of his ongoing development.



Learning curve.  Now that I know how P.E.P works, it's really very simple.  It's actually not difficult to learn how to use, but if there is something that it lacks, it is a good and simple explanation of what it does and how it works (Update: I've since helped the creator put together a useful P.E.P. User's Guide which walks you through all the steps of registering and making a prediction).  I suspect that the "How it works" section of this review will accomplish exactly that, because that was what I would have liked to have had when I started out.  Especially for non-Inject users like me, all the information I was confronted with at first was a little overwhelming.  I wrongly had the impression that a considerable amount of tech know-how was required. I was actually a little intimidated initially by all the options and text boxes, which made things seem far more complex than it actually was.  So don't let the options and customization put you off, because actually it's all rather straight forward.  If you've read the "How it works" section of this review, you're pretty much ready to sign up and use this.

Audience management. You will require some good audience management when using P.E.P.  If your spectator opens the email too soon, they'll get your "Email fallback" image, and once that's loaded, the prediction email is basically locked in place, and will only ever show the fallback image, and not the correct prediction.  That is actually a good feature of P.E.P., because it means you're covered if your spectator does open the email too soon.  But it does mean you'll have to give very clear instructions about this.  I had it happen with one nonchalant spectator who did open the email despite my instructions, and said "but I didn't read it, so it doesn't matter".  While he didn't think it was a big deal, meanwhile he'd blown the effect.  I've learned from that experience, and have managed to avoid a repeat, but it does show that your patter needs to be carefully considered.  Describing the prediction email as the equivalent of a "sealed envelope" which shouldn't be opened to the very end is a good way of achieving this in a way that makes sense to your spectator.

Presentation options. When it comes to your patter and presentation, you will largely be on your own.  On the one hand, one of the strengths of P.E.P. is that it is so flexible, and that it has so much scope for a wide range of possible presentations.  But for a brand new user like me, especially if the world of predictions is somewhat new, I found myself a little lost at sea, and could have benefited from a bit more guidance, with some suggested patter and presentation.  For example, I quickly learned that it can actually be a positive to tell people that I'm sending them an image.  Not only does that help provide a good cover for the method, but it also prevents them getting side-tracked when opening up the email and being confronted with an image rather than plain text, and ensures that they will instead focus on the baffling accuracy of the prediction itself.  Some of the Photofunia photos also lend themselves naturally to striking presentations (e.g. "Yesterday I took a photo of ....").  But having a video with a suggested performance would help the learning curve, and so would a list of presentation or patter ideas.  This will be less of an issue for Inject users, since many of the effects it enables already incorporate presentations, and in those cases P.E.P. will simply function as a natural extension to this.

Subscription based. Parkin Email Premonition isn't a physical product that you purpose, but works by having users pay an annual subscription fee to use it.  It's $119 annually, and that will make some magicians immediately balk.  But in reality that works out to just under $10 a month.  And it needs to be considered that the actual costs for running P.E.P. are higher than this, and even at that price its creator Thom Parkin isn't making any money.  Really.   It may put P.E.P. out of reach for the casual amateur who is looking to use this for the family Christmas dinner and perhaps a handful of other times.  But for the working professional who is actively using it, this price shouldn't prove to be a barrier given the high value they'll get from using it.   Compared with other products that offer email predictions, P.E.P. stands head and shoulders above everything else currently on the market.  I raised my eyebrows too the first time I saw the subscription price, but it seems reasonable now that I know more about what the product offers, the running costs for the developer, and the lack of decent competition in this market space.  NB: Right now Thom is offering a free 10 day trial, so take advantage of that while you can.



Recommendation

Don't bypass Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.) too quickly just because of the price.  This is a product that does exactly what it promises to do, and can be a very powerful tool in the right hands. It is well worth taking a careful look at what it offers, and thinking about whether or not it is something that you can use, especially if you're a working professional.

There is a lot of scope for taking this in different directions, and when it comes to the presentational side of things, you'll largely have to figure things out for yourself.  But for the practiced performer, you'll not be getting this in order to get ideas for presentation or for performance, but in order to achieve the impossible.  As such, it's more of a prop than an actual trick.

And it's a prop that is incredibly effective and flexible, and you can build a stunning routine around it.  You can even easily add it to some of your most stunning tricks, concluding a card routine by showing that the selected card was predicted all along.  Especially if the selection was genuinely free and not forced, it can serve to strengthen something that is already impressive, by taking it to the next level.

I've been having a lot of fun with P.E.P., and regular users of this amazing email prediction product are universal in their praise.  Users of Inject will especially get a lot of mileage out of it.  Highly recommended.

Special offer: If you sign up here today, you can take advantage of a special offer that is currently running for a free 10 day trial.  A credit card is required (which won't be charged until the end of the trial period), but you can cancel at any time.

Want to learn more? A subscription for Parkin Email Prediction (P.E.P.) can be purchased for $119 annually.
● Parkin Email Premonition: P.E.P. Product Information Page, P.E.P. User Guide, P.E.P. Subscription Page
● User guide: How to register, How to make a prediction, Other reveals
● List of effects: P.E.P. Dynamic Effects, P.E.P. Premium Effects, P.E.P. Inject Effects
● From the same creator: Instant Card Magician (see my review)




« Last Edit: June 11, 2022, 05:15:47 PM by EndersGame »
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Re: Review: Parkin Email Premonition (P.E.P.) by Thom Parkin
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2022, 05:10:13 PM »
 

UnbiasedMagicReviews

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Here is my Unbiased Magic Review of the Parkin Email Premonition.  This includes a LIVE performance of the effect in real time to show people what the effect really looks like.

https://youtu.be/K0sGCsODsns

At a Glance:
Format: Web Based App, Video and Written Instruction
Cost:$119 yearly subscription
Skill Level: Intermediate
Type of Magic: Email Prediction, Mentalism
Overall Rating: 5/5

Available here: 
https://bit.ly/pepmagic